East Midlands Airport Reviews 

Landed late which didn’t help
Then a bus to passport control which was around 300m
3 aircraft on at once
Guy on passport control shouting to get you forward yet no one there helping people stuck at the e gates
Then used M&G which we’ve done dozens of times and had a fine due to their new system
We were 1.5 hours late due to the bus and passport control queues
So after getting fined from the rapid drop off last year and now the new meet and greet system Ema will be out last choice from now on

This is the absolute WORST airport I have ever been in. Everything closes so early, they time your wifi and then make you PAY. THERES ALSO NO SERVICE. I had a flight that was gonna get me home at 1am delayed by 3 hours. No shops or restaurants open for food. Lounge closed. No one telling us anything. No charging ports outside of CLOSED RESTAURANTS. Do NOT fly out of here, just go to Birmingham. Would give it negative stars if i could. It should be shut down.

Our Audi Q5 was only taken 2.35 miles each way to their parking lot for 18 days but what a mess it was in on our return! We are quite methodical in how and where we keep things but what did we encounter on our return?

1) Half pack of Jakemans Lozenges emptied (bar one!) and blatantly left open by the gear shift!
2) Glovebox and 2 other storage compartments rummaged through and left as though they'd been burgled!
3) All heating and ventilation controls messed about with!
4) Radio pre-sets all changed, and left on Radio 3 which we never listen to!
5) Electrically adjustable seat moved to an impossible driving position, and lumbar support completely altered!
6) Drive-mode changed from 'Comfort' to 'Dynamic' so I dread to think how it was driven, and with a cold engine?

I don't know how EMA vet these cretins who have zero respect for our cars, but I think Uber is the next step for us, and our car can remain untouched by their grubby thieving & tampering hands, safe inside our garage!

Overall, the M & G system is a pretty good model at EMA and is now complemented by an umpteen thousand £ automated check-in and check-out of keys (and still plenty of staff, doing what!?), but where have the numbered parking bays gone when you go to collect your car? They have been replaced with coloured zones so you can have the pleasure of wandering around dozens of scattered cars to find yours, a delight when there's heavy rain about, just like the infamous boarding and disembarking of planes at the airport with no airbridges for protection from the elements!

P.S. I have given 2 generous stars to EMA only due to its location and available flights......

Extremely rude security who wasn’t even the member of staff serving me while waiting for bag, he began talking to me very rudely with a smile on his face. It was 4 in the morning. He then continued to laugh and smile at me while picking out things about my appearance in front of a large number of people while checking their bags, I finally got away when my bag had been checked but this experience ruined my day and was extremely rude and unprofessional

It would be a good, convenient, clear laid out airport. Unfortunately the no ticket barrier and tight payment details mean you can easily end up with a £100 parking fine. An extortionate amount for the action. Disappointing about the blatant daylight robbery! Especially for people in a cost of living crisis. Shocking.

The rapid drop of charge is a complete Con. Its difficult to find out how to pay, signs are difficult to see. This is just a money grab by the airport.. WHAT A RIP OFF

I regularly travel from East Midlands Airport and have to use the assisted travel.
I want to say a massive thank you for the assistance provided last January by LUKE DOVE and last night by CHLOE.
They both were polite , kInd, thoughtful and above all very helpful.
They were a credit to the airport.
Thank you LUKE and CHLOE

Terrible organisation... 3 planes landing at 1am... they have all day, why not organise them 30mins apart. Queues through passport control takes forever due to every plane arriving at once. Absolute joke. Who ever is in charge of organising things needs retraining. They ard doing a terrible job

BOOTS closed at the airport Inside and outside. It is showing click and collect but this is not the case. No information on the website informing passengers of other facilities that could accommodate these needs. Was informed by a very unhelpful individual that contact BOOTS they shouldn’t have gone!! Unbelievable bad customer service. No more flying from EMA

I booked my car park and normally don’t have any issue with it. One part is my fault and hold my hands up to it. I booked us back on the wrong date coming back. I emailed them on support emaparking.co.uk (can’t put full emails)had no response, I sent it 5days before my holiday. So I emailed another email GeneralEnquiries.MAGParking apcoa.com, I got auto response but again never heard anything. So I had to call them and that was hard getting someone to speak too. They charged me £30 for one day. But when I got to the barrier it didn’t open so press button to speak to someone and it said on the screen £20. So they over charged me when I range up. Even who I spoke to at the barrier said I paid over the amount. Not good as I been stressing and worrying all holiday.

Drop off is a rip off price, red no parking lines everywhere to rip you off even more if you have to stop for any reason. Departures fine no issues, security no real issues but when we flew out the x-ray machines seemed to be on the blink as more people had bag checks than I have ever seen before, airside duty free is totally over priced £3 nearly for a small bottle of water, sweets,crisps for the kids you need a mortgage for, flying out fine, return no real issues with security and passport control but then the baggage collection, area is fine but the toilets were absolutely disgusting, the worst I have ever seen at any airport anywhere, toilet paper all over the cubicle floors and urine on all the toilet seats and floor, a total disgrace when you have sat on a plane for five hours, the ladies from what my wife said where not much better, they obviously want your cash on the way out but do not care when you get back. So overall a rip off going and totally neglected when you get back

Very disappointed with the behaviour of a female member of staff at the Ryanair customer service desk at East Midlands Airport on Sunday 5 April 2026.

