BAA London Stansted Review

Joke of an airport. Huge lines in security and only half of the lines working, their own security rules when it comes to liquids, final call on the screens when boarding is has not even started

Good clean sanitizer every where nobody about good flight

One of the worst airports I've ever seen. Fortunately, I have always just arrived at this airport and I did not have to leave, so I spent there only the necessary minimum time.

very well organized, but always enormous queues to passport control

Very bad security checks, i almost lost the flight!

The worst airport in Europe. Never seen a similar disorganization even in third world countries.

Perfect place if you like to wait hours for your luggage

Racist people and peodofile security with the wrong attitude. Racistially profiled my wife and me infront of my children just because we are Muslims. PLEASE DONT USE THE AIRPORT AND USE HEATHROW AS THEY ARE MUCH QUICKER AND EASIER TO DEAL WITH AND BE SATISFIED WITH YOU SPENGING YOUR MONEY.

Welcome back to UK! Delays at passport control due to faulty none working scanners. Staff standing around being unhelpful and rude to passengers. Toilets uncleaned with urinals coated in urine and pubic hairs. Individual spitting out chewing gum in public in the direction of my wife. Filthy public spaces especially outside terminal building. Unintelligent mid stay car park bus driver picking up drunken mouthy yob with can of alcohol in hand. Any inteligent driver should have had this drunk dealt with by Airport Security or Police. Awful access road system to M11 motorway with worn out road markings, pot holes and uncleaned signage. Especially dangerous in poor weather conditions when driving at night! Just scratching service here!

Worst airport going, security is a joke to be hoenst! No order whatsoever

Long waiting time at passport control 50 min. then because I had ID, again 50 minutes !! Although the English were immediately sent to the other counter with others (without stealing again !!!!!!) racist !!!! The staff is lazy, cheeky and unappealing! !! Because of that I almost missed my plane !!! NEVER NEVER again! Better pay more money than be back !!!!!

If you don't like this country, then leave...here's an exit I found for you!

If you're going on holiday to somewhere nice, please don't go for too long, we need people like you back in the country :)

Worst airport ever and parking charges is a total rip off.

Terrible line on the arrival side. Those arriving with a passport are perhaps in an easier situation, the situation with an EU ID is terrible

Airport with insufficient facilities for the amount of people that operate in it. The security control was fast and well organized, but once inside all the seats are occupied, since there is not much space to place more, the premises are always full and find a place to wait while sitting the flight becomes mission impossible

Security are rubbish.
HAVE A NO EYES CLOSED POLICY, that did not show members of public

If you have intellegence issues and can't tie your own shoes and your brain can only just cope with reminding your body to breathe, don't worry, you'll get a top job at Stansted where you can fly!!!!
#theveryworstairportintheworld

Completely overcrowded, after the security check you have to go through the forced perfume. Far too few seats in the food court. Border Force and other staff very kind.

Not enough staff at check-in took 50 mins had only two doing whole plane

I have low expectations when I travel - this place managed to redefine low. positives were that the immigration/customs officials were very organized and polite-ish. Negatives- too many. highlights. I don't have kids but this place would be a nightmare with kids due to lack of space and massive overcrowding. restrictions on rides (uber) and taxis are apparently strictly enforced. if you must travel thru here - arrange all transportation before arrival and departure. or expect long lines, high prices, and questionable business practices. I honestly expected to see barn yard animals running thru the terminal with the lack of control and business sense observed.

The airport is well organized and you can find everything at the right prices, in the sense that if you forgot to bring something, you will also find reduced sizes for personal hygiene and perfumes buy them very well, really at great prices. I liked it

A far cry from the slick, efficient Norman Foster-designed airport that opened in 1991. Now, since its takeover from BAA by the Manchester Airports Group, it's mutated into the perfect gateway to the holiday from hell. You can easily find More

Doesn't give airport opening hours on website - if 24/7 then say so please

Park the car at free drop off for an hour to pick up daughter. Caught the free bus to airport and back to car park. Nice airport

Rip off parking price
Shame...

After landing, there is nowhere to buy beer or cider. Totally unacceptable for an airport of this size. So you can really spoil the start of the holiday schonmal!

