Yates - Birmingham Airport in Birmingham

Airport ques are shocking. Been waiting to collect my luggage for the last 50 minutes and it's nowhere in sight along with everyone else who is waiting. Absolutely awful, awful experience. I would highly recommend to think of using alternative airports.

The new ongoing changes to security and check in desks need severe revision. Not sure if current set up is only temporary but there appeared to be totally unorganised.

Most departure display boards were not working, not enough toilets, broken toilet doors. Bonus, good cheap cider at wetherspoons. Security was quick and easy.

Fast and efficient no problems at all

Allowing for work taking place, it was OK but signs could be better. Joined a massively long queue for the Tui desks, it was under the signs for Tui and when we finally got to the end of it it said "enjoy your Tui flight". However it was nothing to do with Tui and we could have gone straight to the Tui desks without queueing at all. The rep said he agreed with us that the signs were for Tui and another said "yes, they've borrowed our signs".....I didn't bother trying to understand the logic! Also, the monorail to the train station shuts down at certain times and we had to lug our cases on foot, but there are no directions to cater for this! Surely the monorail could close one side at a time for cleaning / maintenance and operate on demand during quiet periods - not that there was a train or bus running anyway - isn't this country hopeless? I really hope that the airport is better after the highly disruptive work that is taking place, at the moment things aren't well signposted and passengers are herded more like sheep than ever before. Airports exist because of us, the passengers and they should treat us more like customers and less like an annoyance to be exploited.

Always a busy place but seemed to be working well today.

Remodelling works causing huge queues and delays, absolute chaos! 🤬

Ryanair checks at Birmingham airport are terrible

The information is very weak, but transparent

The disabled toilet was terrible. Wee all over the floor by toilet someone had left tissue all over the floor. I have a stoma and needed a change, no where to rest my supplies on, nor a sink needed warm water to clean myself. Had to use wet wipes. Flight landed 11pm. Airport quiet, saw cleaners sitting down chatting, the toilets obviously hadn't been cleaned for a good while. Disabled toilets are used also by stoma users not just people with physical disabilities we have a hidden one and need access to washing facilities which a normal cubicle doesn't have. Unfortunately, the disabled toilet I used wasn't up to scratch.

Third class airport i ever see in my life

If there was a hell on earth, it would be the Birmingham Airport. A Severely understaffed (or maybe it’s just too small for the amount of people it services?) airport that results in endless cues that make NO sense. It’s an absolute disrespect to a human’s need for space. The longer I waited in each cue, the more I felt like I was losing my sense of dignity. Would give it negative stars if I could. Neurodivergent tip: If you have autism it is an absolute nightmare. I have rarely stimmed so hard in my life.

If I could give 0* I would. Now queuing at Birmingham security… after spending an age queuing to get up lifts. No end to the queue, worst queue I have ever seen in an airport. Almost no crowd control. Mood was getting ugly downstairs. At least they’re calling people who have flights, but this is atrocious! Where are escalators! Also ladies loos not working, only other one was other side of airport according to staff. Decided to start queueing for security and wait… this is degrading. Haven’t used Birmingham in a while, last time was fine, will avoid in future if I can.

Locally, East Midlands is the better airport despite being smaller.

If you are living in the Midlands, Birmingham airport is the nearest. Much smaller than Heathrow airport but easier to navigate. For Muslims who need to pray, the airport has a multi faith prayer room which has access to prayer mats and books. There is currently no fully halal restaurant but I did notice there is a Chaiwala opening soon which will cater for the halal market.

Toilets with torn locks, one in every 4 seat torn. Seriously I have never witnessed such an abysmal airport

The airport is not really good. But the transport to and from the airport is really good. Apart form that really basic , the management is really poor you have to wait in long queues for the security checking which is not really great and people literally just jump the line while you wait in line like a fool. But the have an air rail link from the airport to the station which is really nice and great connectivity from the airport. They have some restaurant and a dutyfree. Overall it's not really great.

Unfortunately, we were not flying this time. We came to drop off a hire car, we always get them from here, they have the cheapest deals in the area. The airport was quiet, just a few people hanging around the arrivals hall, we passed through to catch the shuttle to the train station.

Quite straight forward. Lot of people in queue for the security check.

