JOHANNESBURG OR TAMBO AIRPORT review : 5 July 2008 : by Caroline Callaghan

Customer Rating : 3/5

Arriving late in the afternoon from Perth, getting off the plane was easy as it was empty - however, downstairs to customs is when it hit me! Plenty of construction going around and a sea of people already queuing and me not knowing where it started, it was all confusing! It was over 30mins til my turn. Backpack already in belt - called the hotel I was staying at to pick me up and a kind staff informed me of my location - very unexpected and pleasant! I heard all sorts of things about JNB and jo'burg itself, but was pleased with the hospitality and good humour of the people I came across in this brief stay. Intl departures is one of the best duty free zones I've been to! Overall, JNB needs a lot of work - very confusing and slow, but the SA people make it up for it!

JOHANNESBURG OR TAMBO AIRPORT review : 29 April 2008 : by S Srinivasan

Customer Rating : 4/5

I was expecting worse, but was pleasantly surprised. We arrived on an early morning (8 A.M.) flight from Mumbai, and despite being at the very back of the Economy section and at least one other flight being processed at the same time, immigration took no time at all - maybe 10 minutes in line tops. Baggage was a bit slow to come out, but at least nothing was missing. Customs was a joke, with one officer randomly waving people through or directing them to an x-ray machine. The signs directing you to the domestic terminal are a little hard to follow, and beware the "porters" outside, who will charge you R150 just to walk your bags 1,500 feet to the domestic terminal. Domestic departures was a breeze - no queues at check-in or security, adequate seating space, and clean toilets. Domestic arrivals was similarly hassle-free, though it's a rather long walk from the gates to the baggage claim area. International departures was a real pain due to a check-in queue stretching the length of the terminal building - though I attribute this more to SAA's incompetence than the airport, as no other airlines seemed to be having issues. I had to ask one airport staff where the queue started, and she was friendly enough and pointed me in the right direction. Once again, security check and passport control took less than 5 minutes to clear. There seemed to be a good selection of shops, but I didn't have time to look.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Dhrubo Gupta

16 April 2008   Customer Rating :

We transited JNB on the outbound to Cape Town and expected chaos at the arrivals section – it is a bit of a mess with a lot of construction work. However we breezed through the immigration in 15 minutes - perhaps because we were among the first off the plane – and found the staff manning the desks fast and efficient – definitely less fussy than in Bangkok or Hong Kong and way faster than Heathrow – and when handing our passport back we were thanked – unheard of elsewhere. Overall the impression was that SA welcomed you. The baggage took awhile to arrive but once in hand there was no hold up at Customs. We exchanged our USD at the Amex counter at the exit – excellent rate and least fuss. We had a 4 hour connection time for the Cape Town SAA flight and the five minute walk to the Domestic Terminal along the broad walk was clearly demarcated – turn left after you exit the arrivals section. We took the fully loaded trolley up the inclined walk-way escalator to the first floor which is fully taken up with food outlets of all description – they have self service and also al la carte - we chose the latter and our steward was fast, humorous and helpful – a great introduction to the country. Another inclined walk-way led to the second level for Domestic Departures. SAA being quite busy, the queue was a bit long – but if your flight is imminent they have people who short circuit this. Your trolley with ALL bags is weighed before you get to the counter – if overweight you are given a slip to pay the excess amount. At the departure counters we found a complete lack of urgency – at one of them the staff had got into an argument among themselves which went on and on with no concern for the waiting queue before them. Two counters were manned but had no passengers before them – no one bothered to call for the line to move up – lot of DIY initiative helps here. Once past this everything else is smooth sailing. When departing SA we found that they had opened the new International section – it is huge and certainly not cramped. There were eight counters for the Economy class and check-in was a breeze. The staff here was fast and efficient and we were through in 15 minutes. They have a nice Duty Free section but we found everything over priced.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by F Larson