This airport is total chaos, a lot of people and you have controls, they treat you like an animal. A tip if you leave from this airport arrive well in advance, only in the early morning is a little faster

I had a fast track and I was waiting on check point for 40 min! Then an Extra ruda security officer how yelled at us in the end was just too much to take

Why dropp off so expensive.
Why car parks so expensive?
REGULARLY have to use them and ALWAYS I PAY MORE FOR CARPARK THEN THE FLIGHTS?!
OVERPRICED CRAZY...

Airport is good. When it snow dont park your car there you will be stranded for hours and hours.

The facilities of the airport are really bad. The queues for security checks are endless. There is only one large lounge for all gates and flights and you are informed for the gate open only 40 minutes before flight.

Quite simply the worst of the London airports. It's cold, the staff are awful. Hardly any of the elevators or lifts worked. Do not do an overnight stay for early flights. There are honestly about 59 seats for 600 people here in a Friday night. Best of all, burger king closes it's seating area off for no good reason, removing what would otherwise be some of the only seating in the place. Just avoid. Gatwick or Luton will treat you far better.

Terribly inconvenient that you have to pay a euro or a pound for a trolly. I tried to exchange 10 euros for coins, and my only option would be to withdraw money or exchange money at a loss. I had a heavy bag with no wheels and was shocked that this sort of thing is not free as it is in every airport I've been to, Spain, Poland, United States, Italy.

If you happen to have a coin you're in luck if not youre screwed. Absolutely terrible and I would have lost between 5 to 10 pounds if I had to exchange what little cash I had or withdraw from a non-desireable cash point. Terrible. Absolutely terrible.

Left Stanstead this morning with my wife. A simple mouth spray was tested and suspected of containing some chemical. Further test carried out and a report written while we stood like criminals. Needless to say there was no issue with the spray. However no apology was given and the staff member was openly hostile (blond lady). We then discovered that my wife's expensive makeup was not returned. Never again will I set foot inside the door of that airport.

You can move regularly and easily. There are shelves in the buses that you take the airport exit. You're getting your suitcases there. The bus takes you to the car park where your car is located.

Really the worst of London's airports... the layout is terrible and not easy to navigate. Security was slow (though the staff were friendly enough).

Our boarding gate showed 10 minutes before closing, and the gate is 10 minutes walk from the display board... we only just made it in time! Had we been seduced by the unnecessary maze of fashion stores on the way, we surely wouldn't have made it in time.

Also, if you're coming from anywhere except London, the connections are rubbish. I was in Market Harborough, and it would have taken me 3 trains, 4 hours and over 100 quid per person to get there! In the car it's only 1.5 hours. Though perhaps that's a complaint for National Rail instead ;)

In general, it's just an impractical and inefficient airport. I'd choose an alternative whenever possible.

4 hours free Wi-Fi available here. Not much restaurants at arrival. For departure you need to take a shuttle train to the gate and there are some cafe and restaurants, duty free shops. A small airport with European lcc flights.

Bad airport ... Staff STUPID more than can not. Nobody speaks a minimum of Spanish ... Even on a flight to Malaga. Before the almost flight loss the staff laughed and boasted of our despair.
To top it off, before entering the boarding, NO seats.

Big and well organized airport.
Friendly staff, but only if you speak English good enough.
Luckily, in my opinion, the lack of smoking area and the bathrooms are not clean.
Good all in all.

It's an airport, where catch planes and arrive, free parking with bus from mid term car park.

Free set down for drop off and pick up.
How to enter and exit:
- Follow Mid stay
- Proceed to barrier and take your ticket at the push button barriers
- Follow free set down signs to zone K
- Leave the car
- Take the free bus to terminal
- Don't forget to take bus stop number
- On return, proceed to exit barriers
- Insert the ticket to push button machine at the exit barrier
- Barrier opens.

Highly recomended. Better and stress free than 10 min Drop on and off parking option. ( Adviced to check latest update about free set down from the airport website.)

All overpriced 'duty free' that are not cheaper than London prices plus they still ask for boarding pass even if you buy bottle of water and newspaper. Rude staff all over the airport. They keep changing the way you walk to the plane so you pass more pointless 'so called duty free' shops. London Stansted Airport should be called London Stansted Shopping Center Experience with Airport facility.

