GUANGZHOU AIRPORT customer review :  22 March 2010 by James Halley   (Thailand)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

I found the check-in system confusing to say the least. Eventually I saw a small line with mixed nationalities and decided this mist be the Thai flight to Bangkok. I was right. But there was no signage to indicate this. just a blank screen. And on the departure floor there was only one money change. Despite several flights a day to Bangkok, they dont change baht. They couldnt even tell me what the exchange rate was. But they would give me US$$. I decided to take a chance and change it in Bangkok. Smart move as it turned out as there is no commission fee. If looking for somewhere to eat go down to the floor between departures and arrivals. A quick example - a capuccino down there was 32 CNY and on the departures floor 65 CNY. And its the latter price if you wait until after clearing immigration. The customs line on arrival hasn't changed from a previous comment.

GUANGZHOU AIRPORT customer review :  19 March 2010 by Leonard Wilcox   (USA)

Customer Rating :  1/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

We were transit from Bangkok to Hong Kong through Guangzhou. Be very aware when transiting in CAN! Upon approaching customs you inform the agent that you are transit passengers. He or she will not stamp your passport but then will take the passport and boarding pass for the continuing flight and give it to a man in uniform who stuffs it into his back pocket and orders you to stand in an area six feet from customs with the other transit folks. After gathering three or four passports this uniformed character runs off to an office. I observed this occurring for five or six additional passengers. Then after about twenty minutes a young lady in uniform returns with a stack of ten or twelve passports - you must follow her around and point our your passport with she finally gives back to you. The boarding pass has a bunch of new stamps on it and you are led through a gate (with this group of unrelated transit passengers) and through a new security point and back into the gate area. A very intimidating and sloppy process - would not recommend that anyone ever transit through CAN. Later, we found the terminal dirty and cold, expensive and most employees were useless in explaining our six our delay in the continuing forty minute flight to HKG.

GUANGZHOU AIRPORT customer review :  11 January 2010 by Matthew Kelliher   (Australia)

Customer Rating :  4/5

Queuing

Cleanliness

Facilities

Modern and clean. Clearing customs was slow and frustrating due to only one line being available for foreigners despite other custom officers having nothing to do. Received bags around 35 min after leaving the aircraft which is a little slow. Finding the check in desk for a connecting domestic flight was difficult due to a lack of signage and airport staff sending me the wrong direction despite showing my ticket. Was stopped by an english speaking man pretending to be airport staff and asking for my ticket and money, caution advised. Airport has many restaurants, shops and money exchangers. My general impression was good but it can be a little difficult for the first time visitor.

GUANGZHOU AIRPORT review : 29 November 2009 : by M Magnusson

Customer Rating : 2/5

Very new airport and far better than the old Guangzhou airport BUT - I have passed through this airport three times, once missing my plane and twice nearly missing my plane. Reasons are the amazing queues everywhere, from the check in to (especially) the security control. I do not understand why this has to be so much less efficient than Shanghai or Beijing? Last time I came at 6:30 for an 8:25 plane (domestic flight to Shanghai) and reached it just in the nick of time. Therefore be early. Apart from that though nice and spacious, the lousy quality is giving it away: Leaky roof piping, atrocious toilets with broken local electronic equipment. No international newspapers etc. despite being an international airport. And the walkways are dominated by these battery driven transportation cars for passengers which are outright dangerous due to sheer speed. In other places such cars are for the disabled, here they seem to be only for the lazy ones.

GUANGZHOU AIRPORT review : 5 September 2009 : by Michael Xiao

Customer Rating : 5/5

The airport inside is magnificent, spacious, and even the air conditioning was just right for subtropical weather in Guangzhou. The staff were courteous and offered my relatives where to check in for China Southern flight to Tokyo Narita. Everything such as foreign exchange, food, duty free shopping all organized into the hallway before customs, making it easy to find.

