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Luanda Airport Passenger Reviews and Luanda Airport Traveller Reports
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LUANDA AIRPORT customer review : 23 May 2012 by P Esteves (Luanda) |
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Rating : 3/10 |  |
Queuing |  |
Cleanliness |  |
Facilities | |
Recommended |  |
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Airport was refurbished 2 years ago. Whilst it has improved markedly, it retains many problems. A limited
number of check-in desks and numbers 1-6 have been broken for months. You still need to arrive early for
your flight as all airlines except TAAG have a very limited number of desks available to share for check-in.
Both landside and airside, the selection of restaurants has improved markedly. Landside, an unremarkable
pizza is $25 and a pretty poor hamburger is $18. Airside is slightly more expensive. The lavatories
frequently still do not have toilet paper or soap but are generally much cleaner than they used to be. Some
even have lockable doors these days. It seems the attitude is that by spending on a bit of bling this will
make everything ok rather than extending the airport to increase its capacity. This airport only has two
gates. One quite nice one for TAAG and another for every other airline. When two airlines are trying to
board using the same gate, this often means there are not enough seats.
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Luanda Airport customer review : 21 September 2011 by F Sadiqg (Angola)
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Customer Rating : 4/5 |
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 | Queuing |
 | Cleanliness |
| Facilities |
The airport is generally well managed with efficient immigration both for arrival and departure. The place is well
kept and maintained. It took me only 5 minutes to clear immigration. Staff are courteous and speak some English.
The luggage carousal is efficient and customs staff polite. There may be some time taken at the customs screening
as passengers queue up at the scanners but not for long. Overall a good experience.
Luanda Airport customer review : 7 September 2010 by W Miller
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Customer Rating : 4/5 | |
This airport has transformed and there is now a new terminal, self check-in kiosks, computer
check-in, LCD screens with flight departure information, two restaurants, and plenty of
seating. While simple and basic, it is nice and clean. There is a new TAAG premium lounge
which is nice. Airport staff were mostly friendly.
Luanda Airport customer review : 17 November 2009 by J Lynde
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Customer Rating : 1/5 |  |
Make sure you have your ticket number when checking in at this airport. The computer system
very rarely works and if you don't have your electronic ticket number, you won't be checked
in. Those with only an itinerary print out will not be given boarding passes. In addition,
"free seating" makes the boarding of a full 747 total pandemonium. Make sure you get to the
airport much earlier than the two-hour recommendation.
LUANDA AIRPORT review : 26 October 2009 by Holly Whitehead
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Customer Rating : 2/5 |  |
This airport is horrendous, however, it's West Africa! I spent 2 yrs passing through this
airport every 5 weeks and eventually you get used to it. Angola hasn't long been out of a
civil war and there are many more pressing issues within the country that need money spending
on them. Over those 2 yrs the airport did improve. There is now a seating area for those
waiting the return of their passport with the visa on arrival. Last time I was there, they
had actually put a ceiling in the arrivals immigration area. On departure, I have 2 tips -
get there much earlier than 2 hrs before departure and always have $5-$10 on you to give the
people who offer "assistance". This helps you beat the queue to join the check in queue.
Make sure your ipod is fully charged and you have a good book and you'll be fine. Also take
water with you as the shop and cafe are rarely open (at least they don't usually open in time
for the TAP morning return to Lisbon!). So in comparison to say, Heathrow, this airport is
dire at best, but under the circumstances it could be a lot worse!
Luanda Airport by Peter Edinbane
2 January 2008 Customer Rating : 
I recently had an experience that, for me just about sums up the level of disrespect the traveller
can expect at Luanda airport. After the usual interminable "check in process" we were herded into
the departure lounge. There are no PA announcements here of course, and no departures boards.
Instead, an airport employee will sometimes appear and mumble something about the flight boarding.
So be vigilant. We had to stand at the gate while the airport workers went through an old tradition
of Luanda airport- the time honoured tradition of "finding out who has the key to the glass doors".
This involves innumerable cell phone conversations, radio messages, borrowing someone else's radio
because your radio no longer works, etc etc. But eventually the key was found and we were allowed
on the bus which takes the passengers out to the plane.
Luanda Airport by J Ross
3 August 2007 Customer Rating :
Luanda Airport would be hilarious if it wasn't so bad. Everything that has been said below is true and
having gone in and out 10+ times in 18 months I would know. Check in is becoming an increasingly
unfunny joke. For the 1405 SAA departure to JNB (Tu,Th,Sa) you now need to be there at 9am. On the
last two occasion we were held outside the check in area for 45 minutes whilst waiting for the TAP
check in to close. Well that's what they told us. The fact they can't check in more than one flight at
a time should tell you something. In reality there did seem to be people getting through to check in
though so I suspect some greenbacks were going to security guards or these were 'friends'. Once
through to check in things went smoothly enough thanks to being in the business class queue. Well
worth paying the extra money for a business seat just to avoid the economy queue. The check in
attendent managed to check my bags through on my Air France connection from JNB without any trouble.
Immigration and security is fine as long as you are near the front of the check in queue.