If I could give this airport a rating of zero I would. Yeah they've been renovating it, trying to bring it into the 1960's. They need to tear up the plans and start again to try and make it a reasonable experience for passengers (ie. customers). I'll only use again if it's THE ONLY CHOICE

Fairly quiet at present. Wumith only a few outlets open.

The worst airport in London's history is very small, not modern enough, and very slow to enter. The most annoying thing is that when leaving London, the hall is full of people. You need to take a small train to a specific boarding gate. Note that the train does not return. In addition, this airport is very stingy with the boarding information screen. Only the flight information of this building is displayed in the terminal. The boarding gate information of other flights is very difficult to find, and the official website is not updated. Finally, the staff helped me find the information through the walkie-talkie! Because I made a mistake at the boarding gate and there was no train to go back, I had to find a staff member to drive me back to the lobby! Just as bad luck as me, there are many foreigners who almost missed the plane.

Lack of respect from the staff, No one to help in problems, No directions to go to places. We had arrived at the airport getting ready for a flight. We were completely lost in the car park and couldn't find the way to the airport with no sign of directions. At the end of the day we had even missed our flight.

Far from London, no connection, logistic nightmare, smells

Avoid!! Customs line worse than third world countries. Took us 1.5 hours and no disability assistence

Parking prices are crazy. Better of going from Southend.

We have landed and started here several times. Always went quickly and staff is nice. Were here with a toddler and extra care was taken. However, strollers sometimes have to be carried over steps;)

This is very busy and comfy airport at the same time. All those who travel towards the Southern London will make use of the airport. Multicultural London stretching its wings to the heart of the world here. The airport offers shopping to introducing to various people and cultures.

Probably the worst airport in London . Flights frequently delayed and super short staff on baggage handling, I once waited 90 minutes for my carousel number... if you don t check in bags and have plenty of time in life then this could be good option for you to get a cheap flight.

Long walks, lots of closed passport controls (machines) and a chaotic check-in. So unfortunately we had to experience London Stansted. The only advantage is that you can fly to and from this airport cheaply and get to London relatively quickly and inexpensively with the Stansted Express.

Worst airport I've been to. Ways are much too long. Security simply removed my only lighter. Gates are only published 15mins before gate closes but time to gate is at least 10 minutes. Getting through duty free is a 10min walk. I wouldn't recommend this airport at all.

In my opinion lost a bit of its shine. Fast Track actually slower than regular controls. Quite expensive

Traveled through a couple of times in recent weeks following a prolonged period of self-induced abstinence having suffered abysmal experiences in the past (18 months ago).



The facilities have not had the investment required to deal with the volume of passengers. But the airport continues to make money at every single stage, so clearly passenger / customer revenue is not being invested.

If management won't invest, then I'll now continue to vote with my feet, and use Gatwick, Heathrow and even Luton, which at least has a major redevelopment to blame.

The staff are shockingly uncaring, but despite it all, I can't really blame them. If the tone at the top is wrong, and so many people are having such a miserable time, dealing with the fall out must be hell on earth. At least I don't have to go back there every day to earn a crust.

I'll happily pay to avoid Stansted in future.

Small bright spots: staff at the Windmill Wetherspoons show what can be done well in a service business.



Just a dysfunctional waste of what was an architecturally golden airport.

Avoid.

Very smooth transit through the airport today.
Obviously much quieter than would be normal.
Staff , as usual, highly professional.

Avoid like the pest if you can!
Probably the worst airport I've ever been to. Security is ridiculously slow and lengthy but the worst bit is the waiting area. Crammed to the brim and I always find myself sitting on the floor.
The very few restaurants are always packed, you're almost pushed through the duty free area, literally nothing about this airport is enjoyable.
I always fly budget when coming to London but it's making me wonder whether it's worth saving those few bucks to not only arrive in Stansted but then having to pack on the 30 quid for a return on the Stansted Express and the extra 45/60 mins it takes to reach the City Centre. Might as well just fly to Gatwick or Heathrow.

Stansted used to be a lovely airport, but now it's dreadful. The staff are rude, inept or rude and inept! The facilities don't seem to be fit for purpose. It is my closest airport, but I can't see me using it again in a hurry! I give it one star very reluctantly.