Birmingham Int Airport. Its a disgrace to describe it thus!! We arrived on tues 15 oct circa noon, to fly Jet2. Checking in with Jet2 was a dream, straight through in minutes, no hassle at all. Security process is ridiculous, despite what the local management might say. Queuing in 4/5 'lanes' to get a lift up to the security level, being herded on as and when the area above could accommodate the next 20 odd passengers. Up to the security area and more 'lanes' to negotiate prior to boarding pass check, (all manual now) and after waiting an eternity for our turn, guess what? More 'lanes' to actually get to the security part of the operation. I do not know the master plan, but it appears to me that the current security check is about half the size it used to be. In fact after passing through, you go along a corridor where the old area used to be, it dwarfs the current set up! All told it took us an hour and 20 minutes to pass through a security area that is now more streamlined and efficient, place bag, jacket, belt, contents of pockets in a tray, walk through, pick up tray, done! I talked to the operating staff who are doing a good job with the resources given to them. Senior management MUST be accountable for this debacle, do they look at the situation with eyes open? International you are not Birmingham Airport, organised you are not Birmingham Airport. The rest of our experience there was ok as we only had a short wait prior to boarding. Lets face it, standing patiently in queues where families with crying children and passengers from all over the world being herded around is the perfect start to a well earned restful holiday.....NOT !!!!!!!

We landed at Birmingham airport yesterday afternoon and had to use steps to leave the plane . These steps were extremely wobbly and posed problems for the less able. Surely this is a health and safety issue.

Very very busy, and when we got to gate 56, not one seat for passengers, everyone sitting on the floor. Disgusting

One of the most awful airports I’ve been at in my entire life (and I’ve traveled a lot). No matter what day, you need to arrive >3 hours at the airport and be prepared to queue the ENTIRE time. This has happened every time we’ve passed through Birmingham and it’s a miracle to us how this experience is so incredibly much worse than at any other airport we’ve ever seen. Not even taking about the construction, the dated facilities and rubbish everywhere… really makes me want to travel to England a lot less every time.

Shocking!!! 2 hours long queue for the security ( one queue) ..then another 50 mins wait to the gate… staff at the gate rude and has zero respect asking multiple times if your bag has been measured… the only positive thing at this Birmingham airport is Business Lounges. ( great selection of food and staff very friendly and helpful)

Very very bad airport and not professional at all

Worse airport ever , super disorganised , long queues to go through security while most of the staff are just standing around and very unfriendly

Terrible experience. Extremely limited seated area after arrivals. Extremely uncomfortable if you have a longer wait for your next leg of travel...will avoid in the future

Absolutely horrendous!!! do not fly from here. would rather travel to scotland and get a flight than use this airport again, arrived before bag drop even opened and the ques were that bad through there and security we ended up on final call. No time for food/drink and had to run to the gate. Staff weren't helpful at all.

Awful security experience. Been the same for almost 2 years now.

Once again we did not get any support from Mitie special assistance we had to call to the office and were told twice someone would be along we could have been home a lot quicker

1 hour wait for security Still after 4 months security is up to an hour with queues out the door of the building!

Just arrived back after travel which included through a few airports abroad. to find £2 charge for a trolley!! Visitors arriving to our country, kids in tow & cases to collect having to pay when in ALL the airports we travelled through, they were free. What a welcome to tourists / visitors. Very disappointed

constantly the worst queues without improvement. Luton, Stansted, Gatwick etc are much better

Toilets need attention....blocked and dirty

Very busy airport, especially when Emirates A380 is checking in. The security clearance process is still slow but has been improved since the last 4 months or so. The liquid limit of 100 ml is still in place. you don't need to separate in a bag or take out of the bag and place it in a tray. Full human scan is in place. Free drop-off time has been dropped from 30 minutes to 10 minutes.... Duty Free area needs improvement to add many more services/shops. Many seating areas are contained by major shops/chains for food and coffee, etc. Free seating places need to organise and maintain the seat conditions.

Lovely place great atmosphere nice place to see and shops

Organisation and departures is a joke, 2 hours to get from entrance to security. So slow passengers were being called out of queue to go to security scanners. Never flying internationally again and will only use international as last resort. Updated 14.10.24 Still the worst airport in the UK....

I know there is work going on. However no staff presented many problems.

Excellent airport, compact and clear. Easy to get a taxi.

Clean and tidy but coming out of car park took 10 minutes to get out

Absolute shambles of an airport. 25 min queue to get to the lifts just to get to the security floor. Clueless design and 5000 people with no idea where they are going. The "refurb" is making it worse

Very crowded this morning, long ques to passport control and unorganised boarding process... Like almost all the times, delays for boarding and flight.. 50 min as of now.

The only issue is the parking charges are too expensive overall, it's good.

