Tivat Airport — Local services in Mrčevac

I have flown from Tivat airport 2 times now. Both times have been consistently disappointing. To say the airport is too small would be an under exaggeration. It needs to be updated and expanded as soon as possible. The airport is tiny, the staff is uninformed and unorganized, the restrooms are disgusting, and the passengers are rude. My 1st flight from Tivat was at 9 am. As suggested, I arrived 2 hours before my flight on Turkish airlines. There was a gigantic line going all the way across the inside of the building. Checking in, which took about 35-40 minutes because the staff kept getting up & walking away from their check-in podiums. I realized this huge line was for security. The security line stretches across the building, cutting across the growing lines for checking in. I wait in this absurd security line for about 30 minutes, as locals continue to cut in front of me, push around me, & bump into me. Finally a staff members calls for people on my flight to come to the front of the line. I do as told, & about 70% of the people on my flight got through the passport check into security. The passport lady then stops the rest of us from going through & continues to allow the "normal" line to go through. This continues for another 15-20 minutes, when finally someone standing near me noted to the worker that the people we were initially in line with were about to go through and we were still waiting on the side (despite our flight boarding in about 10 minutes). The staff member was upset by this & threatened to have the police called because the man was being "disrespectful" Finally a little over 5 minutes later, she allows the rest of us through. Security is two scanner machines, they do go pretty quickly. The boarding gates are 6 gates, with limited seating, a duty free store with perfumes, alcohols, & small snacks. As well as 3 vending machines: one snack, one drink, one coffee. My 2nd flight experience didn't start off as terribly as the 1st. But ended up being arguably worse. This was an afternoon flight at 15:20, so I arrive at 12:45, just in case the lines are as terrible as they were the 1st time. A pleasant surprise when the airport is almost empty.I stand in the line to check in where there is a woman behind the desk. Yet she is not checking anyone in, just sitting there, then looks up at the growing line, & gets up and walks away. The lines continue to grow, and slowly but surely, employees start to come from the back and check people in. The man who ended up actually checking my line in was relatively friendly. Next is the dreaded security line. Luckily, I am one of the first 10 people in line. Of course, a local Montenegrin woman pushes herself in line in front of me. Now, the security line is closed off at this point. We can see TSA agents at the scanners but there is no one checking passports yet. After about 20 minutes, someone finally comes by & calls for people on another flight to come to the front. Then as all those people are filing in, an AirSerbian employee comes to the security line & yells that my flight is going to be delayed at least an hour so she recommends we go to the small cafe at the front of the airport in the meantime. I follow her suggestion. 20 minutes later, an automated voice chimes that my flight is now welcome to board. So I jump up, pay my tab, and go to the security line. Which is again, closed. I decide to just wait. But the screen says that my flight is boarding. I stand there for 30 minutes until someone comes to start checking passports. I sit in the crowded seating area near the gates, for another announcement to now let us know that our plane will not be ready until 17:00. I've already been at the airport for a couple hours now, and now I'm through security so there's truly nothing for me to do but sit and wait. I decide to go to the bathroom and it smells like the walls and floors are covered in urine. The smell is sour and rancid. Finally, at about 16:50 we are able to board our plane. So it's safe to say that I will NEVER visit...

Recommendations for Tivat Airport Management

Based on the reviews from passengers, it is clear that Tivat Airport faces significant challenges, particularly in handling passenger flow and providing basic services. Below are several key recommendations to address the main concerns and improve the overall experience for travelers.

Expand and Modernize the Facilities

Issue: The airport is described as too small to handle the number of passengers, especially during peak season, leading to overcrowding and long lines.

Recommendation: Consider expanding the terminal to accommodate more passengers comfortably. Modernizing the airport by adding more check-in counters, larger security areas, and additional seating can significantly improve the flow of passengers and overall experience.

Improve Sanitation and Cleanliness

Issue: Many reviews mention filthy restrooms and unsanitary conditions, which tarnish the airport's reputation.

Recommendation: Implement stricter cleaning protocols with more frequent checks throughout the day, especially in high-traffic areas like restrooms. Hiring additional cleaning staff during peak hours will help maintain cleanliness.

Address the High Prices of Food and Beverages

Issue: Travelers frequently complain about overpriced food and drinks in the airport café and lack of affordable dining options.

