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Honiara Airport Passenger Reviews and Honiara Airport Traveller Reports
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Honiara Airport customer review : 27 December 2010 by Chris McQuaid (New Zealand)
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Customer Rating : 3/5 |
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First time ever in Pacific Islands, working for two months in Honiara. I had several trips to
and from the airport collecting and dropping off our staff. K Joseph has summed up Henderson
International extremely well. You walk from the plane to the terminal (it's less than 100
metres). Queue on arrival was not too bad, and luggage was available fairly quickly. Plenty
of trolleys, but note that they are all kept by the baggage carousel. Be warned though, that
if you're bringing in any equipment for work (I had a couple of computer monitors with me) you
will get stopped by Customs and charged a refundable import bond (only took ten minutes to get
the refund when departing). If you need a trolley when departing, the simplest thing is to
walk straight through the open security door where you came out on arrival, across the Customs
area, and grab a trolley - nobody will stop you (most of the time there's nobody there TO stop
you!). Most departure days are nightmarish - the plane for Brisbane leaves at 3 pm, and you
really do need to be in the queue by 12. Although we had a couple of flights where it only
took ten minutes to get people checked in, the average was at least an hour an a half. The
day we returned home it was over two hours. One advantage of the airport being only 15
minutes from the centre of town is that it's possible to check in really early and then go
back to your office or hotel until after 2 pm. The only thing to make waiting at the airport
bearable is the quality of the milkshakes - the best in town, and at 30 SBD (about $5.50 NZ)
it's no more expensive than anywhere else in Honiara. The toilets don't always flush and the
taps on the hand-basins didn't work, so use those facilities elsewhere if you can.
Honiara Airport customer review : 10 August 2010 by K Joseph (Solomon Islands)
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Customer Rating : 3/5 |
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Honiara, on the island of Guadalcanal is the capital of the Solomon Islands in the South West
Pacific and the only international airport in the country. The traffic flow into Solomon
Islands is minimal - about six or seven 737 flights a week, mainly filled with Australian
government officials, Asian businessmen and the odd tourist! The terminal itself was built by
the Japanese Government about 2000. It is not airconditioned and can be very warm and humid
inside, given that Honiara is in the middle of the tropics. Due to water and plumbing
problems, the toilets can be unpleasant. It is a good idea to check in two hours before hand,
as check-in queues can be long as departure time approaches. Flights are often delayed, but
airport staff are unlikely to be able to tell you much - one way of checking to see if your
departure will be on time is to check the Brisbane Airport website to see if the flight left
Brisbane for Honiara on time. Customs and security is usually quick on departure, but customs
and immigration can be somewhat slower on arrival. Forget duty free shopping on departure -
shop in Honiara town instead. On arrival, sometimes the duty free booth is open, and if so it
does offer good prices on alcohol. All in all - a hot, humid experience which will not leave
you feeling terribly comfortable. On the plus side, staff are usually helpful and cheerful,
and cleanliness has improved considerably over the last couple of years.
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