Abu Dhabi Airport

Customer Reviews

4 star Skytrax Rating
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Queuing Times 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Staff 12345
Customer rating from 256 reviews
3/10
4 star Skytrax Rating
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4/10

"overloaded with poor services"

(Czech Republic)

I have been using this airport for many years. Terminal 1 (old) used by most airlines is overloaded with poor services and only one poorly attended bathroom. Terminal 3 used exclusively by Etihad is a bit larger but again operating beyond its design capacity; with only three bathrooms and cheap cleaning contractor cleanliness is an issue mainly if you want to use the cabinets. Abu Dhabi is trying to imitate Dubai's success but apparently without success. Amongst the three major hubs in the area Dubai Doha (till the opening of new airport end of this year) and Abu Dhabi Dubai remains the best. If you have a choice then avoid this airport.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
1/10

"too confusing and crowded"

(United States)

I transited through Abu Dhabi (onward and return) on the Chicago-Abu Dhabi-Mumbai route last month. The airport seemed to be too confusing and crowded with no proper signboards guiding you to the different terminals. All you see is gate numbers and you have to somehow know which terminal contains which gate numbers. Queues are pretty long and no airport official to guide/manage these queues. If you are travelling with infants remember that AUH doesn't have any sort of priority for such passengers. So you'll have to wait in the queues for hours. Airport staff especially at the ticket/transfer desks are unprofessional rude and have an indifferent attitude. I had booked a bassinet seat for my 10-month old baby but was told at Mumbai airport to try for the seat at AUH since most of the seats were taken. On checking at the transfer desk in Terminal 3 the guy at the counter lied and said that I already have bassinet seats only to realize otherwise when I boarded the Abu Dhabi-Chicago flight (15 hrs journey). Seats at departure gates are very few narrow and not comfortable. Overall not a world class airport as it is projected to be. Its really disappointing and should be avoided if you are travelling with infants/kids.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

"hope they ramp things up"

(Australia)

I recently travelled to Europe through Abu Dhabi and to be honest I was less than impressed. My main concern would be that the terminal lacks staff and desks to process the amount of guests coming though at any one time. (Inbound and Out). On our return journey the customs software went down (Aug 2013) which happens but the time to get the system back up and operating was extremely slow (2 hrs). With major events like the Grand Prix coming up I really hope they ramp things up to accommodate for the crowds expected. Just small things like customs staff wearing iPhone headsets under their head dress and they have absolutely no interest in being welcoming at all. Then the Taxi system waiting outside was totally out of control there were no lines or order to the process the waiting passengers it was every man for himself with Taxi's at one stage 3 deep across the road with people walking around moving cars. Appalling would be a word that comes to mind.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
8/10

"staff have all been very polite"

(United Kingdom)

I am sitting in Abu Dhabi airport and can't believe I am in same place as other reviewers. I agree it is a bit chilly but not uncomfortably spans it is 02.00. The staff have all been very polite and helpful all public areas are very clean and tidy and toilets are spotless with attendants sweeping out cubicles unformatted each use. I can genuinely see no problem here whatsoever.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
yes
na

"avoid this airport"

(United Arab Emirates)

Avoid this airport. Toilets are digesting not enough toilets rude immigration staff who are lazy and slow - would seem that they take delight in seeing how long they can take to process people. We waited for 3 hours at 2.00am to be processed while "security" were escorting others to the front of the huge lines - so lines were not moving at all! The signage boards and sequencing of services does not exist or work. Food options are limited expensive and disappointing. Same goes for shopping. This airport does not cut it amongst the international airports and we have travelled in many. We are regular travels into and out of Abu Dhabi and at least 90 percent of our flights leave at least an hour late. It is normal practice for us to sit on a plane for over an hour prior to it taking off. It is also normal practice for Etihad to wait for late guests who just dawdle in. It is also normal for passengers to try and swap seats like their choosing from an a-la-carte menu - we have been asked to swap seats with these passengers by the flight attendants even though we have taken the trouble to check-in early and secure our preferred seats. This airport truly is unbelievable - masquerading with a veneer of shine that very quickly loses its gloss when you try to do anything.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
3/10

"found this airport quite unpleasant"

(Australia)

I found this airport quite unpleasant. This is my second stopover here and I've found the staff unhelpful and uninformative. Our flight has now been delayed by 50 minutes without explanation the toilets are gross and the air con doesn't work in there and they took my water when I went into the waiting area for my flight despite my having just bought it 5 minutes earlier on my way from the previous flight. In future I will avoid this airport.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
7/10

"it's always very busy"

(United Kingdom)

I've been through AUH several times in recent years it's always been at night and it's always very busy. This time I had a tight daytime connection (1hr 20 mins) and the inbound flight was 1hr late. Not a problem - the airport was extremely quiet at 9am no queues at all in Security and Etihad held the connecting flight until all the transit passengers had boarded. All very civilized and not at all like short connections in Dubai.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
yes
5/10

"airport was fine but very busy"

(South Africa)

Had a connecting flight from SA to Dubai and Dubai to London. Airport was fine but very busy. Had to walk quite far to find information boards. Not enough toilets for the amount of passengers also not enough seating areas. Long walk to the boarding gate.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
2/10

"clean with average facilities"

(Australia)

The airport was clean with average facilities but the reason for the low score is the queue time at immigration. I got off my flight at 2am having flown business class into Abu Dhabi. There were 30 immigration counters open each with at least 60 people queuing. The process was so slow with staff leisurely processing customers at a rate of 3 minutes per person that it took 3 hours to get through. There were people complaining all around and the people stamping the passports seemed to be operating 'in their own time' which was extremely slow interspersed with conversation and joke breaks between counters.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
3/10

"too many people coming and going"

(United States)

Yesterday I spent about 18 hours at this airport. Too many people coming and going through this airport but it doesn't has enough facilities to handle them. There are very few bathrooms with missing lights and toilet rolls. Some has faucets which don't work. Because of huge number of people that used them there aren't enough people to keep them clean. It took me 50 minutes to get visa as only 4 immigration booths were open. Also there are not many people who speak English to guide/direct travellers. Signs are clearly marked but information on monitors is not always correct. For example my flight was at 1.45am and around 12am monitors started showing "Last Call". My flight got delayed to 2.45am. Though monitors at airport showed flight delayed but at 1.45am started showing that flight was closed. Also gate information wasn't correct and that upset many people.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no