Giny Seila

Review of Hamilton International Airport

A few months ago we flew with Porter and we loved ...

A few months ago we flew with Porter and we loved the feeling of a smaller airport, therefore this time we decided to fly from Hamilton instead of Toronto to Cuba, departure Dec 20, arrival Dec 27 after midnight. It is sad to realise that Underdeveloped countries have better services than Hamilton. Only a Tim Hortons as food choice, the Duty Free is a joke, and the basic services of an airport are non-existent.
At the middle of winter, you have to WALK to the plane and up and down a slippery ramp. Other 3rd world countries, if there is not direct boarding, the regular procedure is to have a bus from the terminal to the plane, NOT in Hamilton.
Coming back it was a nightmare, it snowed and it was cold, we had to walk over 200 meters in the bitter cold with the tarmac cover in snow and ice. There were several passengers carrying small children, elderly passengers with canes, I was in clutches, all of us skidding on the ice and snow. The area that we were supposed to walk did not even have salt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There was one child on wheelchair and the employee at the airport was not able to push him through the snow, his parents had to do it because he was getting stuck.
When we reached Immigration all of us with mobility issues reached the line up last, but surprise, surprise we had to wait, up to the end, there was no special line for people with disabilities. Therefore, all the elderly passenger with canes and I (on clutches) were standing up for over half an hour. The plane crew did not wait; they went first, but not passengers with disabilities.
The myopic airport authority is really missing the point and killing an airport with so much potential. People like us, that travel quite often are tired of big airports thus Hamilton could have been an excellent option for us but NEVER AGAIN. I will not put my health or my husband health at risk using an airport that has complete disregard to the basic passenger safety.