Airports can make or break a holiday

[NoOneKnowsWhoYouAre]

I've just got back from Marrakesh. Had a lovely few days, but the peace and serenity of the entire holiday was totally ruined by the shit show that is Marrakesh Airport. It felt like it was designed to suck the life out of you piece by piece. Or queue by godammed queue.

The queues started to get into the drop off zone. It took 20 mins to get to the drop off area from the entry to it.

Then you queue to get through the doors of the airport. That took 10 minutes as they xrayed everyone's bags.

Then you queue to check in, another 15 mins. You can't check in online, we'll you can but then it has to be printed and validated at the airport

The you queue for security, that only took 10 mins, where they xray your bag again.

The you queued for passport control. This took forever. Almost an hour. It was genuinely horrendous, made worse by the fact I had an upset stomach and thought I might vomit.

Then as you leave passport control, they checked your passport again!! So bloody weird.

The they charge you nearly £4 for a bottle of coke in the shops. And if you need the toilet you get to queue again.

The you queue again at the gate, where they check your passport and boarding pass then send you outside where, they check your passport again(!!) whilst you yet again queue.

I travel all the time, I go to Morocco regularly, but I will never set foot in Marrakesh airport again as long as I live. It was horrendous. It felt designed to break you.

A shit airport can absolutely ruin a holiday, am I right??

Has anyone else had a worse experience at an airport?

It hasn't improved since my visit in 2017 !

I've had bad experiences at many airports, but they tend to be single episodes.
Marrakesh was certainly the worst, closely followed by Dallas/Fort Worth.

@Georgyporky it definitely doesn't seem to have improved. It was truly awful. I've been to Dallas and O'Hare which for such big airports seem exceptionally badly managed but nowhere near the scale of Marrakesh!!

Oh op I am another person who has said “never again” about Marrakesh airport. It really is horrendous.

i always aim for tiny airports wherever possible.

I think queues and expense at an airport don’t really ruin a holiday, but being treated really rudely by power tripping customs/immigration staff can! Puts me off going back to the USA, after seeing them racistly heckle a very elderly Indian woman, then (perhaps for letting my feelings about that show on my face) being held for over an hour with no explanation before having some questions barked at me.

It wasn't that bad, but I have similar views of Chambery airport in France. It was a disorganised nightmare. On arrival into it, the passport queue was outside, in negative temperatures.
Then on the way back... the queues were that horrendous every flight was delayed as most of the passengers were stuck in a queue somewhere. The flight was supposed to arrive before lunch, but didn't leave until half 12, and they ran put of food. We finally found food at 4pm, having only had snacks all day (Christmas Eve, Scotland...).

I've never heard a good word about Marrakech airport.

I've just travelled through Dubai and that airport was a breath of fresh air! Less than 5 minutes at bag drop and the same through security. Spotlessly clean and all staff friendly.

Liverpool airport is great too. I try to fly from Liverpool whenever possible.

Manchester Airport infuriates me every time it's so shabby and miserable.

Sharm el Sheikh airport is an absolute bloody shambles, probably the worst airport I’ve had the misfortune to have travelled through, along with Marrakech. I have no intention of ever returning through those airports again, they are both awful, dreadful airports.

Same here @TickingAlongNicely - after last December I swore I would never go near Chambery airport again. I don't care if it's a shorter transfer to resort, I'd rather sit on a coach for an extra hour than spend the whole day sat on the floor in Chambery.

Heraklion airport is dreadful and not fit for purpose.

Luton is the worst of the London airports. City is by far the best.

@NoOneKnowsWhoYouAre Would it have made any difference if you had an EU passport?

Worst airport I’ve ever been to was JFK, from landing it took us longer to get through security and out of the airport than the entire flight from the UK, it was an utter shambles.

Stansted is the nearest airport to my parents but it really puts me off visiting; it seems to get worse every time we go

Marrakech and Miami. Two worst for me by a country mile.

Dubai airport is fantastic. Especially the lounges. JFK, no thanks.

On the flip side Liverpool airport always puts me in a good mood for a holiday, would choose it over Manchester or Leeds that are closer whenever possible.

I was in Marrakech two weeks ago and Agadir 2 months ago.
I agree security is very tight but it wasn't a problem. Security staff and border control were nice people and had a joke with us.
We just gave ourselves plenty if time and responded politely to instructions and there was no problems.
There's much more chaotic airports around.

Yep, having a crap experience travelling home makes me need another holiday.

I'm flying home from a two week holiday tomorrow and I'm already dreading it - fingers crossed for no delays which is my biggest bugbear when flying home. Wouldn't it be great if we could just click our heels and be home 😂

I’ve seen a few and I’m not naming anywhere specific but just say some of the sub-Saharan airports are interesting….

The US (places like Denver aside) suffers from a lot of dated infrastructure
that struggles with current levels of demand.

OTOH the other extreme are places like Dubai, elsewhere in the Gulf and a few places much further east shows what can be done if you have access to plenty of cash, cheapish labour and no real constraints due to environmental or planning issues…

I agree, the worst airport I have ever been in. I went earlier this year arrived 3 hours before the flight to come home and almost missed our flight because of the queues. And when asked they didn't care that we might miss a flight. Only made it because I made a fuss about getting through.
My husband went back last month for work and the queues were even worse.
A contact in Morocco said the airport hasn't changed in 10 years but 10 times as many people are going and they just can't cope

We've just been to Crete and I agree Heraklion is overwhelmed by the number of passengers, can't imagine how bad it must be in the summer. To be fair, there were posters up about how the airport is going to be redeveloped over the next few years so they are clearly aware it's not fit for purpose. And the staff were great. TBH the thing that shocked me the most was the toilets, everywhere else we'd been in Crete they were spotlessly clean but the airport ones were minging.

They've just opened a new Delta One lounge at JFK and it's stunning.

I was at Dallas/Fort Worth last year, I thought it was fine and DH travelled through regularly with work up until 2020. What didn't you like? I have to say I was distracted by all the cowboys

Nice.

We have missed connecting flights because of the queues and it’s just so annoying.

Can't remember Marrakech being particularly bad, maybe I've blocked it out! I would say my worst was definitely Cairo, which is definitely the only one that casts a shadow on my holiday. Both arriving and departing actually, though departing was worse.

Didn't love Addis Ababa much either, had a three hour transit which I had to stand in a queue the entire time - I literally didn't sit down once I got off one plane until I got on the next three hours later.

Manchester airport is just awful. Security is totally chaotic, bags regularly pulled because the imaging equipment hasn’t worked yet you have to wait 40 minutes for them to get to your bag and see that, surly staff, stupid refusal to use all the passenger bays at fast track, lounges are empty but you can’t get in because they’ve a pre-booked Dreamliner in… just horrendous . I loathe flying out of there.