GUANGZHOU AIRPORT review : 31 August 2009 : by Ronald Faber

Customer Rating : 4/5

It's a good airport and compared to most other airports the luggage handling is very fast and efficient. To the downside is that food and beverage prices are very high. When travelling from and to the airport I would suggest everyone to just take a coach to your hotel instead of a taxi. Inside GZ the taxi service is reliable, but from the airport taxi driver try to take advantage of people who don't know. The bus service to for example the garden hotel just cost 17rmb per person.

GUANGZHOU AIRPORT review : 5 June 2009 : by G Lee

Customer Rating : 4/5

Used Baiyun Airport 4 times in the past 2 months. Found both Domestic and International Departures well-run and efficient; staff appeared professional and well-trained, esp. those deployed at the First Class Lounges. Only complaint: When our SQ flight landed from Singapore, one of the Airport's health officials came onboard to measure the temperature of each and every passenger. (We were expecting to deplane and go past the more convenient thermal scanners as in other major airports). This led to an additional 45-minute wait inside the cabin for all passengers to be screened, before anyone could leave the plane. The stringent precautions are understandable in view of the HlNl virus, but the airport could have deployed more than one health official to do the individual temperature scan.

GUANGZHOU AIRPORT review : 8 April 2009 : by Charles Colson

Customer Rating : 3/5

Flew from new Guangzhou Bayon to Ho Chi Minh City. Be prepared for delays going through security screening. With the new airport, it appears they have hired a lot of new security screeners. While professional and unfailingly polite, they lack experience. As such, they do not recognize as safe such many harmless metal items as nail clippers, tweezers (or in my case,a cheap sewing kit scissors with a one-inch blade). As a result, be prepared for delays - perhaps lengthy - while they spend a lot of time searching your bag (or that of the person ahead of you!) and examining these items which they then decide are harmless.

GUANGZHOU AIRPORT review : 13 March 2009 : by R Pontida

Customer Rating : 3/5

Negative sides: It's a rather new airport, but due to bad maintenance, some parts already seem old. For example the few gates that are on the lower ground (at least in the A section), or the toilets which can sometimes be very dirty. The biggest problem to me is smoke: people smoke in the toilets although it's forbidden, and the smoking areas are too close to areas you want to go to. For example you'll have to stand in front of the open door of the smoking room to get water from the dispenser. Positive sides: check-in and security usually fast, and baggage claim the most efficient I know. First time I landed in Guangzhou (from a domestic flight, so no immigration or check whatsoever), my luggage was already going out the trail by the time I arrived!

GUANGZHOU AIRPORT review : 2 September 2008 : by Tom Hill

Customer Rating : 3/5

While clean and shiny and generally an OK airport, the international to China domestic transfer desk remains an understaffed nightmare. At least no one tried to extort a preposterous excess baggage fee from us on this trip. If you are coming in to China from abroad, try and make your transfer in Hong Kong so you fly to your destination on an "international" flight.

GUANGZHOU AIRPORT review : 24 May 2008 : by Grant Macpherson

Customer Rating : 5/5

Guangzhou Airport, flew out of for the first time back to Helsinki instead of using Hong Kong. Smart and spacious and well organized as are most of the newer airports in China these days, sadly puts a lot of the main European and more so the American airports to shame. Sign posts and directions are clearly visible in English so getting around is not a problem. From checking into passing through security the process was fairly slick with no noticeable delays, some of the gates at the end of the piers are a good walk but a moving walkway covers most of the distance, assistance by way of golf carts are available. Not sure if it was the time of the day but there was plenty of seating available between the gates.

Guangzhou Airport review by G Bray

1 April 2008   Customer Rating :

Travelling domestically, I was checked in under a minute from walking in the door. Security was no hassle either moving through. Went to the lower gate lounge where I would be bussed to my distant awaiting aircraft. However, on arriving at the bottom at a small & poorer quality lounge, there was no means of going back up into the rest of the airport as the escalators were blocked off. Entire A320 plane load was put onto a single bus for the long distant ride across to the far side of the airport. Not very comfortable, especially for several elderly travellers I saw. Hopefully the expanded gates under construction will do away with these long bus transfers.

