Abu Dhabi Airport

I am a little disappointed with this airport. It still has a lot to learn from the nearby Dubai. Most of the staff were unfriendly and some were even rude. However, kudos to the airport paramedics who looked after me very well when I felt unwell. The waiting areas were terrible. Seating was cramped and the shops were like your usual market. The airport lounge was okay but the selection of food was not great. This airport is has a long way to go to become world class.

Abu Dhabi airport is awful - they built a new terminal but they didn't seem to want to fire the architect from the previous incarnation. Most staff are unprofessional, discourteous or maybe just incapable. They still resort to using buses to transport passengers to and from the terminal. Long walk from one terminal to another. Restrooms are terrible, dirty and wet. I was not able to ride with my disabled parents in the seperate transport and had to take all the bags. I had to wait 1 hour at the drop off point for my parents to get there, so that we can carry on to the connecting flight. This airport is old school - they have one long line where they scan your handbags - the customs/security people are bureaucratic and rude. Avoid especially if you are traveling with older people.

Avoid this airport. To transfer through here means getting into a huge throng of people moving at snail's pace. The queues to clear security between terminals were to the point that people could not get off the escalator because of the crowds. People started screaming because they had nowhere to go once they reached the bottom. People yelled for the escalator to be shut down and the airport staff scrambled but it was too late, people young and old were on the floor on top of each other. It was a terrible scene to witness.

Our family (we are 10 adults, 3 kids and 3 babies) travels together whenever we can. For the first time, we have encountered a bad experience in an airport. Unfortunately, we had to endure 10 hours at this airport. Allow me to point out the good things first. Good things: - the experience in the shuttle bus that drove us from the airplane to the airport was good 'the driver was kind enough to turn on the a/c in the bus despite us being the only ones onboard' - (we were the last ones to disembark the plane). The staff in the food court/village explained patiently what we could get with the meal vouchers issued to us (it wasn't true that you could have any meal as the issuer of the vouchers claimed) - when they changed the boarding gate a few minutes before the scheduled boarding time, we appreciated the person going around the gate to make sure that passengers had transferred to the correct gate. Bad things: - there is no co-ordination between departments - most staff we encountered were apathetic and rude: change of flight counter, person manning the queue in the x-ray area before the boarding gates, ground crew who was wearing a vest with reflective tapes and boarded passengers (that was a first actually because in my years of travelling I have never encountered a ground crew getting our passports and boarding passengers). They were late in boarding passengers because the plane was parked at the wrong gate. Instead of practicing the standard procedure (of asking business class passengers, passengers with kids and seniors to board first), they just "motioned" to the passengers to line, they did not even announce it so we were surprised that people far from us got into the line first (when we were already beside the gate). Smoking area was not contained / maintained properly, we could smell the smoke all the way to the boarding gate.

Would not recommend Etihad Airways, based on having to transit through this airport. Abu Dhabi Airport is not up to international standards for passenger flow. Poor choice of food and expensive, lot and lots of walking between gates and huge lines for security screening. As usual the flight to Manila was out of an older gate. Basically the poorer foreign workers in the UAE, doing all of the work, are pushed to one side. If you're flying to Europe you get a nice gate.

Abu Dhabi airport couldn't organise themselves out of a paper bag. Transferring through the airport was an absolute disaster as it seemed the majority of passengers were doing the same thing. With a stroller and a 4 year old in tow, I took the lift down and when the doors opened, the scene was chaotic. People filing into a really small space for what really was a token security check. I was concerned for my children because of the overcrowding. Getting through this process, we then had to go through the duty free shops and try to find somewhere to sit. Shops to buy food and drink were sparse and always busy, again due crowding. Toilets seems to everywhere until you realise they have an entry point at each end and therefore quickly become crowded. There is no prioritisation for first or business class either adding to the lack of service. I have vowed to avoid this airport in my future travels for the terrible design and terrible orperational management.

Abu Dhabi is too small for the number of passengers. Not enough seating or food outlets and everything seems expensive. Not enough toilets, huge queues but to be fair these were very clean due to a permanent janitor on duty. Additional transit security with arrogant, rude staff. Long queue at passport security check at gate. Another hand baggage security check when through passport check but staff were friendly. They still use buses and stairs for boarding. Signage is not too bad, I found my way around and a staff quite helpful. Duty free area is poorly designed. The majority of staff look like their jobs are beneath them and would rather be somewhere else. This airport is doing major damage to the Etihad brand and ruins the above average flight experience I had. My advice - choose another transit point especially if you have more than 2 hours.

This is a very busy airport and if you are unlucky to hit a particularly busy time as we did, then getting to a toilet is a real hassle for men and women! We could find nowhere quiet to eat or rest during a 7 hour stopover - after a flight with Etihad and little to eat or drink I was starving and thirsty but the water fountains were mostly rather dirty and the food outlets very busy, very noisy, very scruffy and very expensive. The airport is being extended and our flight was parked a long bus ride away. The few first class passengers were off loaded and then we all waited about 20 minutes before another bus appeared for business class only. Eventually buses arrived for economy class - it was made worse by the bus having to make two circuits of the airport before it could park at an appropriate entry gate. I'd avoid this airport if you can unless you have lounge access.

Very unorganized - lanes have a surprise element where all check-ins to all flights regardless of the departure time happen at the same time. Unfriendly staff who could have guided people which is done selectively. Understaffed and unskilled staff. Passport lanes very slow as the check in. The checkin staff - unlike others - at least had a smile unlike the others who were pressurized because of the influx of restless passengers. There is a feeling of "don't care as we can't do much". The only good thing inspite of inefficiency is water bottles handed out by a gentleman. Hope the excuse of refurbishment is not an excuse.

Seating capacity provided for passengers is a planning mistake par excellence. Add to this misery if you are unfortunate enough to need any toilets. The number of toilets planned for this airport is simply a miscalculation. Expect to wait behind 100 people and then enter a smelly cubicle. I shall avoid passing through.