Amman Queen Alia Airport

Arrival terminal on an international flight was ok. It looked rundown and a little faded. Still customs was fairly quick and efficient. Baggage retrieval was chaotic but ok. After looking around on various conveyor belts I finally found my bag after about half an hour. On departure airport looked very much different. Modern with a few shops like Starbucks (with free Internet for paying customers) and a few small cafes. Bathrooms were clean and maintained. There is a smoking room for those who are smokers.

Overhead announcements are repeatedly saying that smoking is not allowed in the airport. Perhaps not by the travellers but by staff. It was disgusting to see the staff smoking and then crushing the butts on the floor. All staff - immigration staff.

There is now a decent range of cafes at this airport which includes Starbucks Cinabon etc. They have done some other work to improve it but it could still do with a total refurbishment. The duty free is still good.

I have used this airport several times now and have found it adequate. It has some good eating options and the duty free shop is good. The only problem is the lack of seats while you wait for the gate to open. The airport is in need of a facelift which it will hopefully get soon.

I fly twice per month in and out of Iraq through Amman with minimum transits of 5-6 hours. For a modern country like Jordan it's a shame that the first glimpse of that country you get is the run down Queen Allia International Airport. It needs a serious refurb. At 6am you can't even find any toilet paper in the whole airport. The airport is a really bad experience as is the RJ transit hotel! When transiting through Queen Allia bring toilet paper or kleenex baby disenfectant or airline refreshing towels! If lucky enough to fly business the lounges are OK nothing more.

Always a pleasant experience for this reason with helpful staff at all levels in all areas when arriving/departing/ or in transit.

A fairly horrible airport although sometimes with helpful staff. There are hardly any places to sit and the security is very tight - which means that you might or might not be able to visit an airline office since you have to enter the area where only departing passengers are allowed. I was lucky and the guard decided to let me through to change a ticket - but gave my traveling companion a hard time. There are few places to sit the bathrooms are quite gross and it's very smoky. The only thing going for it is that the exchange counter by the visa desk offers a rate of exchange often much better than the hotels in Amman. If you are getting a taxi from the airport there are slips with pre-set rates (pretty good) which you should be given when you hire a cab - but that doesn't always happen.

For someone who travels frequently through Queen Alia I suggest that King Abdullah do something about the visa system in place. Every time I go through Amman an entire page is used. The size of the visa and the multiple stamps warning to go to the police station after 2 weeks is ridiculous. Institute a visa system with a small stamp that allows tourists multiple entry for a specified period.

Travelling from Dubai to Amman Via Perth Australia. I Must say on earlier visits to Queen Alia the conditions were horrible but on my latest visit to Amman I was quite impressed at the improvements. The Duty free area is comparable to other international airports and the service was great. Although I must say that seating was limited although I now know that multiple new lounges are being built which are for regular passengers (not only for First class).

Travelling JFK to Amman is a long enough flight without having to worry about the chaos once at the airport. Have Jordanian Dinars at the ready for Visas because the lines are long enough. The immigration staff is efficient as they can be on their 15 year old computers that belong in a museum. The rest rooms are a disgrace. However the Jordanian hospitality is wonderful the duty free shop is well stocked and staff knowledgable and pleasant. Pack things to keep you busy because after the duty free shop there is not much else to do. Security very tight.