I recently used EMA for the first time in about 20 years. I'm afraid I wasn't impressed. The owners seem to be trying to extend the aviation offering without themselves investing, and the end result is, from a passenger point of view, poor. The airport is obviously operating at above its comfortable capacity (in mid-April), so in summer it will be a place to avoid.
My main gripes are:
- UK Border area far too small
- essentially outdoor covered walkways airside not fit for purpose
- extremely limited and uncompetitive retail offering in both departures and arrivals
- poor signposting around the airport estate
- shabby and visually unappealing buildings
In comparison, I was very impressed by Liverpool Airport, which is a similar size in terms of passenger throughput.
Time for a bit of serious investment. In the meantime Mrs LGS won't be booking EMA flights.