Guangzhou Airport review by K Chen

9 January 2008   Customer Rating :

Guangzhou Airport is a clean environment with a lot of space, unlike the last time I have been to this airport 7 years ago. Customs and immigration lines were fast but security was a bit slow however. Check in was very fast. However, some of the food prices are quite expensive compared with downtown; 30 yuan for a bottle of water. However, this is overall a much more comfortable environment than the previous airport.

Guangzhou Airport review by H Bartlett

17 July 2007   Customer Rating :

I recently had a transfer at this airport for Xi'an and had plenty of time to wander around. Nice, modern airy, spacious airport. However the food and drink are expensive. I paid 30Y for a 330ml can of beer, sandwiches ranged in price from 45-50Y,Coffee 50-68Y. All China airports seem to be expensive for food and drink.

Guangzhou Airport review by I Wenseritt

6 July 2007   Customer Rating :

Very nice Airport with good Bistros etc, serving good quality. Not to compare to the Pudong and Beijing Airport which like to serve only locals! Be careful about your Hand luggage and suitcase weight! They charge you every KG. Before you enter the Gates, Officers will check the weight of your Hand luggage and show the sign of the China Aviation Authority which allow only 5 kg Hand luggage (usual 7kg). Too heavy, they recommend to show them your Passport including 100RMB and you are fine! If not, you have to go back to Check In! As before recommended, watch out for "black" Taxis, they overcharge! Check your receipt on time and date as some try to give you another one with far higher price from another run.

Guangzhou Airport review by R Winks

12 April 2007   Customer Rating : n/a

I fly to CAN on a regular basis and have the following advice about the new airport. Arrivals are quick and luggage usually offloaded soon after you clear immigration. Watch out for the guys to provide a taxi as you clear customs and head out to the taxi waiting area. These cheats will charge you at least twice as the metered cab and may not take you where you need to go. It should cost about 120 RMB to get to the center of Guangzhou. Also, have your hotel directions in Chinese ahead of time since the airport information desk has limited hotel information and only speak Chinese. Taxis can be scary. The airport bus is good, but make sure you get on the right one! When departing it is a must to get there early to fly out because the immigration lines can be very long, especially if there are a lot of adoptive families taking their new Chinese child home. Also, don't fall for the scam of wrapping your luggage in shrink wrap or banding it because TSA will cut it away anyway. There are several "porters" that will offer to show you where to go to check in. They look like they work for the airport, but in reality are just trying to get 100 RMB out of you. There are limited food choices once you are airside so eat before you get there.

Guangzhou Airport review by D Visser

19 January 2007   Customer Rating : n/a

Had a connecting here between Beijing and Ho Chi Minh. No problems with the airport itself but rather with several China Southern Employees. Basically if you bought your ticket in the US you don't have to pay extra if your baggage is over the weight limit. But I didn't know that. They got me for 300 Renmimbi in Beijing and then when I got here a guy at the Transfer desk explained that I was 11kgs overweight. He told me if I went to the counter they would charge me 300 US dollars but that for 150 USD he would take care of it! Imagine! Having been burned in Beijing, I said no and went to the ticket counter. The woman there said I was 4 kgs overweight (not 11) and that it would be what sounded like 300 Renmimbi. I said 200 or 300 and she then looked at another employee and said 200. I paid it. But later I actually found a supervisor who said because I bought the ticket in the US any overage was covered up to a reasonable but very high amount. She got me my money back. But what really got me is that when I told what other employees had said/done she told me she was sorry but just to be careful next time. Oh I will be careful: I'll never fly China Southern again!

Guangzhou Airport review by Jos Theuns

4 January 2007

I travelled to Guangzhou Airport with Air France from Paris and found the airport to be nicely laid-out, clean and most of the people friendly. Unfortunately my luggage was still in Paris and despite the fact that I asked the clerk to let my driver know I was delayed due to paperwork to be filled in they did not. As a result the driver thought I missed my flight and left. The result was not a major problem but I would rather have that car waiting for me than take the bus to GZ Center and transfer to the Shenzhen bus there after such a long flight.

