Liverpool Speke Airport

Liverpool airport has recently been renamed after one of Liverpool's most famous exports, namely John Lennon. Now I have never been a fan of naming facilities after people as invariably the quality doesn't live up to the name it is commemorating. This is definitely the case with Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

The airport itself is situated about 5 miles outside of the city of Liverpool in the district of Speke - hence the former name ...
...just of the A561. Public transport is also operated to and from the airport in the form of buses, however there is no on-site railway station which can cause some problems. The nearest one being Hunts Cross which then has regular airlink buses to the terminal building, but this just adds hassle to your journey in my view.

The airport itself has plentiful car parking facilities, with an additional 1500 spaces being recently added. Spaces ... more

Liverpool airport has recently been renamed after one of Liverpool's most famous exports, namely John Lennon. Now I have never been a fan of naming facilities after people as invariably the quality doesn't live up to the name it is commemorating. This is definitely the case with Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

The airport itself is situated about 5 miles outside of the city of Liverpool in the district of Speke - hence the former name Liverpool - Speke airport. It is easily accessible by car just of the A561. Public transport is also operated to and from the airport in the form of buses, however there is no on-site railway station which can cause some problems. The nearest one being Hunts Cross which then has regular airlink buses to the terminal building, but this just adds hassle to your journey in my view.

The airport itself has plentiful car parking facilities, with an additional 1500 spaces being recently added. Spaces come in both the short and long term sections with varying prices depending on length of stay. Just for reference the price for one week is £38.40 which is quite reasonable. If you don't wish to park in the airport there are various independent businesses in the Speke area providing secure car parking facilities as well as a shuttle bus to the terminal building.

The airport terminal itself is quite small, although it has expanded quite recently. Arrivals are situated to the right hand side and departures to the left of the building.

Firstly we shall take the check-in area. This has recently been expanded and further expansion of this section is planned. There are approximately 25 check in desks. Flight information screens located in the room tell you which desk to go to. This part of the airport is very spacious, with large queuing areas, and friendly staff waiting to assist you at the desks. Behind the check in desks are the ticketing desks and passenger information centres which are normally not too busy.

After check in you have to proceed upstairs to the departures area. Here you will see the much talked about statue of John Lennon which the Queen unveiled a few years ago. Well if you didn't know it was John Lennon, you wouldn't guess from the statue, and it is situated in a very strange place - on a walkway through to main departure area so no-one really stops and looks at it.

Upstairs you have the usual suspects - WH Smiths, the amusements, a cafe and a bar. Well the cafe has very few seats, and tends to be very overcrowded with large queues. The shops and amusements are adequate but nothing out of the ordinary. The bar is only open later on in the days which may be a problem for some. The same is true for a fast food outlet, and again seating is a major cause of concern at meal times. On the plus point the bar has seats which overlook the runway so at least you can watch the planes - well if there are any at the time you are there.

After this section is the security area. Now this is the worst section of the departure area. Very small and often quite crowded, it is not pleasant by any stretch of the imagination. In addition, security here doesn't really seem to consist of much, few bags are checked and the occasions that I have been through, no-one seemed very attentive or interested.

You proceed on through to the main departure lounge which is quite large, again overlooking the runway area. Despite plenty of seating the lounge can be quite dirty, with very few cleaners present. Again a bar, WH Smiths, a food place and a souvenir shop are present, again very ordinary.

The gate section of the airport is again very poor in my view. There are 7 gates I think, and 5 or 6 are squashed into the very small downstairs room. Very few seats are present and this can turn into a real scrum at busy times. In addition all passengers have to walk out to the aircraft.

Well that sums up the departure area. Now for the arrivals. Again a very small main room with 3 baggage belts I think, although in the case the number is enough, the size of each belt means that not everyone can get right up to it, and as a result it can become a bit unpleasant.

Passport control again seemed very non-descript with few officers working the area, and certainly no visible security presence as with most airports these days.

Through here you are back where we started in the main part next to where you checked in, and you have another cafe and various phones and bus/taxi desks as well as the machines for paying your car parking charges.

Finally the general facilities and organisation of the airport needs to be mentioned. There are very few toilets, which can be crowded and dirty at times, with poor hand-driers (anyone who has already been will know exactly what I mean!!!) The rooms are all too small, and are not cleaned well enough. Flight information screens are unreliable to say the least. For example when I landed there, I was through security and out ready to leave - my parents were amazed as they were waiting for me and it hadn't even noted that we had landed yet!!! Last but by no means least is the fact that flights seem to be bunched together. I feel that the facilities and seat numbers could possibly be adequate if not for the fact that it seems about 6 flights go within 45 minutes of each other and then no other for 2 hours. It just strikes me as badly organised and not a very fitting tribute to John Lennon himself.

The last word will be the Easyjet, Ryanair, and Manx Air are the most frequent users of the airport, with several charter holiday companies using it as well these days.

Thank you all for reading and happy flying (just not from here!!!)
 

...less