I honestly dont know why they decided to upgrade there security but have less security gates then before, since doing this ques have been so bad they have literally been outside the airport since july. Its awful

The assistance care at this airport is realy good, staff are great.

What a dump. Over an hours quiew just to get to security check in. Only just caught gate closure by a couple of minutes. Your staff couldn't have cared less, I told one miserable, rude guy on security,"we've been here for two hours, the gate closes in a few minutes", just to be told we should have been here three hours ago. What great customer service. Airports are stressfull enough without people like this. A bit of staff training might be appropriate. Will stick to EMA in future. Richard Green. Very dissatisfied customer.

Avoid Maple parking as they rag your car and steel money from the glove compartment. When confronted with photographic evidence they laugh and tell you to contact head office

One of the worst airports I've experienced, purely down to security. Took about 40mins to get through with a small enough number at a quieter time, having read other reviews I couldn't imagine getting caught up in a 2hr wait. I saw plenty of staff standing around talking and doing nothing, with 4 of 12 or so scanners open. Get through to the other end and met with about 10 other security staff having a chat at the back. Serious issues to sort here, but I'd say poor management and efficiency means I'd avoid this airport.

Got told by email to be there three hours before and then when we did get there we were told we were an hour early!! The staff there are not very nice apart from the woman on passport control on the way back in who was great!

Shocking, long cue in departures anx no information, this has not changed all year, absolute joke, shocking. Fair play to the staff for having to put up with so many frustrated passengers.

Horrible experience with travel on Monday morning, had very less time and lot of crowd to clear security. Literally boarded in very last second and would not like to have this ever again in future..

The level of incompetence is mind bending. 500+ people trying to get through security and there are 2 security lanes open and one is for express passengers. Every time I fly from here there are problems. Choose another airport.

AVOID, AVOID, AVOID. Dreadful in June. 2 hours 40 minutes to get through security. No better end of September. 1 hours 40 minutes to get through security. Chaos , no organisation at all. Birmingham Airport should hang their heads in shame.

Yet another security joke at BHX. Massive queues, no staff. Management should be down helping clear the queue, not sat in their ivory tower. Update, if I could give them zero stars, I would. Queueing for 45 mins, 45 mins before departure, and still queueing. I spoke with a security staff who felt I had sufficient time to queue. Absolutely clueless. Congratulations Birmingham for prioritising profit due to lower staffing for passenger convenience and passenger service.

This airport is a joke. Massive queues at security because they only have 2 lanes open. You need to hire more people! This is unacceptable. It's taken me over an hour to get through security.

Third worldist! Dirty, cheap lighting, abusive controls - they are capable of removing even the buttons on your pants... unfriendly staff throughout the airport service chain. But it has good connections with Europe.

I know airports are money making institutions however after covid19 I've been on more trips and seeing the different airports it clarified how awful UK airports are. I'll keep to Birmingham Airport feedback 1. Drop off zone, there is one 👍 It's free for 10 minutes (reduced recently from 20 minutes). They've installed obstructions so it's like queuing for an American fair ride. Seems to be there to make you take longer to get out so they can charge you. 2. Signage is only in English. Its an INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT!! Seriously its embarrassing. In fact signage is minimal. 3. W. C. Facilities - there are toilets 👍 there are dispensing machines for a couple of items. There are multi faith wash rooms available. Reasonably clean and a few cubicles in each area. There's some hooks for handbags or coats etc They seem very tired in decor and usage. You nearly need to kneel to sit upon the loo. There's often nowhere to place your mobile etc. The soap dispensers don't always work and the driers are not powerful. AGAIN no multilingual signage. No indication of how to use the loo. As some countries don't put toilet paper into the toilet. 4. I didn't notice any signs for a) Not Smoking or b) not bringing plants etc into the country Basically very English centric in an International Airport.

43 MINUTES to get through security with FAST TRACK! one of most tiring and disorganized airports I've been through from the 87 cities I've been through.

The personnel is great. But the airport itself is bad There is a machine singing the same song over and over and over in the 50ish gates waiting area There is no display in the 60ish gates, and priority boarding is not available at 58 59 60 gates

Massive queues (well over an hour for security) yet only three lanes out of 9 open. Feels like a bit of a joke. But no one is laughing. How come on return none of the European airports have queues like this? Very frustrating.

