Guangzhou Airport

❎ Unverified | Arriving mid-morning from Amsterdam we found ourselves waiting for over 2 hours to get through customs for our “Visa Free” 2-night stay. There were just 2 customs officials on for hordes of arriving passengers with maybe 10 others just standing around behind these 2. When we were but 2 away from the counters they put another one official. The female official my partner approached for all to hear yelled “give me your passport hurry!” The “where is you visa, why are you here, quickly!!” At this time, I was up with an official next who was laughing at the treatment my partner was receiving from this screaming female. My officer asked to see our departing ticket and I advised that my partner had my ticket out of the country currently showing the other official. He proceeded to ask for this from his colleague who screamed “they should have two copies” and to my partner “give this to him now!” We were both appalled by the treatment we received for no other reason than we had to wait over 2 hours to get through customs. What a way to start our shopping trip in Guangzhou. Had we a choice we would have jumped on the next plane home rather than stay. Perhaps this swayed our opinion otherwise but the airport was dirty, mostly very old and so hot! Our flight home was delayed 3 hours due to apparent “weather conditions” which was interesting as after doing an internet search I found no untoward weather conditions anywhere on route. The airport incredibly hot once again. I hope never to have to return!

✅ Verified Review | Singapore to Shanghai Hongqiao round trip transit in Guangzhou. I was surprised that despite my first leg was delayed for both ways and left me less than an hour for my connection, I managed to make it on time. The ground staff drives a vehicle to send transit passengers (international to domestic and domestic to international). Because of this, I did not have time to explore the airport, but I suppose it is a great airport in terms of ground services and shopping varieties.

❎ Unverified | Arrived from Sydney, 2nd July at 6pm. Had a 6 hour layover, which was fine. Boarded flight bound for Amsterdam on time at 11.15pm. Advised by cabin crew of one hour delay due to weather. I am an airplane person and do not accept this explanation. No further advice until takeoff at 6.00am. There was a near riot on the plane which resulted in police removing one passenger. I noted that there were a number of arrivals during this time, but no departures. I'm aware that the Chinese Air Force regularly close the airspace for their own needs. Not sure if this was the cause or not. I do note that flying recommenced at daylight, which seems a little suspicious, and made me wonder if the delay was down to a systems failure of navaids at the airport. I will not now consider any flights routing through China in the future, and I believe that many others are probably coming to the same conclusion. A six-hour on board delay is shocking, and more so when there is no indication of why or how long one will be on the aircraft. In the end the passengers were on this aircraft for 19 hours between boarding and arrival in Amsterdam, and there are other flights that boarded earlier that were bound for long-haul destinations, that would have fared worse. Just not acceptable.

✅ Verified Review | Had a layover at Guangzhou for 5 hours and was pleasantly surprised after reading some of the reviews. On our trip out we had a quick change over 30 minutes and the staff were excellent getting us through to board our next plane. We were issued stickers and were whisked through. On our way home we made sure we had an empty bottle so we could fill up with the free fresh water which is on offer, also boiling water, so if you are organised and have some Tea bags get your self a cuppa as well. The coffee is very expensive $20AU a cup but on the other hand I found the cheapest airport beer ever at the A02 gate shop $3 330ml so drink beer and water and you are laughing. There are massage chairs which worked out at $14AU for an hour. Also near the massage chairs there is soft seating with a few spots you can stretch right out. There are a couple of good restaurants that take card and a few places that don't. McDonalds for the brekky deal is $7AU. Good to have $20AU in chinese currency. Still not Singapore but when you get deals like Southern China have to offer I am not complaining.

