msm2000uk

Just wondering whether anyone has been through NAP recently?

I'm contemplating a 1020 boat to then reach the airport by 1100 but with just 10mins before check-in closes I'm conscious of whether there are delays getting into the airport etc.

Thanks

M

corporate-wage-slave

I love Naples, but I don't go there for Teutonic levels of efficiency. I'd stay the night in that beautiful city, enjoy some of the amazing food there, perhaps take the train to Pompei, and go the next day. Ten minutes contingency may work for LCY, INV, BSL or BLQ, but not Naples. OLCI works there, and it's not a big airport by any means, so I guess you were a single passenger, HBO, you could have a double reservation knowing that one would have to be thrown away.

rossmacd

I went through a few weeks ago and it was a breeze. Note, this was on LX and in the late afternoon whereas I believe the BA flight(s) leave in the late morning so it may be busier then. I arrived about 50mins before my flight departure after a car service from a town about 1.5hrs from the north - I was more concerned by traffic delays in the area, rather than airport delays.personally .

But in reality for a boat service - I would give yourself more time or take the next day flight and spend some time in Naples, if their sloppy undercooked pizzas are your type of thing .

corporate-wage-slave

I know you're trying to wind me up with that one, so I must desist. Naples also specialises in pizza fritta, which is as overcooked and crunchy as it gets. But it's the veal ragú that is worth the visit, and the spaghetti alle vongole, so with clams. But as with many places in Italy, the streets are filled with thin people eating struffoli, ice creams and stuffed pastries (sfogliatelle), they have quite a sweet tooth down there.

hearingdouble

I ended up flying back from FCO, so can’t advise on NAP in particular, but I did spend a couple of weeks on the Amalfi Coast at the end of September.

We took a load of hydrofoils/ferries in the area. The boat timings, while roughly accurate, are not precise. We took quite a few around the area and not one arrived at our disembarkation port less than 15 minutes late.

I would not rely on an itinerary that involves a Neapolitan boat and only 10 mins of wiggle room!

BOH

The Southern Italy way of life is not the most efficient and attempting anything on a tight time schedule is not to be recommended. A certain law will invariably kick in and things will conspire to work against you. As others have said, have a night in the city, it is a great place

msm2000uk

Thanks all.

I know the area exceedingly well, having spent 35 years worth of summers down here, but it was specifically how NAP is currently functioning that concerned me.

As Ross has said it's pretty easy, I'll take that as fine - flight is at 12:10, meaning check-in will close at 11:25 and it's always been an easy airport to navigate (you'd have thought they'd have found some money for airbridges though!).

M

orbitmic

Personally, I would not do this. If we are talking of the local boats (Ischia, Capri, etc), they are actually very reliable on the whole, that said, I'd never plan anything that would only give me 10 minutes before check in deadline myself as anything can go wrong even in normal times.

With regards to the current situation, though, I was at NAP about two weeks ago (not BA), the security lines were slow and very long because of the disinfection, health forms checks (it seems random whether they do so or not for exit, but they did on that day), etc and the only fast track was paid (not airlines). Maybe I was unlucky, and presumably, we are moving further away from summer so there might be fewer and fewer people around, but it took about over 40 minutes to go through the various controls and security.

Obviously, once past security, everything is small and fast (and much is closed). Lounge was closed on my visit.

Greenpen

Reasonable quick , 15 minutes for security. Interesting health measures operating.

hearingdouble

Ok, but I still think it’s worth you knowing that the boats in the area are not currently running to time (even if they usually do). On the ferries we took over the last couple of weeks, everyone got their temperature checked as they boarded, there were COVID-based seating restrictions, and social distancing was being enforced as people embarked and disembarked. I would definitely not want a tight connection (and there were some visibly upset/anxious people on more than one sector who clearly were going to miss their planned connections). Apologies if that is off topic.

msm2000uk

Well that looks exciting!

Entirely understood - I've been watching the boat arrival and departure times daily, and thankfully Capri to Naples has been pretty on-time.

There is of course a risk, but that's part of the 8 hour journey home from somewhere which is only a 2.5 hour flight away! Its always been the worst part of this beautiful little island.

M

TBD

Well what does Naples know about pizza...

msm2000uk

So just to close this off, we made the flight with ample time to spare.

The boat arrived into Naples bang on time, and our driver got us to NAP 30mins before check-in was set to close.

Security was empty, and while people had the option to use the BT Tent, they could also just walk round it.

If this was August, in a usual year, I'd probably allow more time, but as things stand at the moment I think we timed it perfectly.

M