My 12-year-old son has ASD, so we approached special assistance for help making sure he could sit with me during the flight. The special assistance staff were absolutely wonderful, especially Kerry, who kindly walked us over to the Ryanair desk.

Unfortunately, the experience with the Ryanair desk staff was completely different. The woman behind the desk spoke loudly and dismissively in front of other passengers, repeatedly saying the flight was full, over capacity, and that she had passengers she needed to get onto the plane. We were calm throughout and had already explained that my partner was happy to sit separately if needed.

The whole interaction made us feel like an inconvenience and caused unnecessary distress to my son, who later told me he had been shaking during the encounter. What made it worse was that, after insisting nothing could be done, she then changed the seating and seated me with my son anyway.

Kerry from special assistance apologised to us afterwards despite having nothing to do with the situation and said herself that she was shocked by the behaviour.

A little kindness and discretion would have made all the difference.

Shocking place if you’re intolerant to gluten, lactose etc. You can not find anything to eat. You can get the odd thing from hmv but really expensive!
Pack you’re on food if you're travelling abroad 😋

Had an awful experience this morning at east midlands airport,
The customer service was awful, open dropping off our case the lady took my sisters passport, she then jumped over the counter to the ryan air desk with my sisters passport without saying a single thing to us, we was stood there wondering what was going on completely in the dark. I ended up approaching them at the customer service desk to ask what the issue was and if everything was okay, they advised there was a slight rip on my sisters passport and they was contacting immigration to see if we would be able to board our flight, they then came back over and advised ryan air would not accept the passport even though the rip was not on anything that would affect any details on the passport, the passport is the new passport with the plastic identification. Still not sure it immigration was even contacted or if they just made the decision themselves, appreciate it maybe there policy but the customer service was awful, being left in the dark not knowing what was going on for us then to have to approach them and ask and for the woman to just jump over the counter was obserd.

Unlike all other proper airports around the country, you still have to limit your liquids to 100ml or they will confiscate them. Myself and many other fellow passenger were caught out. Upon our return we arrived 10 minutes ahead of schedule but had to wait 15 minutes on the tarmac becuase buses were not available...and now passport control. The final insult was having to wait in what felt like a portacabin for 30 minutes while passengers from 2 aircraft had just 5 automated passport gates available to use. You have been warned. Avoid and use a proper airport not this excuse for a bus station.

I live in Nottingham and will avoid East-midlands Airport in future.

Went to pay for Rapid Drop Off parking less than 48 hours since we parked. But we were to late so now waiting for a fine.
Apparently you have to pay within two days not 48 hours. My fault but what a bloody ripoff!!!

It’s all about making money not customer service, shame on you Eastmidlands Airport!!!!!

Absolutely terrible airport experience.
The whole airport feels designed not to help passengers, but to trap people into paying penalties and extra charges. The parking and passenger drop-off system is extremely confusing and badly organised. Everything is set up in such a way that it is very easy to make a mistake and end up fined.
I dropped somebody off at the airport and shortly afterwards I was involved in a road accident. Because of the stress and confusion after the accident, two days passed before I could deal with the payment. When I tried to pay, the system was already blocked and they refused to accept the original payment, only the penalty charge. I then received a letter saying they could not help in any way.
No understanding, no flexibility, no customer care at all.
This is honestly one of the worst airports I have experienced in the UK. It feels more like a money-making machine than an airport focused on helping travellers.
Very disappointed. Would not recommend.

The airport has taken an entirely cynical approach to car parking particularly the process of dropping off passengers at departures.

Where previously your were obliged to pay the extortionate £5 charge for a two minute drop off you are now allowed to leave the car park with a small number of signs informing you that if you do not pay the charge online within 24 hours a PCN notice will be served.

This is cynical in the extreme and exploiting people with busy lives and those with no digital footprint

EMA is by far the best local airport.
My Mum who is in her 80ies and on a walker. The Assistance team are second to none helpful, friendly and reassuring and take their responsibilities seriously.
The meet and greet service again is brilliant close to the departure building the staff are pleasant and upon returning in the early hours our car was parked close for disabled and ease of departing. Well worth it.
The airport lounge and staff are also a lovely oasis prior to flying.

All in all a great experience and we will be back!

My grandson who is not 3 yet still drinks alot of milk, this relaxes him and helps him sleep. The staff at security threw all his milk away because they said he was over 2 ( he is 2yr 10 month). We had to buy semi skimmed in the airport ( they had no full fat milk). My grandson knew the difference and screamed his head off on the flight. Apologises to anyone near us flying to Lanzarote on 23rd April 2026 but blaim that stupid security woman. How ridiculous ????.