Luanda Airport

This Airport is horrible the food is the lowest quality you can imagine. The staff are unfriendly and the chairs that you can use while waiting in the cafeteria are really bad. But there is one positive thing: they have Heineken beer!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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 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 (TuThSa) 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!

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.

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.