DEN has a full post office landside. IAD used to have good facilities but a few years ago, I tried to mail a letter landslide and was told there was nothing either landside or airside.

Could the person who said that there is a mail slot at IAD point out exactly where? Thanks.

I tried to mail something at MCO about a year ago and the location of the former landside post office/shipping centre had a sign that they were permanently closed due to security regulations.

Interesting that it varies across US airports and it would appear that this 'security regulation' is not consistently applied.

YVR landside just where you come up the escalator. I regularly find mail in my bag that I have forgotten to post and that postbox came handy.

There is also a post office domestic, lower level at YVR inside the 7-11. PEK has a full service post office landside as well. FRA has a letter drop outside the Sheraton (side entrance, not the main entrance) MUC has a reduced in size but still functioning post office in the central area (now located on the back wall to the right of the inside entrance to the Edeka) BKK has a post office landside on the departures level. LHR T3 has a post office and I think that most/all of the terminals have letter drops. EDI has letter drops. HKG has a post office landside of T1 as well as letter drops.

Those are off the top of my head, but I think that many airports have either letter drops or post offices.

It was a few years ago so it may have been taken out...it was in the intl terminal though, B iirc?

SEA has at least one airside, near the Borders bookstore.

AUS has one land side, in the middle of the walkway between checkpoints 1 and 2.

If you're writing about IAD, that was a lot of years ago, like right after 9/11 (2001). I vividly recall having an important letter to mail, going though security (to Concourse B actually) and being told there was no way to mail anything beyond security.

I guess if it's about security, I'm all for it. But why it's ok to have a full post office at DEN and not even a letter drop at IAD (both landside in this case) makes no sense to me.

FRA T1 has a mailbox airside, near gate A11 outside duty free. Used it today.

I saw a mail slot at MKE in Concourse D yesterday.

I have a tradition between me and a few friends to always send postcards from airports I go/transit through. I get all kind of cases:
- mailbox airside: just put it in, as long as you can buy a postcard (and if necessary stamps) from airside shops (never failed me)
- mailbox only landside: fine if it's your originating or destination airport, otherwise you have to consider the time and hassle of exiting and going through security again (and if you have duty-free liquids from a previous airport in your carry-on, you can't.. yes I did that once)
- mailbox nowhere in or around the airport: that is extremely annoying, the only case I know of is BUF

If I can't find a mailbox, I usually try to ask the shop where I bought the postcards or the SkyClub (nicely). Shops also always know where the mailboxes are.

I just experienced this first hand at LAX. We homeschool and needed to mail some assignments to the teacher that day. Unbeknownst to me, they have removed all mail boxes and letter slots at LAX. When I couldn't find one, I asked the airport police if they knew where one was and they said they've been removed because they've had attempted bomb attempts even with the letter slot size. I asked him if this was the case at all airports and he said he thought so, but when I got to DFW I did notice they had a full sized mailbox inside their terminal.

It would definitely be useful if each airport had a post office and mail service..

This would enhance the value of travel.. as most of us do business on the go, and require snail mail from time to time..

Your question highlights the fact that it's NOT about security, but just silly paranoia and lack of any critical thinking on the part of airport and/or security staff.

In theory, if you're airside, you've already gone through security and therefore have no "bad stuff" with you, so anything you mail can't be dangerous, so it makes no sense to not have a mailbox airside. In fact, one could argue that it's SAFER to have a mail drop airside versus landside, since you could much more easily mail a "dangerous item" from a landside point.

I agree. I find it silly that a terrorist would go through the effort of smuggling explosives through airport security, only to mail the package airside. :D

In the UK, the mailboxes have very narrow slots to stop you buying lots of duty free and then posting it back into the UK... not about terrorism, just about smuggling. They have to be small enough that packets of fags cannot fit through the post box :D