14 March 2008   Customer Rating :

The luggage handlers are notorious for losing your luggage, and to make matters worse, their corporate navigation of the paperwork to reimburse you is non-existent. Heaven only knows how they will accommodate passengers coming to SA for the 2010 World cup.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Matthew Winslade

3 March 2008   Customer Rating :

The check in and arrivals area are the worst areas of the airport simply because they do not have the capacity to handle the number of people that actually pass through. The check in area is very cramped. All the flights to London leave within a few hours of each other on a variety of airlines so you can imagine the chaos that can ensue. Funnily enough though once you have navigated check in the airport becomes much more pleasant. The only thing I can complain about from there on is the lack of seating at the gates. On another plus side the construction currently underway does not seem to be interfering with what is going on inside the terminals.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Jim Clark

26 February 2008   Customer Rating :

I arrived from HKG at 0700. There was no queue in immigration or customs and I was from the plane to curbside in less than 20 minutes. I did notice that our arrival was into Terminal A2 while some other widebody flights were arriving in Terminal A1. That may have been our good fortune for the quick processing. The airport itself is a mess of construction, but signage was good enough.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Henry Relling

25 February 2008   Customer Rating :

Used JNB on 6/11 February travelling from Durban. With the current building works going on they have opened up an International "connecting facility" from inside the domestic terminal through to the International terminal. So if you have a boarding pass already for your onward international flight out of JNB you can just go through this section (hand luggage only I was told), clear security and immigration and off you go on your way to the International terminal without having to venture out and maybe end up where you shouldn't. Construction outside has made everything so much more confusing. On our way back from East Rand Mall on the R21 we followed the Rental Car sign until the directions halfway to the terminal became non-existent. Took us another trip around JNB, back on the R21, off the R21 until we followed the road as explained to us by the very friendly gas station attendant at JNB. All in all to conclude: A nice airport, a far cry from the old style airport I remember from the early 80's and 90's. Selection of restaurants at domestic terminal adequate in choice. Vendors from outside now also seem to roam the airport to sell whatever they have to all and sundry, at tables, at chairs, in restaurants. Who is controlling this?

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Antony Wepener

19 February 2008   Customer Rating :

Arrived 7.05am at OR Tambo on a flight from Singapore from dispatch off aircraft to entrance in arrivals hall exactly 20 minutes. I am on a SA passport but was with colleagues who were with foreign passports. From all the previous comments was expecting hell but overall a quick and painless experience.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by P Silk

17 February 2008   Customer Rating : n/a

Travelled from Joburg to Windhoek last week (SA 76)- joined the queue at the lost luggage desk at Windhoek. Six of us filled out our forms. Went back at the same time the next day to see if my bag had arrived no luck, but another 6 people filling out forms. I have rung every Joburg airport number I can find, frequently for the past few days. No interest, no service, no suitcase. Moral of the story, if you have to travel from or to Joburg take only carry on bags don't check- it in, it will disappear and no one will help you find it. Don't even think about going to the World Cup in 2010.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Stephen Palmer

7 February 2008   Customer Rating :

Travelled through Joburg on the way to Ndola from Australia and returned in January and found everything chaotic. The luggage collection was the worst I have ever experienced with our luggage being delayed for three days after it failed to appear on the carousel and nobody seemed to want to help when we reported it missing. Immigration was a shambles as usual but that might be because of the work being done. On the return flight we were delayed in transit for ten hours for our flight to Sydney and it was impossible to find out anything as there are no information desks so a return to the International transfer desk was the only way to get information which meant going through a security area that was manned by about twenty people all chatting each other up and making a very crowded space even more crowded. Also trying to get from the Domestic terminal to the International terminal was almost impossible if one followed the signs and the only way succeeded was to go through the carpark dragging three suitcases and a whinging ten year old. A good point is that getting a Castle is no problem at a reasonable price.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by David Ellis

