The hell of Treviso Airport

Such a lovely sunny afternoon in Venice - Carnival costumes, mulled wine, lively atmosphere - but now I'm in the hell of Treviso Airport. I've complained before about how badly designed their terminal building is - someone told me the architect was in prison and I really hope that it's true. Designed by someone with no idea how an airport works, Treviso boasts a departures hall too small for passengers and 'departure gates' which are merely doorways off two stairwells with no space for queueing. I always pay for Ryanair's priority boarding, which helps with the queue/scrum situation (though you do still have to push your way through). But there's no disguising that the airport simply can't cope with passenger or flight numbers. Since it was only rebuilt about 3 years ago, that's pretty poor planning.

Tonight there are three flights due to board simultaneously from one stairwell. I already know that this won't be physically possible (I've experienced two flights boarding at the same time and it wasn't pretty). There have also been a couple of delayed Ryanair flights and the departures hall was so full there was barely space to sit on the floor. Lengthy queues for refreshments, nursing mothers having to stand in the shop entrance with nowhere to sit, passengers sitting on stairways, confusion over passport control...

Rant over. It's true that Ryanair are sometimes cheap... but there's still a price to pay. And since my flight has now been announced as 50 minutes late, I think I'll be switching back to British Airways or Easyjet.
> See my earlier article about which airline to choose for Venice flights.

Here are some photos of Treviso Airport departures hall half an hour ago.



> Something more jolly: Venice Carnival photos