Hamburg Airport Helmut Schmidt

Decent airport to fly into though it was pretty busy.
The system they have for grabbing luggage could be improved. That area and information was a little hectic.
The carasoul area wasn't too big either.
Besides that, a decent airport. I flew here from a connection from Frankfurt so there weren't any issues with that. I probably landed in the domestic flight area but I'm not positive. It was my first time using this airport.

Le pire aéroport où nous sommes allés :
Samedi 2/09 : charter Paris-Hambourg affrété par MSC
On a attendu 1h40 les bagages. Aucune explication. Pratiquement aucun personnel. Personne sur le tarmac. On aurait cru que l'aéroport était en grève !

Samedi 9/09 : charter Hambourg-Paris affrété par MSC
Notre avion était là avec 30' d'avance. Or, nous avons attendu dans une petite salle bondée 2h00 (où des personnes toussaient, résultat : nous avons la COVID !). Peu d'explications. Les personnes qui arrivaient ont dû attendre plus d'une heure dans l'avion avant qu'un bus vienne les chercher (moins de 300m entre l'avion et le bâtiment des arrivées). Ensuite, il y avait des personnes dans l'avion qui nécessitaient une assistance. Elles ont dû attendre que la Croix Rouge vienne les sortir. Nous avions également des personnes handicapées : aucun fauteuil de disponible. Une honte ! Pratiquement aucun personnel. Personne sur le tarmac. On aurait cru que l'aéroport était en grève !

De plus, les 3 WC étaient très très sales, sans papier toilette.
Je comprends que l'aéroport manque peut-être de personnel, mais il faut soit planifier moins de vols, soit recruter plus de personnel. Ce n'est pas une manière acceptable de gérer un aéroport !

Worst experience I've had I think ever in an airport. I had a flight scheduled for 2:10PM on a Friday in July 2022. I got to the airport around 11:15AM, went to check in at Icelandair (I checked in online the day before, but because my flight was going to the US, I think I had to go to the counter to get my passport and vaccination card checked). I was thankfully flying business class so I didn't have to stand in the somewhat lengthy line there. I then headed to the security line...which ended up going outside of the airport. Outside! I waited for 45 minutes outside the airport in the line, and there was no wifi out there. Thankfully there was an overhang so I wasn't out in the sun the entire time, but there were designated smoking areas so there were amounts of time where the air was extremely unpleasant. Once inside, at least there was wifi, and then I waited another almost 1.5 hours to clear security. I was somewhat concerned about missing my flight even though I had gotten to the airport 3 hours early. Ridiculous!

After getting on the plane, the captain announced the flight being delayed about half an hour to wait for other passengers since the security line is so long. I had a connecting flight that was less than one hour after landing, but thankfully the flight landed on time and I made it to my connecting flight without any problems.

Terrible experience. I understand that the airport might be short-staffed and all, but either schedule fewer flights or get more staff. This is not an acceptable way to run an airport.

We had arrived in Hamburg by train but we're headed to Amsterdam by air and that means we're at HAM for our flight. Dropped off by taxi, it took a bit of time to find the right counters as we were so early that the Amsterdam flight wasn't even up on the boards.

This is the usual setup for most non-US airports. Counters can sometimes rotate and so they post your departing destination (in order by departure, which I find confusing) and the counter where you need to check in. Once past that hurdle, the rest of the process was easy.

Security was not difficult, especially as our Delta elite status got us into the fast pass queue. European standard security - remove all segregated liquids, laptops and other electronics out, shoes on, belt on and only a magnetometer.

Through security is a large duty free shop with no "anti scent bypass" option so I zipped past it as quickly as I could. Lots of other shopping, many restaurants and at least three different airline lounges. Gate numbers are clearly posted, toilets were plentiful and clean enough.

It was a mostly pleasant experience and I will be looking forward to another trip to Hamburg one day.

[Review 12066 overall, 1849 of 2019.]