5 February 2008   Customer Rating :

Arrived early morning on a Nationwide Airlines from LGW. Immigration slow and chaotic. Baggage reclaim equally dreadful with no information given apart from a single airport staff shouting incomprehensibly. Transit from international to domestic terminal about 200m with 'porters' trying to grab your bags. All rather chaotic amidst a building-site. On the return journey, tried to follow signs for 'international departures' for transit from domestic to international terminals, but found ourselves going round in a circle. Eventually took another route via a car park and made it to immigration after another 200m trek. Premier lounge overcrowded. The only bright spot in all this were the new boarding gates; the rest of JNB is simply dreadful.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Mathew Loeser

20 December 2007   Customer Rating :

We arrived on a QANTAS flight yesterday, which arrived at 3.50PM, and at 5.30PM we were still in the immigration queue. There was three staff manning the 'other' passports control area and about four flights had arrived at the same time. The 'South African' passport queue had about 5 officers manning the control post and when all their passengers were processed, they just wandered off, instead of calling people from the other queues. And if the three who were at 'other' passports went any slower, I am sure time would have stopped. Overall, a very bad first impression of South Africa. Will try and avoid this airport as much as possible in future. And all the building work going on with no clear signage does not help things either. Heaven help all those people arriving here for 2010 World Cup.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Eric Schmidt

4 November 2007   Customer Rating :

Airport looks better compared with 20-25 yrs ago. Cleaner but not well planned. Parking for cars is very expensive. Poor access by public transport to airport. A taxi from JNB cost you +/- 200 p/p/. Only shuttles available from hotels and are good. So prepare yourselves to arrive in time. Shops prices in departures hall are high. However, very good bookstore. Walking distances to terminals at arrival far away & not designed for disabled people. I seldom see trolleys to sit on for elderly people or mothers with babies. Take example of other airports. At immigration ground staff seem not always be motivated and not supervised at all times. In general people are friendly but do not smile much or in for a small joke. Important for tourists to give a good first impression of RSA. Intl Arrival hall is confusing still. Banks services in Arrival hall is good. Also to hire mobile phones etc it good, but do your homework. However at Domestic section staff of mobile phone companies not well informed or supervised or even have a feel for customer care.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by C Brown

19 October 2007   Customer Rating :

Restaurants in international departures - dirty, expensive, no service, smoking rooms have no ventilation, rather go to the arrivals or domestic. Went through to passport control and security. Stood in the queue for 40 minutes at security and therefore had to run for the flight. Noticed the lady sitting at the screen scanning the bags did not look at the screen much in most of that 40 minute period. Too busy drinking tea and chatting to other security people. I am South African and I travel through the airport a few times a year. Since the upgrade the actual building is much nicer but parking is impossible even with all the new parking facilities.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Gavin Stewart

20 September 2007   Customer Rating :

Transited from DXB onward to CPT. Very pleasant surprise. Arrived into new terminal, absolutely immaculate. Teatime arrival, no-one in the immigration queue. I walked straight through. Friendly immigration. They won't check baggage on so you have to collect, and push your trolley outside c 200m walk to the domestic teRminal. No hassle from porters. Domestic terminal, also fab, clean, modern, airy, relaxed. Lots of walkways, all working. Speedy check in. Airside, BA lounge is excellent, good shopping, though be aware there are no money change facilities once airside - get your Rand before going through security. the whole JNB experience was a total pleasure for me.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by S Wilson

21 August 2007   Customer Rating :

The new terminal is nice, but arriving at JNB on an international flight first thing in the morning is a disaster. There are three immigration control sections, one for for SA citizens, another for "African States" and then one for "Other nationalities". My queue was comprised of 200 or more people from a range of early morning flights. The majority of the immigration control personnel appeared to be friendly and efficient. However, the two people dealing with my queue were not. The official who stamped my passport was very busy typing out a text message on his cellphone, while he typed in my passport details, and didnt even look up at me! Some fifteen minutes before he had closed up shop for ten minutes to go off to the toilet. When he came back, he nodded to his adjacent female colleague that it was her turn to head off to the toilet and she disappeared for ten minutes. This resulted in one other official in a booth to process the arrivals. This was in front of a long queue of some increasingly frustrated and tired passengers. My impression is that there are some very competent people who take great care over their jobs at immigration, but that there are some really bad apples who dont really care what they do. This is a shame and a complete demotivation for people who do care about their jobs. The lack of middle (or supervisory) management is to blame. They should be there to check up on the staff, monitor any deviations, praise the competent and fire the incompetent. Good luck for the World Cup, but there's a whole lot that needs to be done before then!