Guangzhou Airport review by Jennifer Smith

3 January 2007

To avoid having to travel to Hong Kong from Dongguan, I recently took a night flight out of CAN airport and it felt like the Twilight Zone. Very empty and with dubious creatures in the check-in/shopping section that was already closed down for the day (or more, night). After paying a little over 80 yuan for a soup and apple juice, I made the mistake of trying to find a "quiet" spot there to sit down for a while and relax after checking in and was soon after approached and followed by a man who started with the obligatory "heee-lou!" and then fell into Cantonese which I didn't even want to understand. The guards that were standing around bored noticed the guy but didn't care much. I quickly made my way back and through passport control and the security check. Once inside with my fellow travelers around I felt safe again. I had a hard time finding something to read for the flight (I finally found a special edition of the Chinese LIFE magazine, but there were no foreign language publications). If you want to find a stuffed panda bear however, CAN airport is the place to go. The souvenir shops at the gates are stuffed with stuffed panda bears. Of course it is important that you check-in early especially during the main travel seasons, but passing time at CAN airport at night can be a challenge if you are a single traveler!

Guangzhou Airport review by Trevor Smith

22 August 2006

Used Guangzhou airport for my first visit to China and impressed. All staff I met were courteous and effecient. One problem was when I took my hotel details to the officiral taxi rank neither the rank officer or taxi driver had heard of my hotel, the 4 star Marrioutt, opposite the trade centre in guangxhou. More likely that I only had directions and details in English. Plan ahead and get a hotel directions in Chinese. As I found out at the hotel many run a hotel bus which, although slower is cheaper, approx $7 as opposes to taxi £30. Good selection of gift shops in departure for those important Chinese cultural nick nacks my children enjoy.

Guangzhou Airport review by G Tan

1 June 2006

I used Baiyun new airport several times. Often had to go to locations outside of GZ city. Strangely there isnt a bus service to the East Station (which offers direct GZ-Dongguan-Kowloon service).Ignore the taxi touts. Walk straight to the taxi queue. RMB200-300 (inclusive toll) gets you to the Guangzhou Train East Station. From East Station, you access all major towns in the south. Quirky tales about the modern/aircon trains - that's something else. Problem is not in the hardware, it's the people.

Guangzhou Airport review by Angus Lamb

6 February 2006

A huge spacious airport with tiny little signs (if you can find them at all). Transferring from domestic to international was a little baffling. There is much more to do before you go through immigration, so if you have time, relax in the departure hall.

Guangzhou Airport review by Howard Bartlett

9 October 2005

I recently had a four hour stopover here. I can confirm that the food and drink prices are high. The big thing for me was that there is a Left Luggage facility which meant I didn't have to carry my bags around with me before check in.

Guangzhou Airport review by Jackie Huang

23 May 2005

It is my first time ever to be in Guangzhou's Baiyun International Airport, and certainly the very first time to be inside it's new "state-of-the-art" facility that opened last year! The airport as I can tell from others, is a huge improvement from the "small dump", and quality of materials, equipments, etc. is in the top leagues. In spite of the fact that I was only there to wait for my relatives to arrive from Asiana (OZ) and Northwest (NW) from Seoul (ICN), and Tokyo (NRT) at the arrival hall during night time, I find the airport to be very spacious, clean, modern, and glassy. The only minor complains I had was that the air-conditioning was way too high, and the lighting is rather too dim.

