Bologna Marconi Airport

✅ Trip Verified | Where does one start? Most airport experiences begin with arrival at the airport in question and so it is with Bologna Airport. The airport and indeed substantial advertising promote the so-called “Marconi Express” train service from Bologna Central Train station to the airport. This “service” is advertised as running every 7 minutes and supposedly only takes 7 minutes. This is not the case! In the train station there are only 2 small ticket vending machines and one was broken the day I needed to use this “train”. The queue for the machine was horrendous and there were no staff available to help and no ticket kiosk. The “train” is in fact a single track mono rail consisting of three small carriages. On the day I used the service a rail was placed to preventing overcrowding and rather than the very 7 minutes claim of the website and posters one waited 34 minutes. There are NO SEATS at all in the waiting area for this “train” and so elderly people and those who are frail are left to stand. Moreover the charge of of 9 Euros one way is an absolute rip-off. Once inside the Monorail the windows are greened out with advertising and there are few seats so standing room only. There is a considerable walk from the arrivals areas of the Monorail to the departures areas of the airport. I did not see any assistance for disabled people and would imagine that wheelchair users and the frail would find this very difficult to manage. I will add that I did not see any uniformed staff at all. The check-in area on the ground floor of this airport is absolutely fine. The problems begin when one clears immigration for the non-EU flights. The departure area is very small and was clearly designed for a different age such as the 1970s with a smaller volume of traffic. The non-EU departures area is an absolute disgrace. I used this on 29th July 2022 and the area was an absolute health hazard. I had to stand for almost 2 hours in extreme heat with no air conditioning and I noted how the toilets were left in a dirty state. I shall add that the boarding of several flights operated by a range of airlines was poorly managed. Differences in booking class, groupings and no doubt fares paid were not honoured or respected and a general “scrum” seemed to be encouraged. My experience of this airport is very disappointing indeed and I will not use it again in the future. One does not need the hassle and inconvenience at an end of a holiday.

✅ Trip Verified | A poor, stressful experience. This airport has an extreme capacity problem. There's not nearly enough staff to direct travelers or even space to accommodate the number of individuals passing through. Security lines are long, and people cut regularly. Be sure to give yourself extra time or you may very well miss your flight. I would not recommend flying from this airport to anyone

✅ Trip Verified | This airport is one of the worst, especially given the pretensions the city has to a cultural, culinary and engineering heritage. Appallingly filthy floors, seats at gates, toilets. Staff unavailable or uninterested. Security process as bad as ever. I have always tried to avoid BLQ and travelled from here this time only to try to save time. The airport is unacceptably dirty. I shall certainly make every effort to avoid it in future.

Not Verified | The worst airport ever! Unable to process planes on time! Arrived here from different airport and luggage area was literally stocked up with luggages and noone there so you can just go, grab which ever luggage you want and walk out! Disgusting dirty and smelly bathrooms! Not enough charging points. Everywhere people sitting on the floor. No employees to direct you anywhere. Spoke with number of employees (check in desks, gates) and they asked me to write about my experience as it is here like this every day. Disgrace. Avoid if you can!

Not Verified | Encountered the rudest ever airport worker at security. She was rude. Did not listen. Tutted and muttered under her breath. Obviously someone doesn't like working with people. I work in customer services and I understand and have had bad days, but if I reacted like her, I would be spoken to. I'm here for my 50th. What an unfriendly, rubbish, upsetting start.

Not Verified | The worst airport I have ever flown from. There are thousands of passengers but only space for a few hundred. Capacity and facilities do not match at all - it is a tourist trap.

Not Verified | Terrible experience all around. Flew in and waited over 30 mins for baggage carousel to even start. There were no other flights waiting and airport was very quiet. Departing was even worse. Arrived well over 2 hours before flight. Lufthansa had no agents working and the line was already 100 people deep. Finally checked in with 20 mins left before flight was supposed to leave only to find the line at security backed up with literally hundreds of people. Only made flight because it wound up being delayed. And then despite the fact the plane was loaded and doors closed we sat on the ground for another 35 mins and wound up missing the international connection home. Literally nothing about the experience at this airport was good. Had spent the previous week hopping around southern and central Italy. And every flight and airport there were great. No issues. Hard to believe in 2022 an international airport could be this poorly run.

Not Verified | Huge queues when we arrived. Upon entry the food was limited for vegan. The staff were rude and unaccommodating. We did not want to be in their cafe / restaurants paying over the odds but have to be as there is so little seating in the main airport. Worst European airport I’ve travelled to. If I’d have known how bad it was I would not have finished my Italy trip here and I would have departed from somewhere that wouldn’t have left me feeling miserable on my last morning in Italy.

✅ Trip Verified | I have never in my life arrived or departed to a poorer organized airport. When you arrive they keep you in the sun for about 20 to 30 minutes but lets say you're excited and you do not mind, but after you holiday ends you need to fly back home so be prepared! Train your mind because nerves are going to pour, 10 airplanes leaving in a 5 hour window and at the gates where they check you all hell breaks loose! Only 2 gates out of 5 or 6 working! Its hot, nobody cares about covid 19 anymore, we are like sardines in a can! After that we go to the gate to board, ok, go down the stairs, door closed, we stayed on the stairs from the gate for 30 minutes only for someone to come and tell us that we have to go up again. Sorry we are late. really?

✅ Trip Verified | It is the first airport I have used where the Business lounge is outside the security check and if one does not know it one has to get out and then do the security check again upon exiting the lounge. Crazy thing is that the lounge could have an exit after the security check if they rearranged some of the areas. Also I have seen foreigners struggling to find someone who could help them in a language other than Italian (I actually had to act as interpreter) so I think that they should be a little more professional in their hiring (both for the airport staff and the shops).