Blackfriar
To set some context my experiences of BFS are leaving ~6-7AM during the morning rush, leaving ~5-6PM during evening rush and generally arriving home mid-late evening. In that context I imagine our experiences in BFS are somewhat different. eg. The inverse of your journey, I’ve done Thursday night 8pm departure from BRS to BFS with enough regularity understand how busy it is. It is bad but not BFS bad.
My views are based on the entire experience from front door to bum on seat in aircraft. To say this is the nature of 21st century flying isn’t 100% correct. It is correct to say that about loco hubs, though.
Let me tone down and describe IMO in one word what comes to mind when I now think of BFS; uncivilised.
It’s not a one off experience which makes me write scathing comments as I did above. The inconsistency of service is the biggest bug for me and that is not hard to fix. Eg. Last week we spent 15 minutes in the priority security queue while the standard queues were flying. My OH’s bag was pinged for a search at security, it sat for almost 5 minutes before someone even acknowledged it and told her, “Oh sorry I sent it there by accident”
”Headphone wearing ******s and drunken holiday makers” are what contribute to me calling it carnage and a dump. Add to the being shoved in a stairwell 10 minutes before my plane has even arrived with said ******s all adds to worsen the experience. Rude and obnoxious are words that regularly enter my head as I travel through BFS. The reasonable response to that is if I don’t like it go elsewhere. My answer is, when I have a reasonable choice, I do. I vote with my feet u less I have no other sensible alternative.
I guess my point is, if BFS and Vinci are actually serious about attracting non-loco’s (rather than just blowing smoke up shareholders backsides) they need to first sort out their **** .
I’m not asking for a shiny new terminal just an improvement on what is currently there and that doesn’t require a rebuild, perhaps a redesign. I enter BFS with low expectations and yet the experience still regularly disappoints. I dislike airports today therefore have paid ways to get through them as quickly as possible and to sit in a quiet space away from the craziness. It is an occupational hazard for me so I take action where I can to avail of services which make my travel a bit more bearable. But, BFS can’t even deliver on these services consistently and that’s what they need to sort out if they think there is even a small chance of attracting a premium carrier.
eg. Tomorrow I have a pre 7AM flight from BHD. I know exactly when I need to get out of bed in order to make my flight without unnecessarily losing additional sleep. I know that after arriving at drop off, I can almost certainly expect to walk from car to lounge in 10 minutes, max. If I had the same from BFS, I simply have to make sure I add a lot more additional travel time for delays that occur due to inconsistency, as a regular work traveller time and consistency are what matters to me. This is therefore what shapes my view of the airports I visit.