Guangzhou Airport review by Brenda Lisenby

19 May 2005

I agree with Florian Schultz-Wild regarding the Guangzhou Airport. I traveled through Guangzhou Friday, May 13, expecting great things from this "new" airport. The only thing new is the buildings, which are nice and clean. But the signage is bad and the food way too expensive. And the inefficiency that we had come to expect and accept at the old airport is still a problem. We were bussed from one departure gate to another, when we could have gotten on the plane from inside the terminal. In addition, I had a friend that I was meeting yesterday in Nanning, who arrived in Guangzhou on CZ flight 328 from LA, more than 4 hours late. They were delayed in LA for more than 2 1/2 hours while they sat on the plane and waited for them to get the cargo bay doors closed. After passing over Beijing, the plane had to return to send a sick passenger to the hospital. On the ground there for more than an hour (sitting on the plane), they decided to refuel and take on more food and water because of the delay. They arrived in Guangzhou, and it took them another 2 hours to get the cargo bay doors open, while passengers were waiting in Immigration for their luggage. Consequently, my friend missed her 8:00 AM connecting flight to Nanning. CZ rescheduled her for a 4:35 PM, which itself was delayed for more than 3 hours until 7:40 PM. She finally arrived in Nanning at 9:00 PM, 12 hours after her scheduled arrival, and 48 hours in transit from her hometown in Kentucky. CZ did not provide a meal or water. The people in pink vests in the Guangzhou airport were not helpful (she had been told their purpose was to assist passengers.) No one spoke English and could explain to her what was going on or how to rebook her flight. When she finally did approach the right desk, her ticket and passport and other things were practically snatched from her hands, and no effort was made to ask politely in English for the necessary documents. My friend has 2 more scheduled trips to China, and has determined already not to book CZ or fly through Guangzhou.

Guangzhou Airport review by Florian Schultz-Wild

15 May 2005

Sure, the "new" airport is a great improvement. To the Image! But the whole airport is very poorly organized and sign posted: On departure - The check-in aisles, unlike the alphabet, do not start with A, nor from left to right. They have a 45 min. cut-off time for check- in, which makes sense when you get to the long lines at security check and the even longer walks to the gate. But you need to get there first! I saw many people returning, cursing, from the security check, because they walked to the wrong exit (there is A and B, but no apparent logic which flight leaves from where). Food prices even in the fast food outlet are outrageously high. A (tiny) plate of fried rice comes to something like 50RMB, (5-10 times more than most places downtown), once the obligatory paper tissues and tea are charged and the 15% service charge is added on top. Why are there gate numbers in the hundreds, if there is only a total of 50 gates, or so. The old airport could do with 13. On a recent flight with CZ from Shanghai we were bussed to the terminal, as in the good-old days. It wasn't busy. Enter the baggage claim area from the side – just to find the luggage to be delivered on furthest belt. Traffic outside the arrival hall is a mess. Cars stopped/parked solid on one of the two lanes; boarding/loading are€GO€1sThe last surprise: having arrived on a domestic flight and boarded the airport bus just outside the arrival hall, the bus makes a U-turn, and stops for more passengers – from domestic arrivals – again?

Guangzhou Airport review by Tim Yu

30 January 2005

Recently returned from Guangzhou, using its new BaiYun airport. I must say it is quite impressive. State of the art modernised airport. A lack of language at the airport is a downside though, and the height of the ceiling on arrival (before immigration) is under 2 metres which is disapointing. However the airport is much more modernised and no-longer a dump.

Guangzhou Airport review by Kurt Müller

28 November 2004

Used new Canton Baiyun Airport for first time and there is obviously no comparison between this state-of-the-art facility and the old zoo. Arriving from Bangkok on TG, we were through immigration within 10 minutes of docking. However, baggage delivery was shambolic, with three or four bags appearing at a time before the belt was shut down for the next "batch". All up, my "priority" labelled bag arrived exactly one hour after I had deplaned and was one of the last items to be delivered. Spacious drive-up and good traffic lay-out make land transportation easy to reach.

Guangzhou Airport review by Phillip Wheelhouse

30 August 2004

The comments about Guanzhou Airport are all pretty accurate. I flew out at the end of July and the only comment I can make is that the place was in need of demolition - which is exactly what they did 10 days later! Flying back into the new airport a few days ago was a revelation. Modern, gleaming, spacious... I could go on. it's early days - but my first thought is that it's definitely in the top league for quality. Progress being what is is the new airport is way out of town and the lack of a rail connection isn't ideal - but there are decent coach services to points across Guanzhou which suited me well. And if you want to take a taxi - I'm sure the drivers will find a way to fleece you.

