I recently took a trip to Milan - and by using the extremely cheap and not so cheerful Ryanair - I became another passenger at the busy Bergamo Airport.

Located just outside the bustling provincial city of Bergamo, opposite an out-of-town shopping centre, and only an hour East of Milan, this airport is both convenient and modern, having recently benefitted from becoming a Ryanair hub.

Whilst certainly in need of a new terminal due to the explosion in passenger numbers, the current setup is efficient and friendly enough, although the lack of catering and shopping beyond Passport Control certainly had the British passengers in a tizz - how can they possibly cope for an hour without a cup of tea or the chance to patrol 3000 sq ft of Perfume Duty Paid shopping...

Facilities before Departures are good: with several types of cafe, restaurant and shops, all arrayed along the single corridor.

My flight arrived quite late in the evening, early and parked right next to Arrivals - so within 14 minutes of landing I was on a bus on my way to Milan...very good!

The return was much busier - with crammed departure lounges serving the evening flights back to the UK - but I've had far worse experiences in most of the UK airports I've used (Liverpool excepted).

With a simple design, plenty of signs, and new check in desks being built, Bergamo Airport is certainly on to a winning ticket as a growing hub - but some investment (probably EU central fund paid of course!) to build a new terminal or expand the current one would definitely help.

Having said that - it's still a better choice than the new Milan Airport - Malpensa, which is just as far from the City as Bergamo, and is too busy and expensive for its own good.

Overall - (aside from being one of my briefer reviews)! - I liked this airport - showing that the small regional centres are often easier to use and run than the monster mega-airports some Airlines would have us use.