Faro Airport

I might be very lucky however Faro Airport which I use regularly is fine. People who complain about the staff and queues might take a closer look at what staff are all too often forced to deal with. How many times does the clear message regarding what the arrangements are when passing through airport security? Liquids up to 100 ml are allowed provided they are placed in plastic bags. Simple? Not enough it would seem from the number of folk who seem astonished when given this information yet again on reaching the scanner point. No wonder the queues are sometimes longer than they need to be. The patience shown by airport staff should be the real talking point and not the perceived lack of speed when dealing with our aircraft security. Most travellers of course do anticipate the need to reach the scanner unencumbered by items that require to be placed separately and cannot be on ones person when scanners do their work. However Faro Airport has its fair share of individuals who exert a negative influence out of all proportion to their numbers on the experience of fellow passengers. So we should be encouraging them to take a little time to reach the point of entry ready to place the required items in the separate tray. Also of course ensuring that they have nothing on their person to inevitably trigger the alarm and unnecessarily placing yet more avoidable demands on airport personnel. Overall when passengers extend the courtesy of being prepared for their security arrangements things run more smoothly. This also applies to Duty Free shops when the need to produce boarding cards seems to present some travellers with astonishment to the extent that they then have to unearth the contents of at least one bag before being able to complete what should be a simple transaction. This all takes time of course and leads to frustration for staff and fellow passengers. Overall therefore before rushing to judge Faro Airport and its staff possibly based on a fleeting snapshot take time to reflect on the contribution that you and others have made to the experience.

This July will be my 7th year returning to the lovely Algarve. Last summer we travelled in July (kids school holidays) but previous to that it was always in June. Our experience last year was a complete nightmare. Like a previous post on this site the queues are everywhere and it creates panic with passengers afraid they will miss their flight. On arrival once we left our hired car we queued for the check-in desk - very long wait. Then once checked in we queued for the x-ray hand baggage check - very long wait. Then into the duty free lounge and we had to queue again for passport control. Terrified we would not make our flight. I can only assume the reason for this is peak time travel in July (as opposed to my previous years travelling in June) but now I see from other comments that this has happened on other months. I have to say it is the one thing that dampens my ideal holiday in Portugal - we are returning but I dread the thoughts of those long Queues. Surely they can incorporate passport control as you are going through baggage check x-rays?

Been a few years since I have been through Faro but must admit overall a good experience. Drop off system seems a bit confusing and security still slow but on the whole better than previous experiences.

The queues were made less bearable by jobs worth grumpy and disrespectful staff. Officials need to get a grip on the 30-45 min queues at peak time and use Easyjet's methodology of directing passengers to the next available assistant or security point. The staff badly need training. I'm sure there are good staff too but they need to get rid of the unhelpful and incompetent staff that are sending passengers home with sour tastes in their mouths and who may decide on another destination for their next holiday rather than face Faro airport again.

We use Faro airport very often. Checking in with bags is relatively acceptable although long queues. However after you have join the queue to pass through security. There the misery begins. There you see officials hanging around not working effectively when they could have opened more security gates. Every time we use Faro airport this is the part of the travel that really is the nasty aspect.

We have been using Faro airport for the last 20years. On arrival to pick up a pre booked hire car it was just a short walk through the doors to the right. When we arrived at the end of September 2012 there is now a ridiculous long walk down a tunnel to get to exactly the same place. This is made worse as some of the way is uphill. Not easy with cases those with mobility problems with children or elderly. We are hoping this is just temporary as it is an absolutely stupid thoughtless idea. I have said I would recommend this airport apart from the problem above which will make us think twice about returning.

Just arrived back from Faro airport this afternoon and I have to agree with the last review that this is the worst airport I have travelled through with a young family. We arrived 2.5 hours before our flight time and spent the next 2 hours queuing to get through to the departure gate. Checking our bags onto the flight was relatively quick and straightforward however once through this stage we had to join the queue to pass through security. We had to go back through the bag check in desk and join the end of the queue which by now stretched to the far end of the airport. Did not appear to be any rational process or system in place to try and move travellers efficiently through this aspect of your journey. This was causing distress to many who feared they would miss their flight. We eventually made it through this stage to the duty free area only to discover that any chance of visiting the shops was not an option as the you had to join another lengthy queue stretching the full span of the terminal to get through passport control and onto your departure gate. Not acceptable and quite frankly shambolic. Our holiday in Portugal was very good however this was a frustrating exasperating and disappointing end to the holiday and not a pleasant experience for anyone unfortunate enough to be passing through Faro today. Not sure if this is the norm and I would be shocked if this is how the authorities at Faro airport and the people in charge of tourism in Portugal wish to portray their airport.

I travelled through Faro airport with my wife and two young children. I have to say that it was one of the most inefficient airport that I have ever used for delays in getting through security. We waited in queue in the heat for 45 minutes. I can't imagine any variable reason for directing all travelling families with young kids and push chairs into one queue while all other 7 gates are free to use by everyone else many of which were completely free during our wait. This was a truly horrible and disappointing end to a lovely family holiday in Portugal.

Outrageous prices for drinks and food. The bar upstairs tried to charge me 12.5 Euro for a beer and a coke! When I said no way she lowered the price to 7.50 and said she had made a mistake! Really? Even at 7.5 Euro it was still outrageous. Duty free was poor too. The security and passport control with every booth at the automated booths working was fine. Staff in security were courteous too.

The food prices in this airport are outrageous. 12 Euro for a very poor burger meal is not acceptable - I tried to complain at the airport but no good - there is obviously no regulation of the commercial establishments operating here.