Now you will inevitably get pulled over by the fiscal police who are just making sure you don't take
the local currency out of the country (not security as was mentioned below). They will however take
any bribe you offer them should you not know any Portuguese and / or don't understand that just saying
no usually work! Go upstairs to the bar - mosquito's, cheap beer and little aircon. You can of course
go to TAAG's business lounge which is barely acceptable though now has wireless. Or pay 20 bucks to go
to another lounge which has less to offer but has aircon! And there you sit, ipod on, reading for
around 3 hours before being called to baord the plane - before it has even come in from JNB!!! So you
go down past another security check and are penned in there for an hour before being allowed on the
bus to take you to the plane. Overall the place is a farce and is not befitting of a country that is
attracting more and more traffic every year. Apparently plans for the new airport went on hold as they
found a seam of diamonds in the ground they were going to build on so it could be a while before the
situation improves!
Luanda Airport by R Thomson
6 July 2007 Customer Rating :
Other reviews are spot on. On arrival, immigration is like some
Orwellian, post-communist throwback nightmare almost designed for
psychological torture. Make sure you have the immigration form filled in
on the plane and you get it stamped (show the guy yellow fever cert.).
The immigration officials are painfully slow and exeptionally bossy and
rude, there is no A/C (by the way, there are different queues but no one
cares which one you're in, choose the shortest), it is mosquito infested
and dirty... shabby. the toilets will make you want to vomit.... after
you've been to the immigration desk, they will take your passport from
you and you will have to wait an age to get it back with your visa...
there are no seats. This is a good time to try and get your luggage,
sometimes the officials will let you through to get it, sometimes not,
it's completely random just like everything else... expect anything as
they change the procedures regularly and without informing anyone. Once
you have your bags you're almost there, just have to negotiate corrupt
officials searching your bag and being accosted by local con men/pick-
pockets once you're outside. I can't even begin to describe
departure.... long queues to get through.. be careful when you go past
duty free as there is a security check (a guy in a glass room looking
for a bribe) once you are upstairs it's a bit easier.
Luanda Airport by James Ourrie
6 June 2007 Customer Rating :
The comments posted by Marc Lurie last year are
all still valid. This place is totally unbelievable, it is VERY
disorganised and you should expect to take approx. 1 hour to clear
immigration on the way in. Power cuts are frequent. There always seem to
be lots of "officials" charging about talking into radios and moblile
phones continually. But nothing ever seems to get done. And the
immigration officials who will "oh- so seriously" scan your passport are
chosen not so much for their intelligence, as for their family
connections. Petty irritations are the order of the day and all
procedures are subject to frequent change, by word of mouth, without
prior warning. The toilets are UNBELIEVABLE and the stench of raw
sewage permeates most of the upper departure lounge. Mosquitos feast on
their European and American prey while they stand in the endless ,
demeaning queues.
Luanda Airport by George Amis
11 September 2006 Customer Rating : n/a
I travelled through Luanda on business a while back and it is one hell
of an experience. I was lucky that I arrived on a 2/3rds empty plane so
getting through arrivals was relatively quick, but another 50-100 people
and it would have been hell. 35c+, mosquitos a plenty, and surly
passport control staff. Leaving was even more bizzare. You have to check
in 4 or 5 hours before your flight, again in a building with no apparent
air conditioning. After this, I was bribed ($20) to get through customs
without hassle about my hand luggage, and you then wait at the one
bar/cafe for 3 hours for your flight. One positive thing at Luanda is
your fellow passengers. Bonded by the grim, but occasionally amusing,
experience, everybody seemed ridiculously friendly, and I ended up
spending an entertaining 3 hours drinking Portuguese beer in the company
of Brazilians, South Africans, and Angolans.
Luanda Airport by Marc Lurie
11 July 2006
Here are a few tips to help you through.
The minute you ghet through the entrance doors into the arrivals hall, go to the desk/counter on the
right hand side. (You'll see plenty of other people there waving their arrival forms around. Give
the guy at the counter your arrival form and your Yellow Fever certificate. He will stamp the back
of the arrival form, and then you can stand in the passport queue. If you don't get the stamp, you
will wait in the queue for an hour, and then be turned back for the stamp.
If you don't have a Yellow Fever card, don't even bother standing in the queue. Go straight to the
"Saude" clinic on the left hand side of the builing. They will try to charge you to give you an
injection. You can usually get a counterfeit Yello Fever card from them without injections if you
bribe the guy. Don't get caught bribing him. Better still, make sure you have a Yellow Fever card.
You'll stand in the passport queue for anywhere between 30 minutes to 2 hours. Don't lose your cool,
it won't help. Have a bottle of water in your carry-on luggage because it gets bloody hot in the
airport and the AC seldom works. Once you're through passport control go through to the baggage area. If you're lucky the baggage
will have already come off the conveyer belt and be stacked somewhere. Take your baggage and the
little tag that's usually stuck on your ticket towards the exit.
There is a checkpoint before the exit. Show the man your ticket and the little luggage tag. He will
check it against the tag on your bags. You then have to choose the "nothing to declare" or "something to declare" exit.
If you don't have anything to declare, try to get to the far left of the security guy, and keep
against the wall all the way out. If you don't stick to the left, there is a good chance that you
will be stopped, and your bags searched. If you really don't have anything to declare, they'll
rummage around in your bag for a while, ask you a few questions, be generally unpleasant, and then
let you go. If they find something that you should have declared, then you're in trouble.
The toilets in the airport are to be used only in emergencies, and DON'T DRINK THE WATER (if there
is any). When you leave from Luanda, make sure you don't have any local currency on you. If you are searched,
it will be confiscated, and you could miss your flight.
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