Rio De Janeiro Airport

Flew American out of Terminal 2 last night. It was their second night in that terminal. Overall experience was a joke. Business Class check-in was single agent who was missing from the check-in booth for the first 15 minutes completely. Totally unresponsive and unhelpful in suggesting how to get checked in with missing ticket agent. Business Class line probably 50-75 people long before ticket agent returns and they start brining some folks to Main Cabin check-in. Main Cabin check-in looked like a fan-filled soccer field after a game. Wait had to be hours. Luggage belts from check-in counter to the "underground" not working with all bags being carried by hand to carts. Security and Passport control queue a challenge. Inadequate passport control staff forced them to batch folks through security probably 75 at a time to keep from overloading Passport Control queue. Whole experience from arriving at airport to gate over 1.5 hours. Plane scheduled for 11.15pm departure. At 10.30 +/- they started moving passengers to a bus queue to get to wide body flight to DFW parked on tarmac. At midnight passengers still coming on board plane. A total embarrassment in every regard. And as a regular business traveler a disgrace. On Friday night Business Class travelers need to allow 2 hours. Main Cabin travelers need 3 hours.

Summer in Rio temperature above 100F and AC system can barely be felt. It is horrible inside the terminal. Flying United was dropped at terminal 2 but after a lot of inquiring realized the Houston flight leaves from Terminal 1 as Continental when this name has disappeared almost 9 months ago. All horrible. Can't imagine the World Cup and Olympics here.

Flew on midnight departure. Got to airport well ahead of time but faced long queues for everything. The whole experience was stressful and rude terminal staff seemed unwilling to help with anything even stopping passengers who had been delayed in security/passport control lines from getting quickly to departure gates. Announcements were very hard to understand and at times airline staff members were walking up and down the waiting areas shouting departure details to try and get passengers to the gates! Even late at night the temperature was so hot and the only air-conditioning that we found was in the expensive 'tax-free' shop. Facilities to eat/drink very limited-not a nice experience-for once it was a pleasure to get on the aircraft! Have no idea how they will cope with World Cup in less than 2 years - major work needed urgently.

Recently travelled to Rio GIG from Portugal. The airport looks a bit old fashioned. At arrivals a long wait for luggage that was delivered on a random basis (no priority for business class travelers). Once you leave the customs area do not go to the first taxi booths but rather to the booths to the left in the main hall: they offer fixed cheap rates to the city centre. ATMs are in the mezzanine and only one of them could accept my European bank card. I was disappointed in the return leg. Arrived early at the airport; no problem in the passport or security control areas. However once you are in there are only a couple duty free shops (one of them offering traditional goods at a very high price) and only one cheap restaurant basically a fast food. I think better catering services are needed.

Been there twice since 2009. Positively shocked at the dingy worn out look of the airport that is the gateway to such a lovely city. Like other reviews I found the signage sorely inadequate and immigration and check-in lines endless and very slow. The taxi touts yelling at you from the booths as you leave the baggage claim isn't exactly welcoming. The yellow cabs are the way to get to your destination. Overall not a pleasant experience on arrival or while departing.

The most decent airport in Brazil but still a joke if compared to North American and European airports. The last time I was there they had 3 blackouts in 2 hours and the queues seemed to last forever. A reasonably large choice of food and shopping but everything costs a fortune! The air conditioning was insufficient. With the World Cup and the Olympics coming I think people will really get stressed over there.

While it has undergone some renovations to Terminal 1 (the older of the two terminals) those renovations merely brought it up to minimum standards for a small Mid Western US City. This is definitely not an airport capable of handling World Cup traffic let alone those planning to arrive by air for the Olympics. And there appear to be no plans to do anything between now and the Olympics. So expect large tents on the tarmac to process arriving passengers long waits and very few passenger comfort amenities. Terminal 1 which handles a few international flights but mostly domestic traffic is modern but still grossly inadequate for a City of over 7 million and in a region where air travel is growing rapidly let alone for the Olympics.

We used the airport 3 times. First time on our flight to Foz du Iguazzu they changed our gate. There were no English announcements so if had not looked at the screens we would not have known about the change. Arriving back there was an incredible wait for luggage. Signage is very poor to direct you from the luggage area to where you can obtain transportation into the city. Third time we were flying to Sao Paulo to catch an international flight. They had us wait in the international area while our gate was located in the domestic area. Very confusing. I don't think they have enough infrastructure to handle the upcoming World Cup and Olympics.

The old terminal is old-fashioned but departure worked well (be a bit ahead of time to be on the safe side). There are little amenities behind the security check. The new terminal seemed to be in line with international standards however I did not see its past-security area. Terminal 1 is dated indeed but this will only really matter to regular passengers. The only thing that really annoyed me was the taxi/limousine hawkers in the arrivals hall (and the rip-off limousine service booths). Gave me an awkward feeling after 14 hours of travelling although this terrible practice is commonplace in many poorer countries around the globe. Airport administration should seriously do away with this. Just pass by those aggressive hawkers and get your cab outside the airport building at the curb.

Recent 1.5 hr domestic connection at GIG T2. T2 itself is a modern building if compared to other Brazilian airports. It is probably the only one in the country with individual boarding and de-boarding walkways at each gate. Options for shopping and dining in the domestic security area are pathetic and prices are unrealistic. Can't understand how INFRAERO the state-owned company who poorly runs GIG is self-satisfied with the low quality of service if offers to tourists and local taxpayers.