A busy busy Airport. It's always a trek getting through here when you're going anywhere. Staff clearly hate their jobs too.

Far away from London, not enough things to do, if you are bored... But Easy to get to a plane..

Parking is expensive if you're picking up and dropping off and take more than ten minutes. Staff are a little rude and abrupt.

New installed speed bump just before drop off payment tool is way to high and sharp. I damaged my car. Have photos and video. Going to call to my insurance tomorrow. Overall airport is good. Never had problems before.

The queues for security checks are overwhelming, and to get to the boarding gate you have to take a tiny train (after passing through dozens of shops that make up half an airport). I was on time for the flight thanks to the friendly staff. It is an airport with very cheap flights, although being so far from London the transport to the city can go out for an eye of the face. It is advisable to take a transfer if you arrive at the airport at night.

Why us it at this airport the men moving around the trolleys are unhelpful and down right rude!!

Overpriced parking it is redliclios the amount they charge for parking

Worst airport I have been so far, starting with staff, layout and speed of security...

Worst airport I ve ever been to. For one, it s like you re in a shopping mall from the time you go through security. They make you walk among the shops and it s often intentionally unclear where to go for the gates. Definitely trying to manipulate you into stopping to shop for a while.

After you escape the shopping labyrinth, you enter a cavernous space that can best be described as a corral for waiting passengers. There are no gates just a ton of airport benches/chairs surrounded by more shopping, with some food mixed in.

There are some screens with flight numbers and times, but beware, they only post your gate about 45 minutes before your flight time! So basically you just wait around in a huge herd of other people, not knowing where your gate is.

I had 2 hours before my flight, so I made the mistake of taking the train from the corral to any random set of gates, just to escape and wait in peace and quiet. I figured I could just ride the train back when it was close to my flight, learn about my gate, and be on my way. Not so! It s a one-way train! When I started thinking about finding my gate, I asked someone, and they said, you can t get back there you ll have to call the operator on the courtesy phone and wait for someone to come escort you. Keep in mind, I still don t know my gate number at this point.

So I call, and I wait for an escort. Meanwhile, there are several other passengers, who don t speak English (they never stood a chance in this airport least intuitive place in the world), who also can t find their gates, and also can t get back to the corral! So it s not just me this is obviously a common issue.

A guy came to pick us up, and drove us in a van, to another spot where we could access our gates. Once back inside the building, we were essentially going the opposite direction you re supposed to, so there weren t signs directing us, and we had to go through several restricted area / authorized personnel only areas, not to mention ask several employees about where to go.

I made it to my flight in plenty of time, but only because I was several hours early, I called the help desk to get my flight number, and then had to be personally driven to a spot where I could go through a maze of emergency exit stairwells and other adventures to my gate. Comically poor design. Probably extremely low-cost operationally, but terrible for passengers.

If you don t mind waiting among a cacophonous throng of other passengers and having only one shot at finding your gate in a poorly-labeled labyrinth, then you probably won t mind this airport. Oh, also it s a real hassle to get there from London, and there s no plugs or places to fill up my water bottle. At least it s been an adventure! I think in the future I might ride the train to the wrong gate again just to spite them and raise their operations costs after all, they ll still chauffeur me to the right terminal!

The employees were nice enough, but no sense of urgency for passengers who were about to miss their flights. It s worth spending a little more on your flight and going from Heathrow you ll make it up in convenience (tube) and normalcy of airport operations.

Really expensive food in the duty free right next to the worst men's bathroom I have ever been to. Long queue, broken and dirty tiles and a smell of different body waste productes combined with thick cigarette musk.

This airport is something between a motorway service station and a urinal.

Worst airport. It takes two hours to get off the plane and take a bus to London. Please do not withdraw money and ATM. The exchange rate is 5 pounds, the worst exchange rate, and the ATM exchange rate is 1800 won per pound. The Naver exchange rate at that time was 1450 won.

Terrible and condescending staff. Taking pride in making 5 year old cry. No customer care 3 months and no response to complaint.

Disgustingly organized flow of passengers. Starting with the long queue for passport control upon arrival and ending with the complete absence of any seats. Would put a minus, and not one star. And over the years, NOTHING is changing for the better.

Staff not very pleasant especially during customs controls.
Too many expectations due to poor organization.