Sharm El Sheikh Airport

I have travelled to many placed around the world but have never seen such a farce. Nobody knows where to go or what to do after spending almost 2 hours waiting to go through passport control (no visa required for our stay but they still try and sell you one) you then find yourself with the other 12 flights that have landed trying desperately to work out which baggage carousel you should go to. There are no signs telling people which flight baggage is on which carousel. Coming out of the airport is the normal hassling from taxi drivers and the like. The journey back to the UK was just as bad. Again our flight did not appear on any screen in the airport so it was pretty much guess work & luck. Doesn't put you in the best of moods or give the impression of a country that takes tourism seriously.

This is surely the most disorganised airport I have been through. Especially bad on returning to the UK. Three lots of baggage xrays. Huge queues everywhere. No toilets in the final departure areas. No seats as several flights leaving and often flights moved from one gate to another after standing for ages. Come on Egypt you need our custom! Get some logistics people in to improve things.

Total chaos reigned. You arrive queue to get your visa form then queue to have it stamped which all takes about 1-1.5 hours. Departure was even more horrendous. We wanted the Manchester flight. The 'PA' system was one of may human voices calling our without even a megaphone. And the gate kept on changing. Eventually we got through only to be taken to the wrong aircraft. All-in-all quite an education.

I've been to two airports in Egypt and this was the better one! Staff? - where?! They didn't seem to or want to know anything and just laughed at you all the time! Don't get a trolley as you have to pay to use them. Signs don't exist well not ones that make sense anyway. Always carry your own toilet paper with you as it is not given out for free as standard. The toilets don't flush just dribble. If the airport is pretty busy when you're there just cork it until you get on the plane (trust me you'll appreciate taking the advice) Security is everywhere you get x-rayed upon going in suitcase and all (hope you're strong!) then you go to the check-in desk get your tickets and to the departure lounge. You get x-rayed again buy drinks food maybe even a hashesh pipe or singing camel. The duty free shop is small chocolate is 4 times the price of alcohol the credit card machine didn't work and the legal tender of any country is accepted. Go through to the gates (they're just numbered doors - they all lead to the same place). Get x- rayed again. There are no toilets at the gates but there is a snack stand selling large packets of crisps at three times the price back home. If you really need to you can go back to the departure lounge but trust me it's not worth it. A generous 3 out of 10.

Renovation work is still going on here - the outside of the airport is vastly improved but the arrivals hall and visa area is a complete nightmare. Usually large queues for visas and passport control. As usual only the British queuing and all other nationalities esp Russians pushing in. Baggage reclaim is not always from the belt that has your flight number above it and many bags are taken off the belt and left lying around in piles. Returning for departure is an experience that could be described as something like 'Its a Knockout' Everyone runs off the bus into one building then through into another where the nightmare begins. Its a race to get to the queue for baggage screening. Whichever queue you pick is bound to stop for no reason then everyone moves to the next belt which also stops. No real security screening seems to take place although your case is put through the scanner none of the staff are actually watching the screen. Everyone is jostling to get into the queue and get their bags on first and tempers get frayed. Then suddenly out of the blue everything stops while a Sheikh gets through (unsearched) with his entourage. Once you reach check in it is a fairly slow process and you are not always advised you need to fill out an exit card for immigration before proceeding. Final passport check and into the duty free area which is a shambles. The renovations don't seem to have reached this far and there were several unattended gaping holes in the floor which posed serious injury risks. We were actually glad to get through to the final departures area to wait in the relative quiet until our flight was called. Be warned the toilets are awful and you need your own toilet paper otherwise the attendant will give you two squares for £1. Also odd to see uniformed staff smoking on duty at the gates and the local stray cats roaming through the terminal. Be prepared for a total culture shock if you are not accustomed to it. My partner works at our local UK airport and is astounded by Sharm every time! Saying that we have been back three times.

Total chaos and is probably the only reason for not returning. Three lots of baggage were on one belt and when that stopped baggage was then put on the next belt. Nobody was there to answer questions and there was nothing on the screens in the baggage hall. Flying home was just as bad. Everybody into the first hall wait and then all to the next hall where you have to lift your cases onto a conveyor belt for x-ray. Some people had to remove their shoes some didn't. The check-in desk was fairly painless. Through passport control into the smoke filled departure hall. Listen carefully for the announcements. Nudged out of the way to let some Russians through and into the holding bay for the bus. Another wait and a sigh of relief to board the plane. What the airport needs is clear management and more information for travellers. Come on Egypt you need us back.

BRS-SSH. Landed at 20.05hrs to be faced with 2 other UK arrivals (LGW & BHX) and 2 plane loads of Russians and absolute chaos!! Visa cost £10 ($15 Egyptian £150) but this is only required if you want to go outside the Sinai peninsula otherwise there isn't a charge. Be careful about people trying to charge more than the above though! Passport control a farce - took 1.5 hours to complete by which time we were almost last from our plane. Toilets were dirty also airport was very hot and sticky. Return - you have to go through a waiting building then into the terminal through the scanners and then to check-in. After check-in you go through Passport control where they stamp you out of their country and into the Duty-Free/Lounge. Here the Duty-Free shop accepts most major currencies GBP USD Euro but NOT the Egyptian Pound!! Be careful not to go through the scanners to your gate too early as there is nothing there apart from screens and doors to the buses to your plane. I gather a new terminal is due to open not before time but they need to re-arrange the passport control for arrivals.

Sharm El Sheikh Airport is just a simple tourist airport. The arrival hall is not very large and after the arrival of more than two aircraft at the same time there are large queues at the immigration. Be careful with and don't pay too much for the Visa. The airport is clean more or less well organized. The departure hall with the check in facilities is very small the waiting areas are okay.