Recommendation: Negotiate with food vendors to ensure fair pricing in line with local market standards. Offering more varied and reasonably priced options, such as vending machines with affordable snacks, could enhance the traveler experience.

Enhance Customer Service Training for Staff

Issue: Numerous reviews highlight the unprofessional and unhelpful behavior of staff members, including long wait times at check-in and lack of communication.

Recommendation: Provide customer service training to staff to foster a more welcoming and professional atmosphere. Staff should be well-informed about flight schedules and equipped to handle passenger queries efficiently.

Improve Communication and Signage

Issue: Passengers report confusion over check-in and security lines due to a lack of clear signage and staff guidance.

Recommendation: Install clear, multi-language signage throughout the airport to direct passengers to check-in, security, and boarding areas. Additionally, staff should be trained to provide accurate and timely information about flights and procedures.

Upgrade Security and Check-In Procedures

Issue: The security process is slow and inefficient, with many passengers complaining about long wait times and unclear procedures.

Recommendation: Consider installing more security scanners and employing additional personnel during peak travel times to reduce wait times. Introduce organized queuing systems to prevent crowding and confusion.

Introduce Flight Information Systems

Issue: There is a lack of real-time flight information, forcing passengers to rely on their phones or other passengers for updates.

Recommendation: Install digital flight information boards throughout the airport that provide up-to-date flight statuses, boarding times, and gate information. Ensure that the airport Wi-Fi is functional to allow passengers to access flight updates on their devices.

Expand Duty-Free and Retail Options

Issue: Passengers feel that the duty-free shop is too small and lacks variety.

Recommendation: Expand the duty-free area and introduce a wider range of products to enhance the shopping experience for travelers.

Implement Better Queue Management

Issue: Passengers often face long, disorganized lines for both check-in and security.

Recommendation: Introduce clear queue management systems, with designated lanes for different airlines and flights. Staff should manage queues to ensure order and prioritize passengers whose flights are soon departing.

Tackle Overcrowding with Seasonal Planning

Issue: The airport struggles to accommodate the volume of passengers during peak...

My time at Tivat was not only the worst airport experience I have ever had, but one of the worst experiences I have ever had to endure period. We arrived at 7:15am, leaving what we thought was plenty of time before our 9:55am flight. When we entered, the line for security was snaked around the entire lobby. After 45 minutes we’d made it through around three quarters of the line. At that point, I looked up and realized that it was no longer a line but a throng of people shoving their way towards a single woman checking passports before the security checkpoint. The crowd was so thick that I could neither make out the layout of the airport nor see any floor aside from what was directly underneath me. The image was akin to that of a camel being shoved through the eye of a needle. The crowd only thickened as more people arrived; passengers were packed together like sardines, and parents shoved their way through the sea of people because their children needed air. At one point, a panicked mother pushed her way through yelling that her daughter couldn’t breathe. On multiple occasions, I was on the verge of crying, vomiting, or having a panic attack, and I was genuinely concerned about being trampled. For any avoidance of doubt, there is not a single detail here that is exaggerated.

As it turns out, they were calling people by flight to go through security. Had they announced this to everyone (which seemed like the obvious thing to do), the hundreds of panicked people would have had much of their worries alleviated. We waited in that stuffy, packed lobby for nearly three hours, and the rush of relief I felt upon finally handing my passport to the passport control worker (who, by the way, seemed to be one of three people working there) was unlike any relief I’ve ever felt.

Because of the sheer level of chaos, I thought that surely this was an anomaly and that if the airport experienced that level of crowding on even a semi regular basis, they would be better organized. Reading these reviews has proved me wrong. In the few hours that we were waiting in the lobby, we were able to brainstorm multiple easy, cost effective ways to remedy much of the dangers of such disorganization. For example, close the doors to stop people entering and making the crowd bigger, use line rope to sort people by flight groups either inside or outside of the lobby, or at the very least use a loudspeaker to announce what is going on. If we were able to think of these cursory, blatant solutions in the moment, I can only imagine that the reason the airport had not yet employed these is either due to laziness or lack of intelligence, possibly both. There was absolutely zero crowd control coming from staff. It was pandemonium.

I am usually able to keep my cool during stressful situations, but this was different. The stress of almost missing our flight and being stranded in Montenegro for another day was one thing, but the physicality of being trapped in a crowd of people with no means of escape was another entirely. Avoid this airport at all costs, even if it means canceling your trip...