Complicated baggage drop off. You have to do it yourself which is fine with me. BUT not all the machine where for Brussels airlines and they didn't work properly at all. Not only for me but for all the
guys flying this airline. So after standing in line for ~60 minutes to go to a not working machine we had to stand in line again for an agent. The stuff around the machines were rude. My flight was 7: 15 am and I arrived at the airport at 4am which should be enough time. Haha. I was told my hand luggage was to heavy. After my suitcase was taken. No chance for me to put anything in the suitcase. So I had to take my laptop out, checking in my hand luggage and carrying my laptop by hand until I had the chance to buy a bag. And always rude stuff. I will avoid at all costs that airport in the future

I arrive here a lot from the US. Every time I have to wait forever for my luggage, every single time. Today, I arrived at about 1pm from Reykjavik Iceland. Now I am waiting at the baggage claim for a whole hour (!) after 15 hrs of flights and Jetlag - and there is still no luggage in sight. The conveyer belt started about 10 minutes ago. I saw a single suitcase. Nothing else. This is crazy. I have been to many airports but never had to wait this long - not even close! And definitely not every single time.

And while I am at it: why this disgusting smoke smell? Why the difficult internet where you have to give your email address and other info so you can use internet for a limited time? All avoidable and annoying things that completely suck. Fix it!!

My experience was really good.
I was only departing so I didn't have to deal with some of the more annoying stuff like baggage claim and passport control.


Security line was great.
The conveyor machine is short so you can see your stuff and not feel the anxiety of thinking someone ahead of you took your stuff and walked away

There is a good variety for food and shopping.

The bathrooms are weirdly unkempt with graffiti for how clean the rest of the airport is.

Props for connecting the city train to the airport. It was really easy to hop on at the main train station and take a train to the airport. Easy peasy.

This airport is significantly nicer than Frankfurt Airport. I must emphasize this because Frankfurt Airport is ridiculously old and outdated. The security lines were quick and painless. Everyone spoke English which was really helpful since I don't speak German.

Here's the most important thing to remember: GET WATER AND FOOD BEFORE going through departure customs. I say this because I didn't know that our gates after customs had no restaurants, delis, convenience stores, etc. We were stuck with vending machines. You also can't leave once you're in because you've already "exited" the country by going through customs. So we paid over 3 euros for a small bottle of water. I was so pissed.

Other than the lack of water and food, I think it's a lovely airport. It's clean, it's easy to navigate, lots of shops before customs, and easy to get to via the train.

I absolutely love HAM's modern airport!

Well connected to the Haufbanhof, bright and airy design, tons of shops so you won't get bored if you have a long layover. (check out the Lufthansa luggage shop on Terminal 2 departures area for some Rimowa titanium luggages!)

For foodies, you can go to Bistro Pier 1 near gates A17/18 departure area past security. With views of the planes taking off, you can have a warm snack (we had bratwurst naturally!) and Movenpick organic coffee. Or there's also a Marche bakery pre-security.

Berlin Tegel looks like the ugly stepsister that desperately needs a makeover compared to HAM.

Don't have much to say in terms of amenities or anything, but I have to say that this airport gave me on the best help ever.


Let me paint a picture, here I am in Berlin at about 3 pm and my flight is out of Hamburg at 9.45pm.

My plan: take the express train at 5 pm to land in Hamburg at 7, just in time for my flight.

What happened : didn't get on the correct express one and accidently took a local. Ended up arriving in Hamburg Hbf at 8.30. Took a cab to the airport and reached at 9.00. The checkin counter long closed and here I am on the verge of tears. ( couldn't miss the flight because I had a huge presentation and meeting like three hours after I was supposed to land). I see the attendant and ask if there's anyway she can help. She looks at me with a smile on her face and says, hope you can run!

She takes me to security, explains the situation, pushes me thou and I AM RUNNING THROUGH THE TERMINAL. Reach the gate at 9 30 and they let me in.

I made it and it was all thanks to that lovely lovely lady.