Guangzhou Airport review by Kurt Müller

9 July 2004

A few words of warning to arriving passengers about a taxi scam at Baiyun Airport. Upon arrival today, I proceeded to take a taxi from outside the international terminal. I was immediately set upon by two or three taxi drivers, the first one offering to take me to Zhongshan for RMB 800 (with the going rate being RMB 300). In the face of competition, he finally accepted RMB 300 plus return toll charges – instead of the meter reading. A few minutes into the ride, he professed to have no money for the tolls ahead, so I settled the entire expected fare of RMB 400 with him. To my surprise, he handed me back RMB 300, saying he would take this once we had arrived at our destination. I did, however, immediately notice that the returned notes were not only brand new (when I had presented him with used notes) but – as it were – fresh from the printing press, albeit not that operated by the Bank of China. In fact, two of the notes he returned to me carried the same serial number, and all three were clearly colour copies (only an image of the metal thread as opposed to the real thing). I returned them to the taxi driver with an appropriate comment, upon which he turned unpleasant, drove to a taxi interchange on the outskirts of Canton and tried to get me to change to another taxi (without any refund of the RMB 400 he had pocketed). Upon my insistence, he carried on but after leaving the motorway outside of Zhongshan, tried to renegotiate the fare, pointing at the meter he had not turned off and which was by now showing RMB 470 (of which RMB 45 had already been displayed when I boarded at Baiyun Airport. Only when I threatened to call the police did I finally get to my destination.

Guangzhou Airport review by  Iain Roberts

28 June 2004

Guangzhou airport, what can I say? I work in and around some of the Uk airports and I wish we could have the freedom to sell livestock in our departures areas, it would add a new dimension to retailing in the UK. 'Fresh fruit for you flight sir?' is not something I ever hear in the UK! We could however learn a lot from the Chinese on customer service and general friendliness. However I would warn anyone against getting into a taxi at the airport without know approximately how much your ride will cost. When I got in, I did know and the taxi driver didn't get away with doubling my fare, they depend upon people not knowing to bump up the prices. The new airport will be an asset to Guangzhou and the whole of China when it is built, as it will make this superb country more accessible to the rest of the world. Oh, the toilets are 3rd world though, make sure you go before you get off your plane or leave your destination! 

Guangzhou Airport review by  Kevin Johns

13 May 2004

It's kind of obvious that CAN airport is a dump. I can say one thing though - I have never received my bags getting off a plane faster than CAN. I was in business class in seat 1A so I was first off the plane - I waited for less than two minutes for my bags. The new airport is slated to open by the end of the year. US airlines are already jockeying for gates - United is in the lead.

Guangzhou Airport review by  HaThanh Leviet

25 January 2004

I also heard about the new airport for Guangzhou city. Don't know when it will be used yet but a new airport is a MUST for this city. We have been living China on a business contract for 3 years already and we have to travel through GZ airport every month and I think this is the worst airport I have ever seen. The international departure hall is a mess, very tiny and always crowded. The domestic even worst. Very little choice of food and price is crazy. I suffered the trafic jam on the way to the plane for boarding twice so we had to wait in the bus for about 20 minutes. outside the building, the taxi were a mess. Taxi was very dirty, the driver didn't want to use the meters but try to bargain for the price which was very difficult for foreigners who did not speak their language. I think the airport should organize a better taxi service.

Guangzhou Airport review by  Philippe Armstrong

8 August 2003

I have used Baiyun International Airport three times now and I must say that it is great that a new airport is being built. The airport is quite simply terrible. The parking is a nightmare, the service awful, the toilets look like third world toilets and are very dirty. There is such a limited number of restaurants and the prices are ridiculous. Thank goodness that in 2004 we will be in a good airport.

Guangzhou Airport review by  R Ellis

4 August 2003

Guangzhou Airport is downright ugly. However, terminal services are surprisingly quick and efficient. By the time to you reach immigration - all your luggage will have reached the baggage carousel! They arrange planes on the tarmac like cars in a car park! I am continuously amazed at the logistical efficiency of this airport!