Gatwick Airport

[Butts]

Has the fact BAA was forced to sell this off really resulted in any improvements for passengers?

Would BAA have done this anyway ?

BAA are faced with the prospect of having to sell Edinburgh or Glasgow which to me is a nonsense.

All Aiports have turned into Shopping Centres that also happen to have a few flights scheduled.

Progress

 

[wintonian]

Apparantly a new security area with lots of lanes promising to process 50,000 people an hour (I think) opened yesterday - took me 30min just to do that bit on Sunday

Sent from my HTC Desire S

 

[Butts]

Apparantly a new security area with lots of lanes promising to process 50,000 people an hour (I think) opened yesterday - took me 30min just to do that bit on Sunday

Sent from my HTC Desire S

I take it you can pay extra for the "express lane"

In my opinion the finest Terminal in the UK is T5 at Heathrow - after the initial hiccups you never hear how good it is now - not newsworthy

 

[Nym]

Need I mention that the only named best terminal in the UK was at Manchester... When T2 first opened, have a dig through SkyTraxx...

 

[Butts]

Need I mention that the only named best terminal in the UK was at Manchester... When T2 first opened, have a dig through SkyTraxx...

Do you think it's better than T5 ?

Slightly off topic does anyone know of a website that lists the prices charged for tobacco and alcohol at UK Airports.

All I can get is World Duty Free website which has no prices

 

[Mojo]

I flew from Your London Airport... Gatwick a few weeks ago and it was an excellent and seamless experience. We were able to drop our bags off the night before meaning we could go straight through to departures in the morning. The range of shops in departures was very good. When we returned there were minimal queues and baggage reclaim was handled promptly. The staff were polite.

Not as good as Terminal 5, but overall a very satisfying experience. A million miles better than those appalling airports in Mediterranean countries.

 

[Nym]

Not been to T5, but they ruined MANT2 recently... too much retail now, takes up terminal space it shouldn't. And all the service corridors are now wayyy too curvy to be useful.

Not worked or traveled through LHRT5 yet though, so can't comment, but I suspect T5 is nicer.

 

[wintonian]

I agree being a major airport departures is quite good Much better the my usual haunt of Southampton with its Costas, WH Smith and cafe bar type thing.

However I only ever take hand luggage as I can fit all I need to into it for at least a week so have never tried bag drop and reclaim.

Sent from my HTC Desire S

 

[Butts]

Just been wathching that "Inside Gatwick" program - didn't realise the shops don't pay rent but a % of profits - about 8%.

No wonder there are so many of the bleeders

 

[WestCoast]

A million miles better than those appalling airports in Mediterranean countries.

That's a bit general. I have found some Spanish airports rather good, the new terminals at Barcelona and Madrid are very smart.


--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Need I mention that the only named best terminal in the UK was at Manchester... When T2 first opened, have a dig through SkyTraxx...

Manchester T2 was full of jazzy carpets!
Not bad at all overall though.

 

[SwindonPkwy]

I agree with the comment about Barcelona. Terminal 1 is very nice indeed. However, it does not have its own train station, so you have to take a shuttle bus over to T2 (original but renamed) first. I'm not sure if there is a plan to put this right.
BTW, when flying BA from LHR to BCN, it's a shame it is from T3 instead of the far superior T5.

 

[Mojo]

That's a bit general. I have found some Spanish airports rather good, the new terminals at Barcelona and Madrid are very smart.

I have yet to find an airport outside of Germany and the USA which meets the extremely high standard of British airports. Of course I have not visited them all, but those I have are all far worse, particularly Italian airports and seem to get great satisfaction in ripping you off for a bottle of water.

 

[WestCoast]

I have yet to find an airport outside of Germany and the USA which meets the extremely high standard of British airports. Of course I have not visited them all, but those I have are all far worse, particularly Italian airports and seem to get great satisfaction in ripping you off for a bottle of water.

Depends upon which British airport you experience, summer mornings at Stansted or Luton may not be the best experience.
Amsterdam, Munich, Zurich and Singapore Changi are great airports IMO, especially for connections.
Many Asian airports are great as well. Heathrow has a poor international reputation and having experienced an interterminal transfer pre T5 I can understand why.
Every Italian airport I've used has been awful and Paris CDG wasn't great..

 

[90019]

The last airport I used was Toulouse, which I found to be a very pleasant experience, and much nicer than any of the London airpots that I've used in the past.

 

[Greenback]

I haven't used T5, but my experiences in the Gatwick South Terminal have been very positive. It usually only takes a few minutes to get through security, and there always seem to eb a lot of staff ready to assist you if necessary.

Abroad, I've been very impressed with Oslo airport, far less impressed with Barcelona!