I have been travelling through this airport several times a year for twenty years. It just gets worse. The queues for security are terrible and almost feels like a free for all. The security staff are totally inconsistent with what they allow to go through. And the time to get through security machines takes longer than it ever did and not because people are packing the wrong things. Whilst I realise the importance of good security If this is the finished article after so much disruption for improvements then you have failed.

Good food options and venues 50% off alcohol 40% off certain perfumes etc All bar one cocktails fab too as a treat😎

For pete's sake bhx, get your act together. Show some semblance of organisation. And make it so that the whole team of baggage handlers are unaffected when he sprains his ankle (team of one, sheesh). Update 1: Been away again (Oct, last one was Jun) and bhx seem to have improved a lot. Not without a glitch, but much better. Thank you bhx.

Easy to get to, and well signposted when in the airport. Good information on flights

Security takes ages to get through. Ridiculous layout for departures. Queues to join queues, to join more queues. To get in a lift to join more queues. Airport looks tired and old. Will not be using Burningham Airport again!

A perfect sized airport with helpful staff. Security can be a bit messy

Sep 2023: Despite arriving two hours before my flight's departure time, I nearly missed it thanks to the disaster that they call security check in this dive. 1000's of passengers waiting in a massive queue outside the building, ostensibly because the rebuilding work is limiting the queuing area inside. What rubbish. The queue was caused by there being only 6, yes 6, security lanes open at 8.00 on a Monday morning. Amateurs. Oct 2024: A year later and not much has changed. This time it took 'only' 1 hour 10 minutes to get through security. The delay is now caused by a bottleneck at four lifts which ALL passengers have to take to up to the security check level. Farcical. I have seen airfield strips in African deserts better operated than this dump. One star for the personnel who, for the most part, remain polite and helpful. Hats off to them; a curse on their superiors who have created this mayhem.

Lifts to check in (!) are a bottleneck. The rest feels like a work in progress.

Well nothing has changed still long queues and long waits and not all of the security lanes open I guess due to shortage of staff. Just give yourself that extra bit of time getting to the airport.

Flight quite a lot been away 5 times this year .First time from Birmingham Airport. It will be the last horrible airport queues horrendous facilities very poor recommend you not travelling for this airport

Garbage. 3rd world countries airports are run better. Chaos

Easily the worst airport in the UK. The queues are unbelievable, getting an express ticket is essential unless you get to the airport three hours early. The airport is completely disorganised and unclean. I have no idea how ceilings get dirty!

Lined up .. walked Zig Zagging for 6 miles ... got fleeced at Costa food was crap..... Woman + man at Easyjet check in looked as if we were an inconvenience woman rolling her eyes as we hadn't got boarding passes to fly to Belfast man and her having a whispered joke at are expense rude.. . .. , Wifi wouldnt work properly .. waited for ages to get past security ... staff to me hadn't a clue wat they wer doing winging it...assisted people left to relatives to push...staff to busy trying to look cool or having a laugh with one another while people were rapidly losing the plot... got on plane staff on Easyjet were pleasant and journey home was also...my friends baggage was damaged and it was not Belfast airports fault as baggage was off quickly and left airport in no time...👍 Well done Belfast city airport. Rethink your plan Birmingham airport is chaotic and disorganised .. don't treat people like sheep penned in...i got through JFK airport quicker and your not a patch on their butt..

Worst security lines I've ever experienced! No nice shopping here! If you choose this airport get ready for horrible queues!

Dreadful. Poor management putting people in the same check-in queue for a flight to Turkey and Barcelona 2 hours apart... Chaos... then as some people manage to check their bags but then don't have enough time to get through security. 50 percent of the security machines are unused, with no queue management. The management - Why not buy a ticket themselves and understand the experience first-hand? I saw 4 of them standing in the airport chatting... Not a though to improve/ follow the process....Really do need to find a job they can do.

After all these years Birmingham Airport just gets worse and worse, the person in charge should be ashamed of themselves! Over 2 hours to get through security. No organisation, no clear plan for the airport. Hardly a good impression for Birmingham.

It's all very well upgrading the security for the future, but queuing for almost 2 hours, just to get to the temporary ones is a farce. 6 months now I think this has been going on for and it's still rubbish. The staff are as impatient as the customers too.

The worst airport in my life. Long ques and slow services. Almost missed my flight.

Travelled through Birmingham airport yesterday (7th Sept) AWFUL experience, massive delays to get through security, had to join one queue (35 minutes long) to be herded upstairs to join 2nd queue, time spent queuing in total 1hr 25 mins. When directed to departure gate absolutely no seating provided at all, everybody young, old and in between had to stand for another 40 minutes. Why are these delays, due to airport revamping, not being flagged on the airport website as this is obviously going to be a long running situation. People were missing their flights, so beware. Staff there doing their very best though under extremely difficult circumstances.

