Several hundred passengers have been turned away from Stansted Airport, due to severe disruption caused following thunderstorms and heavy rain. Some outbound flights have been cancelled or put on hold, while some incoming flights have been diverted to other airports .... click here for more info

David

Hi anyone know what the Duty Free offers are at the moment (usually something like 2 x 1l bottle of spirit - e.g. smirnoff and bacardi - for £15)

Stansted workers to strike over Bank Holiday

Passengers are facing further misery at Stansted Airport after baggage handlers and check-in staff voted to strike over the Bank Holiday.

Over the past week, travellers have had to contend with severe delays and hundreds of flight cancellations at the airport, following the security alert after the government uncovered a plot by terrorists to bomb transatlantic flights.

Now they will have to put up with further disruptions caused by two 15-hour strikes, which will take place on August 26 and 28.

The dispute among airline staff is over pay and around 500 union members voted three to one in favour of strike action to secure an improved offer from employers Swissport.

A spokesman for the GMB union said it submitted a claim for a substantial pay review in April, along with a call for a higher rate for Sunday working. He said Swissport had not met the claim for Sunday premiums and the pay offer contained unacceptable conditions.

Charter airlines, Ryanair and easyJet will be affected by the strikes.

With permission from Travelmole

EDIT: Talks are set to resume at ACAS in an effort to prevent industrial action ... David HT Mod

I don't know if this is the right place to post, but in response to the information provided about the bank holiday strike, is there any advice on what we should do and what we're entitled to?

We fly from Stansted to Zante at 6.20am Sunday 27th August with Thomascook airlines. The strike is supposed to continue until 8am that morning.

thanks

Hi rugbybabe ... it may be worth waiting and watching for further developments today. Although it is understood that some progress was made yesterday at ACAS, talks did conclude last night without an agreement being reached. However, all sides will reconvene today for further negotiations.

Fingers crossed !!

David

Good news ... all sides have reached an agreement tonight, and the proposed strikes have been called off.

David

Am v pleased it's all sorted! Was getting worried as to what would happen.

Hopefully we'll have a 'trouble' free holiday now, if not I know where to come for the advice!

I'm sure all locals know it by now, but anyone who can get to Southend, Rayleigh or Chelmsford can get a bus (X30) direct to Stansted. The journey takes about one and a half hours from Southend, an hour from Rayleigh (both £10 single/£15 return - valid for month) and 30 minutes from Chelmsford (£5/£10). Any Essex concessionary tickets are valid between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. It is absolute bliss as it runs almost every hour except for the period between 23.00 and 02.00 outbound and 01.30 -04.00 a.m. inbound.

I am flying to uk soon and was wondering if anyone can recommend a taxi firm?

i am flying from USA to Stanstead

thanks

Andy

I did post a question somewhere on this site but i have lost it!

I was looking for a taxi from stansted for my family in October - I have found one on http://www.airport-taxis.com and have got one booked, just thought i would post my own answer just in case anyone else has the same problem.

This is a great site, lots of information - thanks holiday truths!

Andy
Michigan

Do Ryanair have specific checkin desks at Stansted? Could anybody tell me which ones they are, and whether they would have a specific checkin desk(s) for the early morning flight to Girona - or does this change on a daily basis?

We will be going to Majorca on the 9th October - flight departing 1045 returning on the 16th October landing 1600.

What is the airport like at the moment at those times - particularly at 4pm in the afternoon as we will be having someone pick us up. When we returned at that time in May there was a long queue to passport control - I suspect it may be worse now.

On our departure we will be arriving 3 hours before so should be ok then

Pippa

The last two or three times I have passed through Stansted the queues at passport control were pretty bad but moved quite quickly - about 15 mins. Your real problem will be baggage reclaim as they are notoriously slow at Stansted. i have waited for an hour on more than one occassion.

I never been to Stansted, day or night and found it anything but horrendously busy!

We arrived at Stansted Airport 7.30am for our flight departing 10.45 to Palma. Checked in very quickly with Air Berlin.

We noticed that the queues through Security were not too bad so decided that rather than risk waiting we would go straight through. It took us about 25 minutes - not too bad at that time of the morning. It obviously got worse though as we did have to wait for one young family to board who had got caught up in the queue - only 15 minutes though.
Other people also said that it took them an hour to get through.

At the moment it really is advisable to arrive at the airport in plenty of time - Stansted is always very busy first thing in the morning. Far better to do this then risk missing your flight.

Pippa

I know someone will know the answer to this. I'm flying DUB-STN on 16th November, returning on 19th November. The question I have is that I'm using National Express to get from the airport up to Norfolk and the same on 19th. I have a choice of 2 buses. My flight is 1155 with Ryanair. The choice of bus is 1 arriving Stansted at 1005 which leaves Thetford at 0840. Would I be pushing it? The earlier bus leaves Thetford at 0540 and arrives Stansted at 0705. Which do you suggest bearing in mind that it'll be my parents transporting me from theirs to Thetford.

hi cate

i think the later bus will be ok for you as long as you don't get caught up in the rush hour traffic on the M11

arriving at stansted airport at 10.05 will give you 1hour 50 minutes which in my opion should be long enough to get checked in !

otherwise you will have nearly 5 hours at stansted by using the earlier bus !

hope you have an enjoyable trip

lou x

Speaking as a frequent Stansted Airport user, I personally think that 1 hour 50 mins is chancing it a bit .. Stansted security checking can be a bit slow, and if your departure gate is at the far end of a terminal, it can be quite a trek ...

Take the early bus and enjoy a leisurely meal landside before check-in and be in control of the situation. After all, your holiday starts when you leave your house ....

I would agree with Alsacienne - the check in queues for Ryanair are always very long.

Added to this is the fact that at certain times it can take a good hour to get through security and some of the gates take a good 10 - 15 minutes to get to.

Far better to arrive early (albeit very early in your case) and just relax and have some breakfast then run the risk of missing your flight.

Last week we had a good 3 hours in the departure lounge but the time passed, had a drink, something to eat, wandered round the shops, hubby had a sleep!! There were plenty of seats and quiet areas to relax in too.

Pippa