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by J Sjöberg

11 July 2007   Customer Rating :

Transiting from Terminal 2 SAA international arrival after customs and immigration control to Terminal 5 with baggage in tow, for a domestic SAA flight was confusing because of poor signage and ongoing construction, and the layout of the T5 gates isn't very clear with displays that do not seem to be updated until the last minute to verify departing flights. There were no unreasonable delays for customs or immigration but one should be wary of overly helpful unofficial "porters" lingering at the exit from T2 who will descend on you and your luggage cart. Returning for a domestic to international connection, however, was a much different story with good signage and directions, although the trek from T5 to T6 is lengthy up two stories and down a long dim passage through the parking garage (again, some of this is probably because of the terminal construction work). Once you finally reach the duty free area past immigration for departure it is a great space, clean and modern with a good selection of (reasonably priced) shops etc. Officials, airport and concession staff were universally efficient and helpful; for example the charge point in the T6 2nd floor restaurant (cafeteria) was not working - we had used up all our Rands and the cashier said they could take dollars but at a poor exchange rate, then told us to finish our meal and afterwards walked with me over to the bar to use their card reader, after apologizing profusely for the smoke in the bar area. We had no issue with theft or delay with checked baggage but hand-carried both connections. Granted we had plenty of time because of a several hour departure delay for our return international flight, but overall I was impressed and JNB was not a bad experience. Assuming the construction/expansion work is ever finished, that will hopefully eliminate some of the confusion for those not familiar with the airport.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Barry Byrne

6 July 2007   Customer Rating :

This may be one of the better airports in Africa but it has still some way to go to meet acceptable standards as a transit hub. In particular, having just one scanner for transit passenger baggage, poorly located in a stairwell, leads to Heathrow style queues as passengers from long haul try to make connections through JNB. A very good chance of missing any tight, or delay struck, connections there, purely due to this bottleneck and as many services are only once or twice a day, this can be a real disaster. Very long unaided walks, and poor signage are other problems. Is it at all possible for the authorities to erect signs to say where Area C is in Area A? There are absolutely no such direction signs and only repeated asking of staff the way to Area C helped to find the gate for LHR. The fact that JNB SAA transit staff issued boarding cards for departure from A9, and the aircraft actually left from C9, the other evening caused very great inconvenience to many. A9 seems to be temporarily out of use anyhow and where C9 is relative to any A gates is a mystery which the airport operator obviously wants to keep from passengers. The good news for a full 747 load of passengers going to LHR, old, young, crippled and lame, is that gate C9, when you find it, is a corridor - just that. Even better news, there were exactly 12 seats for all the waiting persons, plus three behind the gate for UMs, perhaps excessively generous seating for a full 747 load, one may feel. Theft of (and from) and delay of checked baggage via JNB is a well known problem. Transit bags go astray, despite long transit times. The SAA Business lounge is also way too small. However, the shops are good, if crowded. While the competition in Africa is weak, a few minor changes would push JNB up a notch.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by R Matheson

20 April 2007   Customer Rating :

On arrival in JNB at 0535 local I had to wait at International Transfer desk for almost 4 hours until Kenya Airways checkin opened (late) to get my boarding pass. There was approximately six seats for the 50 or so people waiting for the smaller airlines to open, you could not buy anything to drink or something to eat. A mother had to breastfeed her baby next to me as there was no where to go. Security would not let me past this area without a boarding pass. Apart from this the departure terminal was nice clean and relatively modern. Other passengers advice that it was expensive to shop there turned me off.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Colleen Stark

20 April 2007   Customer Rating :

The international departures area is Very crowded, lots of people saying their farewells. However, I checked all my luggage in and was able to get to the Domestic departures area very easily and had a late dinner with my family before having to go through to my gate. It was a late Saturday evening flight and even so the passport control and security staff were extremely friendly and helpful. I had no problems with security and all was very well managed. I hope my trip back goes as smoothly as this!