People have already written well about the genius ideas of having no escalators and lifts only and thought it'll manage crowds better. It doesn't and there are just huge lines of people waiting for lifts, and that's covered and all what makes it worse for me is that now there is an express line that you can pay for to skip lines! Proper slap in the face, making me feel so welcome to use the airport again!?? Honestly I'll just land in London instead

Ok today sailed through security.

Really great to experience, from landing to sitting in my car at the Short Run car park in under an hour, with checked baggage and customs clearance. Move forward 18 months, departure, and major refurbishment now underway, checkin times of 3hrs for short haul and 4 for long. Not the prettiest but it was almost seamless with no waits, no hassles, and all new security scanners which were great.

Not sure what is happening with renovations, 1.5 hours queuing at 630am. Escalators are out of action, so queues before and after lifts. Also need to pre-book CP 1, 2 and 3. Bham used to be my favourite airport, but not at the moment

Good, clean, easy to move around. Helpful staff.

It was very expensive parking and the staff was very rude

It used to be our favourite airport. Not anymore. The only way to get to departures is now by lifts and very long queue. Ridiculous.

Worst airport experience I’ve had ever. Flight at 5.10pm, arrived at 1pm and after 4 hours still couldn’t get thru the security check yet for boarding. Terrible congestion!!!

Total chaos and no passport check flying to Amsterdam.

Not overly keen on flying/airports. I was collecting partner from trip, it can become a bit manic around departures.

Maybe the worst airport in the world. They finally got new scanners and it’s chaos. Now be prepared to queue for over an hour unless you buy free fast pass for security. The old scanners were much quicker, I’ve never been to an airport that is so consistently this bad for queuing times. Unfortunately I have to fly out from here frequently and I never look forward to it. Sort it out, it’s beyond a joke by this point.

It’s very convenient to fly from England’s second city and Birmingham airport has a good range of airlines and destinations. However, it’s always been cramped, stressful with truly awful queues at security. It now has state of the art scanners but less scanners then before. Even though the investment in equipment is substantial they don’t have staff to operate them. Of course an airport knows the number of travellers weeks in advance but Birmingham saves on staff so many 100’snof people regularly queue for ages. Last Thursday was around 45 minutes because 3 scanners were not used. Please consider your customers and improve

Getting worse by the month, probably one of the worst airports in Europe.

Shoddy internal. Surfaces unclean. Check in Wally on Ryanair Large Luggage chatting constantly to Billy No Mates on the end of his phone. They were discussing their daily steps. Wally was paying very poor attention to the performance of his job role. Chanel Duty free - doesn't do trade before 5:00 am in the morning! This is England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and it looks overworked and knackered Security staff at scanning might start work at 3:00 am but please Smile ☺ and be polite

On arriving into baggage claim area. We are yet again greeted by the most dirty, smelly and disgusting toilets we have ever used. It is a shame for people experiencing Birmingham for the first time. I complained to the evening cleaner who was litter picking where there was no litter and looking at his phone. We always use this airport as it is convenient but honestly please look at and train the cleaning staff. The stale urine smell is familiar with many travellers.

Bloody awful, lack of communication, and herded around like cattle.

Bang on the Polish lady at wetherspoons was great and all the Ryanair cabin ladies were lovely 😍

understaffed, confusing signages, departure halls are separated by the arrival hall in the middle, the flight screens shows departed flights and the gate number of my flight only pops up ten minutes before closing. the management should be replaced.

I hadn't booked a care assist, but they saw my needs and looked after me so well. You always hear the bad press, and never the good, so today, as a disabled person, who denies it all the time. I will say now, I am embracing my disability, and I was treated with respect, by the staff. The passengers are another story. Well done Birmingham Airport.

Cleaner for toilet was unbelievably rude. Made my experience terrible because it made a horrible start to my holiday by the way she spoke to me. She was standing in the bathroom on the call which made me uncomfortable as it was and when I came out of the toilet she shouted at me when there was 2 other people in the toilet. My plane was also delayed an hour. This was not on the board or told to us, I had to find this out through flight radar. Worst airport experience I’ve been too.

First time attending BHX for travel. Pre booked parking to get there and the car parks are full? What have I pre booked exactly, took us 45 minutes to find a parking spot absolute joke. Too busy for the size of the place.