I flew on SK TLL-ARN-CDG and back earlier this week. I was quite surprised at the poor signs at ARN. For example, the signs to indicate where in the airport the lounges are located are nearly non-existent. I had to ask at the SK customer service desk.

I also found there were no airport maps to be found. There were adequate screens listing flight departure status, and at most airports, just below those screens you can find a nice big map of the airport so you can orient yourself and find things. I never saw this at ARN.

Another example: When my CDG-ARN flight arrived at the gate and I exited the plane, there were more gates to the left (I could see down the corridor) and I could sense the main center of the airport was to the right. However, there was no sign to indicate which gate numbers exactly were to the left, and which were to the right. I think I was in the F gate area, and I had to connect to an F gate (to TLL, non-Schengen), so now I had no clue if I needed to walk to the right or the left. At most airports, it will list which gates are to the left and the right.

I've transferred through CPH many times (which I would expect to be on the same par as ARN.. this is why I'm not comparing to LHR for example), and the signage there was quite good, and there were many maps. Has anyone else found this lacking at ARN? Note I'm not a frequent traveller through ARN, so I haven't memorized the layout... but I also travel through many airports and this is the first time I've found the signage to be so lacking or poorly conceived.

Justin

You are specifically talking about T5, which is only one part of Arlanda. There's not much to it, especially from a legacy perspective. In the old days you had the A pier and the B pier. (Pier is not proper English; I am transliterating the Swedish.....) You knew that everything 9 and above was the B pier and SAS pretty much only flew out of A. So from that perspective a map would be kind of silly. Also, if you went through A security then you would be right by the lounges. I think there is a sign for the lounges?

When they opened the F pier the security moved, although there is still a "charter" security over by the B pier in the old hall. Once you are through security then it's F on the right, i.e. non-Schengen and everything else on the left. For connections the signage looks quite clear to me.....

Flying from ARN alot the last two years I have to agree with jfidler. T5 has very poor signs and the logic behind the numbering the gates are none existing. No, ARN is nothing we Swedes can be particularly proud of.

I can agree the signs for the lounge are virtually non-existing, there is just a sign at the bottom of the stairs, but if you don't know where the stairs are then it's a bit harder.
Perhaps it is a deliberate move to make sure they don't get random people to the lounge who are not supposed to be there?!

I'm a bit surprised the CDG flight arrived at the F-pier, I have flown ARN-CDG plenty of times and these flights almost always arrive at the A-pier, the F-pier if almost exclusively used by non-Schengen flights (TLL for example).
If you arrive at the A-pier it is usually a lot easier to find your way around, signage is a bit better.

As already mentioned Arlanda, just like many other airports, has grown a lot in the past 10 years which has forced the authorities to expand the airport.
From the beginning there was only one international terminal with 20 gates, the one which is now called terminal 5. Back then finding your way around was very easy.
Then terminal 2 opened and was partly used as an international terminal, and eventually all remaining domestic flights were moved from that terminal to make space for more international traffic.
And now just 3 (?) years ago the F-pier opened.
These are just a few reasons why the airport is somewhat large, confusing and illogical.

Why don't you write a short letter to Luftfartsverket, the Swedish Airport Authorities, and tell them about your experience?!
It seems like they are struggling to make Arlanda as good and passenger-friendly as possible, so I'm sure they wouldn't mind getting some feedback.

I flew TLL-CPH-LHR yesterday, so I paid special attention to compare the quality of the signs. CPH is definitely much better than ARN. As I exited the gate, there were arrows showing me which gates were to my right and left. As I entered the main area (just before passport control to get to the EB lounges), there were many signs showing which sets of gates (A-gates, etc) were in which direction. There were also large maps posted. Now if only they didn't have such narrow corridors down that "shopping lane" which makes it so difficult to get from one side of the airport to another

I'll email my comments to [email protected] as well as a link to this thread.

As an aside, this was the second time I've flown SK on a Saturday CPH-LHR in the last 2 months, and both times I've been op-uped to E+ from P-Class

Justin

From the looks of the huge crowds in the Scandinavian Lounge, I would say people don't have any problems finding the Lounge...

Seriously, I haven't noticed the signs at ARN since I know where I'm going, but I will take a look when I fly through there January 12th

Well maybe my glasses are old, but two years ago, making a transfer in ARN from EWR to CPH, I ended up on the luggage carousselle, I dont know what terminal i was in but had to aske some people and they showed me the right direction to the next floor, I could not see any signs to the transfer area. Maybe I was just blind, but was not pleased and had a tight connection. Ewen if CPH can be confusing for a first timer it is hands over ARN^

With the new Non EU flight terminal now finished, the signs are a lot better, no problems finding your way. There's a transfer security check point right after passport control.

They also had a security checkpoint one stair down in the own terminal, I have to admit that it was harder to spot, but I can't say it was THAT hard..

Just because you and I live on planes and at airports, including the likes of ARN , doesn't mean the whole world does. The lounges at ARN aren't entirely obvious especially as they're up the stairs/elevator and are nowhere near as obvious as CPH's lounges.

I'm off to the EuroBonus Lounge to bother you.

Well, I am quite young here and did get my first EBG just a few years ago. I remember that I felt that first of all ARN was quite a messy airport when I first went through it and lounges weren't very easy to find - I in fact walked past the stairs/elevator at least once before managing to see the tiny sign back then.

I agree that many other airports are better with signs everywhere, even for lounges. I think even LHR has better signs in place compared to ARN.

I wrote to ARN and received a reply by post. Here's what they said (I scanned/OCR'ed it):

So it seems like they are aware of the problem and will be installing more signs/maps. They seem to say that having signs for gates is useful in Piers A and B, but acknowledge it's not in Pier F.

Interesting that they only have a sign for the SAS lounge in Pier A. Do no EBG's fly through the other piers?

I'm flying TLL-ARN-LHR on Saturday so I'll focus again on signs. I was in CPH 2 days ago and I found their signs very clear, as I always have.

Justin

As I said earlier, it's a hangover from the old days when SAS check-in and security was in the old part of the terminal and used the A pier exclusively. Security was brought you to the start of the A pier and there is a sign there to go 25 m to your left and up the spiral stairs to the lounge.

The place where they should put a lounge sign is probably after the new security; I haven't looked for one and guess there isn't one.

An update on this as I flew through ARN yesterday, and I made a special note to look at the signs. I flew SK TLL-ARN-LHR, which meant I arrived into the F-pier and departed from the F-pier. I had a 2-hour layover, so I went to the SK lounge during that time.

In the F-pier, I could not find a single map of the terminal posted on any wall. None. Are they against maps? CPH has plenty of them. I had to pass through security to go from the F-pier to A-pier and the woman operating the security gate there acknowledged this weakness when I brought it up. For example, if I arrive into F-pier, how am I supposed to know where the SK lounge is without asking? I found no signs for it in F-pier, nor a map. Being a typical male, I like to find things by map instead of asking for directions

Upon arriving in A-pier, and heading for the lounge (which I now know is by gate 1), I asked the gentleman at the lounge check-in about the signage. He rolled his eyes and also acknowledged there are no signs in F-pier for this, and seemed quite frustrated with ARN about this.

Hopefully my letter to ARN about this (response posted earlier in this thread) will have some effect. Sure, I can understand that things have been reconfigured over time and that explains why things are as they are, but is it really that hard to put a few maps on the wall? Other airports, also faced with renovations and reconfiguration issues, seemed to have been able to install maps without too much trouble.

Justin