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Dale Taylor

12 April 2007   Customer Rating : n/a

All my experiences via Jnb have been very good. Checked through from Cpt en route to Dar es Salaam and also to JFK, and in both cases, I opted to re-check in to see if I could get a better seat and went through both queues in no time. Both times coming back Immigration was a breeze, unlike in Dar (90 minutes) and in New York (3 hours), and check in for flights back to Cape Town after Customs was extremely quick (less than 10 minutes) although I'd been warned that I'd have a long wait. International Departures terminal is spacious and airy and has a great view of the aprons and runways. Can't say much for Domestic, though, because my connections were short, so after leaving International Arrivals and trekking outside to Domestic Departures - the walk is unexpected and not well posted, and anyone who happens to be on crutches or who has difficulty walking is going to come unstuck there, to be blunt - I only had about a 20 minute wait to board. The only negative aspect is the walk from Domestic to International - many flights leave out of Jnb, and it is a hassle to arrive and have to walk out into the car-park and find your way to the correct terminal (no large signage anywhere) during a typical Highveld thunderstorm.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Steve Tait
20 March 2007

Flew in and out of JNB numerous times in March and was expecting problems. In fact even carried on all luggage on flight from US to avoid any potential problems due to 2 hour connection to CPE. Unlike others, we had absolutely no problems whatsoever. In fact on each internationla flight arrival there was no one ahead of us at immigration and on flights when we checked bags, they all arrived within a few minutes. The new domestic terminal is top notch and the internation terminal will be as well when the expansion is finished as it is a bit over used right now. In any case, if only most US airports provided the excellent experience we had in JNB!

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Kenny Ross
19 February 2007

Flew via JNB on route from Paris to Cape Town. Cool, calm, modern (apart from int arrivals) and easy to navigate. The security staff far more professional and far less smug than the hopeless and arrogant police at CDG. Check in staff for SAA were invariably polite and happy, and all in all it was a delight to travel through. CDG should send somebody there to learn how to run an airport.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Richard Shill
15 February 2007

LHR-JNB and JNB-CPT. Arrival in the early morning to JNB on SA along with other major carriers, so immigration was very busy. That said we were through immigration in the "Other Passports" queue in about 30 minutes. As it started to become pretty over crowded many people used the "African nations" queue without any problems. Luggage was on the belt when we got through which is an advantage when being held up through immigration. Sailed through customs and then did the 5 minute walk from the international terminal to the domestic departures terminal. Once the luggage was re- checked in for our final destination there was no queueing through security and on to the lounge.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Kingsley Utande
14 February 2007

Flew into JNB from LOS. Have to admit that service levels at the airport have improved since the last time I was there a couple of years ago. Went through immigration in 15 minutes, which was a marked improvement over the 1hour it took me go through the last time around. Baggage claim was efficient too, and customs was smooth. Though I have to admit we were lucky to have gotten there first, because when I turned round at the carousel to look at the immigration desk, I saw the kind of crowd you get at Heathrow on a bad day, which were courtesy of AF, VS, MH, SQ,CX and BA arriving at the same time. My return trip out on the 4th of feb was smooth too, with the VAT claim being handled efficiently, and a marked difference in the immigration set-up. I hope that the authorities continually improve on their facilities in preparation for the 2010 world cup. Can't wait for the improvements to the terminal to be completed anyway.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Nick Barlinwith the football world cup in it's current capacity. Interesting to note the domestic terminal was actually very good and I can'

