Johannesburg Airport

We were transiting from Windhoek to London through Johannesburg airport last Saturday. We arrived at 17.15 with departure time 19.20. The airport has introduced biometric screening and hadn't enough staff on duty. It took us 1.45 hours to get through the queue. As each flight reached its 'gate closing' time passengers were called forward and fast tracked without the screening. I don't blame the staff on duty there just wasn't enough of them it was a total disaster. Instead of spending time shopping and having a drink in the airport we ended our holidays with a frantic dash to our flight. We would have been much quicker exiting at the arrivals and then checking through again. The airport needs to get its act together it was just not good enough. We'll be avoiding this airport in future

I found Johannesburg airport staff very helpful. We got thru security in about 10 minutes. They were very efficient and watchful. The temperature was very warm. We went to the British Airways Lounge which was much cooler. Their food and selection of drinks was good. Lounge gets very crowded.

On my arrival on Sunday 4 Sept at 4pm with Emirates flight from Dubai I joined the line for visa exempt passports. I had to wait more than 2 hours to reach the counter. Clearly not enough staff at the counters, no attempt to improve the situation. Generally an utterly disgraceful performance for the country's prime international gateway.

✅ Verified Review | Domestic arrivals and departures through the old Johannesburg airport bridges connected to the new domestic terminal. Dark, stark, grey, dirty and in serious need of a revamp. Agree with fellow travellers, the airport is challenging to navigate and could not find much signage from domestic arrivals to the car-hire spot (which is opposite International arrivals). Security check moved fast and staff were friendly. Boarding rows 1-15 from front door and 15 onwards down the air-bridge stairs, outside onto the tarmac past the aircraft and up stairs to the rear door. Initially chaotic to start, but did speed up the process. Not exactly the worst airport, but not the best either.

Sprawling, disorganized airport with inconsistent signage, inadequate updates and small waiting areas (often indistinguishable from the private restaurant owners whose spaces break up the gates). Immigration on entry wasn't bad - plenty of desk agents despite being a busy time. The logistics of the place were terrible - it was a long walk to the domestic terminal. The electronic bulletin boards for departures were only updated for a short time in advance. The need to get a new boarding pass for the onward flight was not clear. Boarding was disorganized especially on my international return and there was little space to sit in the international terminal, while seating in the domestic terminal was confusing - restaurants are plopped in the waiting area often with little to distinguish them from gate seating. The wifi was fine. There's lots of duty free shopping and its possible to change money both before immigration on entry and after immigration on departure. Expect "helpful people" to ask for a sizable tip when giving you directions. The security here obviously is terrible. This is one airport I hope never to visit again.

Landed in Johannesburg after an overnight flight from Paris with tight connection to Cape Town. Porters helped us through the desks with bags and ran with us to the next flight. However, they requested 800 Rand - tired and out of breath we paid. Going thru again and will avoid the porters totally.

It took 2 hours to clear passport control yesterday. We arrived with two hours to spare to catch our connecting flight to Cape Town. After an hour in the queue, I attempted to speak to one of the staff who are all based at the front of the queue. I was greeted with the usual emotionless face and told that once I have my passport stamped, I should contact information to find out about my missed flight. There were only 3 people coping with the massive queue and all of them were as miserable as sin. What a welcome to SA. Fortunately, Lufthansa managed to get us on another flight but we would've paid for it if our flight hadn't been delayed. What a shambles.

Three and a half hours to get through immigration. Place seem totally unable to cope with numbers. Insufficient staff and poor systems. Queue was backed up to the door when staff finally responded by opening new kiosks for arriving passengers that frustrated those who had been in the queue for up to three hours already.

The immigration queue in Johannesburg took an hour and 50 minutes to clear. Half the desks weren't manned. The crowd started to get out of control, pushing and shouting. It's an embarrassment for South Africa to have such poor airport service - especially when there were plenty of staff around just not working at the counters. It's the worst airport experience I've ever had in 20 years of flying.

Arrived from Turkish Airlines after a good flight. My wife is South African, so she went through Passport Control for South Africans. I am Irish, so instead of accompanying her, I decided to do the right thing and go through the "Other Passport Holfers" route. The queue went quite quickly until I was about 15th in line. Then the queue suddenly stopped. A constant stream of passengers suddenly were ushered in front of us. I can only assume that a A380 had just arrived from China, and these people were being given preference over all others. Each one had to complete extra forms before approaching the actual desk, but the desks were being held for them. In total it took over 90 minutes for me to clear Passport Control, with my wife standing on the "outside" of the barrier waiting for me. The rest of the airport is fine, with no complaints (both for arrivals and departures) but the Government red tape is horrendous. I have no option but to pass through Jo'burg as my wife has family there that we visit regularly. But next time I will accompany her through the South African Passport Holders only queue.