I’ve had the joys of flights through Stansted lately and after many years of avoiding it (my previous flight being an Israir A320 to TLV!) it reminds me exactly why I detest it.
Fast Track security doesn’t work and on two of three recent trips, I’ve ended up in the same security queue as everyone else without being able to work out how.
Security search staff are quite shouty and their ability to deal with anyone whose first language isn’t English seems to be confined to shouting more loudly.
VP9 is signposted throughout the airport. What the heck is that, and why is it on so many signposts?
The departure lounge is heaving but the airport still says “relax” on the FIDS until your gate is available. No chance of that. Even before giving you a gate, some broad suggestion of which satellite would be helpful.
The gates themselves are filthy and you’re left standing in a stairwell for ages to consider layers of thick grey dust on every surface.
Domestic arrivals are all coached into some ghastly dungeon in the airport’s undercroft. If you’re on a 737 or A320, neither coach leaves until both are ready to go (why?) which creates a pile-up of people at arrivals and means everyone is slowed down to the pace of the slowest passenger.
All told, it’s a pretty awful experience that could be made a little better by a few tweaks like sorting Fast Track, earlier notification of which satellite to head to (even if not the precise gate) and sorting the coaching ops. All are easy fixes, but flying through STN is probably one of the worst options out.
Last edited by Flightrider; 20th May 2026 at 12:33.