19 January 2007

Took 2 hours from leaving the aircraft to entering the meet & greet area. The first hour spent waiting at immigration to be, finally, greeted by an indifferent and unhelpful immigration staff member. Who repeatedly questioned my need to have a British passport even though I was born in Johannesburg. This was after being pushed in to a big flower stand with spikes on, in the overcrowded immigration hall. The bruise has just gone after 10 days. I was clock watching by this time as my connection to Durban was in 90 minutes. I expected to see my luggage straight away, but still had to wait about 10 minutes for it. I then queued for a further 50 minutes to get out of the baggage hall to give my customs declaration to an officer who just tossed it on to the floor with hundreds of others. After dashing along the kerbside to the (lovely) domestic terminal I arrived 25 minutes before my flight and was checked in straight away (Even though check-in had officially closed) and told not to worry by the BA (Comair) staff, who were fantastic. Arrival at Durban was a breeze, my luggage was on the belt before I got to the baggage hall. ACSA have got to sort it out before 2010. Is this indicative of South Africa running constantly at about 70-80% of it's potential?

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Gary Cross
15 November 2006

Is it really worth making a comment about JNB Airport, does the management ever read these crits and if they do read them, do they really care. Here goes anyway. Arrived JNB 2nd nov at 7.30 from Paris. Waited for busses to take us to the terminal, boarding very slow missed the first bus got onto the next. Sign posted at baggage reclaim saying luggage on flight from Paris was on carousel one. After 15 minutes of waiting found our luggage was actually on carousel 3. Waited another half hour before cases actually arrived and then sprinted pushing a trolley to internal departures only to find that the whole luggage drama had taken so long i missed my connecting flight to Durban with BA leaving at 9.10. This is the second time I have missed my connecting flight, the same thing happened in July when my family and 4 American tourists flew to Durban from Heathrow. In July it took two and a half hours to reclaim our luggage as one of the carousels were not working and instead of getting to Durban at about 12 noon arrived after 4.30pm. It is amazing to see all the new terminal building work going on, but what is the point if the same inefficiencies are just transferred on a far bigger scale.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Andrew Mortimer
21 June 2006

Passport control was poorly organised resulting in a delay despite the fact that we were the only long haul flight on the ground. Somehow managed to park us out somewhere near Pretoria rather than at a pier and the resultant squash into the bus was no fun after a 14 hour flight. Leaving was a little better but not much. JNB will not cope

t help thinking they should swap! When hiring a car be careful on the way out as you could end up going somewhere you hadn't planned. For my journey into Kempton Park I actually had to run through the petrol station otherwise a 3 lane crossover in about 100 metres is necessary to get to the M57 highway. Bad design JNB!

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Richard Woodward
24 May 2006

How JIA will cope with thousands of fans arriving for the 2010 Football World Cup is a great mystery. It presently cannot cope with 2 wide- bodies arriving at once - the immigration queues are a disaster. You got an early morning arrival there? Expect at least a 45-60min wait - even if you are a Citizen; and to top off your great morning, someone will pilfer your luggage while you queue. You start to wonder if the immigration delays are all part of the empty the luggage exercise which seems to go on there.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Nico Geldenhuys
18 May 2006

I now understand why we need to wrap our luggage when leaving the country: otherwise your belongings are stolen from your locked suitcase. After coming back to South-Africa, it was even worse to find out how many people I know who had stuff stolen from their luggage after booking it in. Don't they have camera's in the luggage handling areas? Coming back last week, the wait-time in the Customs que was only about 15 minutes. Thereafter I had to wait over 30 more minutes for my luggage to come onto the belt. After a 12 hour flight, this is really not lekka! I really hope someone at Customs, ACSA, 2010 Soccer and whoever else, will actually read all these comments and take action.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by J Boese
6 May 2006