✅ Verified Review | 7.30pm flight to JFK New York was delayed due to weather - nowhere to sit as to be expected when you cram hundreds of people into 1 holding area with a few seats. Some passengers ended up sitting on the floor, squatting or perching on low metal rails around the holding area. Minimal communication from staff as to whether we could expect to leave that night, or whether we could head back upstairs to the main area with more seats/lounges whilst waiting. Boarding finally opened at 9.30pm, 2 hours post-scheduled departure time. Terrible service from China Southern Airlines staff - minimal explanations in English regarding changes in boarding gates. Was advised to wait at gate A02 multiple times, only for us to recognise other people who had been queuing ahead of us for the same flight actually boarding at a different gate at the very last minute. Noticed a China Southern Airlines staff member holding a cardboard sign stating "New York" when the crowd finally cleared. Went to ask staff again and told "oops yes, final call at gate A05". If we hadn't been keeping an eye out for familiar faces or noticed the cardboard sign, we would've missed our flight - unbelievable in an age where most airports have electronic signs and also gate staff to make announcements. Waited onboard the plane for further 2-2.5 hours (now 12am), only to be finally told that flight was now cancelled as the plane had been struck by lightning and had sustained damage. Herded back off the flight onto buses towards the terminal where it was utter chaos as China Southern Airlines staff just stood around telling people to wait for further information. There were literally hundreds of people (from cancelled flights and also passengers waiting to board other flights) were waiting in a stuffy holding area with no food or water. Eventually a group of us demanded that we be provided with temporary accommodations and finally China Southern Airlines herded us all upstairs (for what we assumed was customs/immigrations as this was never actually explained). After waiting in line for 1.5 hours, got to the front of the immigration queue and was denied access as we hadn't gotten proper paperwork. China Southern Airlines staff literally just stood around dumbfounded, despite us explaining that we did not have proper paperwork as we were only meant to be transiting through the airport. Cue further chaos as more passengers were met with the same dilemma after lining up for 1.5-2 hours. Thankfully I am able to speak and understand some Mandarin and was able to communicate these frustrations to China Southern Airlines staff, however it then fell to me to translate for the other passengers because CSA staff could not / would not speak in English! Absolutely appalling! Ended up in a group of American, Filipino, Singaporean, Australian, Colombian passengers so that I could translate for them. After voicing our frustrations, we were finally led around a grand tour of the airport before finally getting through to the other side of immigration (and thus the temporary accommodation that had been arranged) - 3 hours after getting off the flight. Unfortunately this was not the end of our saga but that is the gist of it. Apart from the hotel, there was no provisions made for food or toiletries. Worst experience ever. ** asked FOR TICKET

✅ Verified Review | Arriving from Heathrow to transit in Guangzhou was the longest bus ride within an airport I've experienced. Once inside the staff at the transfer desk were polite and helpful when I requested to upgrade to an exit row seat. Signs were clear and easy to follow to the gates, although some people seemed to find these confusing. The terminal was clean throughout including what I saw of the toilet facilities. Seating is limited and all seats have individual arm rests between so you can't spread out if you have a long transit. Seats were hard and uncomfortable. Our gate was changed with no announcement only when we looked at the screen by the gate we were at and realised our flight was no longer showing. Food options are very limited and none of these accepted card payment which would have meant converting money to Chinese yuan just to get some food which was impractical. Similarly there are only 4 or 5 shops, which were very limited in choice and didn't get more than a glance as I walked past as I could see pretty much everything from outside. There is free WiFi however remember before you leave that China blocks Facebook, WhatsApp and some Google apps. I was still able to access my email through Gmail.

Very slow for the special lane clearance for China Southern's much vaunted 72 hour transit stopover at Guangzhou Airport. Signage confusing beyond my comprehension and I seldom get lost in an airport. The use of the word "Gate" for entrances and exits adds to the confusion. And to have 4 of the 6 arrivals or departures using Gates A1 to A5 requiring a bus trip half way around the world and using what in other airports would be emergency exits is just inexcusable. All in all a huge white elephant with cluttered immigration and customs areas.

Despite the signs at Guangzhou Airport being in English, almost nobody spoke English or decided to make the effort to make international travellers feel welcome. An absolute far cry when compared to say Singapore airport, let alone some of the poorer airports in the world. Not very friendly either. Wanted to buy some presents - guess I'll spend my money in a country that wants it.

✅ Verified Review | Guangzhou airport is huge, separated by domestic departure and international. However, this is not a great airport for transfer compared to others such as Singapore Changi, Incheon, Hong Kong, Doha etc. Very seating and hard to find a rest area. Very little food or restaurant options in the airport. If you transfer or plan to spend more than 3 hours in this airport, I would advise to think twice.

I transited through Guangzhou airport twice in the last three weeks and was pleasantly surprised after some of the reviews I'd read. All signs are in English as well as Chinese, so no problem at all finding my way around. The airport is light, clean and modern, queuing times for documentation were fast and efficient. Nice shops selling beautiful Chinese clothing, and hand crafts of all kinds at resonable prices. I travel a lot through many international airports and found Guangzhou just fine. One thing I will say was it was a little cold, so if you have a jacket take it in your carry on luggage so you can be comfortable.