South Africa is developing for the better in many aspects, but somehow Johannesburg airport was left behind. The immigration is slow and unfriendly, good luck in finding your luggage (it usually comes off another belt than announced on the screens) and if you have to make a national connection, there will be some walking involved before you stand in line for hours to re-check for your national flight (at least if you continue with South African). If you can arrange it, enter South Africa via Cape Town, a fast, modern and friendly airport! Hard to believe, that they are managed by the same company.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Andrew Goldie
18 April 2006

Just travelled through JNB. The decor of the airport and the modernity and cleanliness of the building makes it a pleasure to travel through although the size of the international departures (check-in hall) is rather small and cramped especially at night when all the European flights leave. I experienced for the second time the abrupt and slow immigration agents - there are simply not enough on duty to cover such a large amount of passengers - at peak time be prepared to queue for around 45mins - 1.5 hours. In international departures duty free the prices are extremely expensive and things are cheaper outside the airport! Don't let this deter you from travelling to South Africa though.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Garry MacLean
26 February 2006

South Africa spends vast amounts of money trying to attract business and tourists to the country, yet when one arrives at Joburg Airport the initial greeting is enough to make one return home without ever bothering to enter the country. I have been to South Africa twice recently, and in both instances the reception at Immigration was totally offensive at the best. The first time we entered an absolutely jam- packed hot and dirty Immigration Centre, to be met with surly Immigration Officers obviously angry at the world and intent upon taking it out upon the public. In spite of the overcrowding and unbelievably slow service there were no seats for the elderly or inform; one middle aged gentleman collapsed and had to be assisted to sit on the stairs by other passengers as there were no Airport staff willing to assist. One Senior Immigration officer walked by but completely ignored the situation, otherwise there was no assistance whatsoever. There was one extremely rude woman shoving her way through the crowds with a small sniffer dog, only serving to aggravate the situation with her abusive nature. My second visit a few months later showed little improvement. The lines were still long, the Immigration Officers were still amazingly slow and surly, there were still no seats for the elderly or inform - but there was a new Immigration area open. Unfortunately there were no signs telling us where to go, only a young gentleman who proceeded to send my entire flight to the wrong arrival area. After standing in line for an hour we were greeted by an Immigration Officer who was positively gloating when he told us that we were in the wrong area of the airport and had to move away. The Managers in charge of Immigration at Joburg Airport should be ashamed of themselves, there is absolutely no reason for the rudeness, slowness and abusiveness of the behaviour of the staff they have working there. I met many wonderful South Africans once through the horrors of SA Immigration, why can the Airport Authority hire some of those people, rather than the malcontents presently filling positions that they obviously hate.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Martin Liefeldt
8 January 2006

Duty free at JNB airport is a total rip off. If you are flying SAA, buy on the flight - the prices are the lowest you'll find. Always amazes me - we pay huge airport taxes to use the airport and are then treated like dirt. Possibly the Airports Company of South Africa needs to remind itself as to where the obscene profits come from.

Johannesburg OR Tambo Intl Airport by Gary Cross
6 January 2006

JNB Airport was a nightmare from the time we landed, and a huge feeling of relief when we eventually left. The building is very good but customer service is non existant. Landed from Paris and after a fairly long walk to internal departures and being harassed by taxi drivers proceeded to SAA desk for check in for flight to Durban. What a mess, although there were at least 25 desks manned, there were queues three deep and at least 100 meters long. Our flight was boarding while we were still 75 meters from the nearest desk. Thankfully a very nice lady proceeded to walk around the airport shouting flight numbers and asking people to follow her. After a mad scramble we finally reached the slowest lady I have ever seen book us in. I must mention that all British Airways, Nationwide and Kulula desks seemed to be running normally. I am just grateful that we never had to take a flight closer to Christmas. Duty free is also a joke at the airport with most cigarettes and alcohol cheaper at bottle stores and supermarkets. Although SAA flights were good, due to their poor, unorganised ground staff I would never use them again.

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