Havana Airport

✅ Trip Verified | The worst security check personnel I’ve ever met! Would have given zero star if possible. One of the female security check personnel at the airport is such a disgrace to Cuba. She is incredibly unprofessional and inefficient, and her behavior is an insult to the uniform she wears and the country she represents. After my bag was scanned by the machine, they wanted to do a manual check. Sure, I was actually prepared to cooperate. But the staff opened my bag layer by layer and took her own sweet time to put back the items in a disorganised manner. I reminded her to put back the items back in an orderly manner, and she rudely interrupted me. She took out my Apple Watch charger and asked me what it was for. I pointed to my Apple watch in the tray without touching it, and she shouted at me in Spanish, not to touch it. How rude! She even put my loose sheets of tissue paper directly onto the dirty tray on which travellers put their shoes. Is that the kind of personal hygiene standard she adopts every day at home? How disgusting! This same person also performed “body search” on me twice, once with the handheld scanner and once with her hands. Before the bag search, the body search was already done on me by another female security personnel. When she has searched - and touched - all she wanted, she threw my passport onto the same dirty tray that travellers used to put their shoes. My other friends who took a later flight also went through a security check by the same staff and reported similar experiences. The airport security clearance is the face of a country. Disgraceful personnel like this should be removed from their positions so as not to further tarnish Cuba’s national image. The immigration officer was also unaware of the visa-free arrangement between Singapore and Cuba and even asked for my visa when clearing immigration. Fortunately, I had printed out the documents sent to me by the Cuban embassy in Singapore before I arrived in Cuba. He was then seen searching through a document on his computer to find the relevant visa-free policy. I couldn’t imagine if I could still board my flight on time if I didn’t show him that document provided by the Cuban embassy in Singapore. Visa-free arrangements are meant to bring convenience to people, and immigration officers are expected to know which passports enjoy visa-free entry at their fingertips.

✅ Trip Verified | Possibly the worst airport I’ve ever spent time in. Dirty, no food available or a very pitiful selection of food available & nothing for a vegetarian : boxes of cornflakes?!? All but 1 shop refusing to take CUP and then would only return change in euros. A couple of helpful staff in a sea of rude staff. No water in the bathrooms for hand washing toilets didn’t flush. Disgusting. SO hot in departure lounge we actually felt faint so useless or no air con in a typically packed area. First duty free shop was more expensive than the shops later on (the rudest staff ever) by a good 15%. A really unpleasant experience which took the shine off Cuba for me & our group.

Not Verified | The service at this airport is terrible. There are no towels papers in the restrooms and toilets don't flush. In the liquors store I was charged a bottle of rum I didn't buy. In the "Bella Isla" Cafetería they serve the hot coffee in thin plastic cups that burn your fingers. In general the employees there are more interested in talking each other's that in helping customers.

Not Verified | Floor was filthy. Toilets were dirty with no seats. Doors did not close or lock. No soap or towels were supplied. Attendants tried to charge £1. Bank did not have pounds and money can't be changed outside of Cuba. Bank wouldn't pay into bank account. Overall they couldn't care less. Not enough seats.

✅ Trip Verified | Havana Airport is generally run down and in need of refurbishment. The departure tax component of each passenger's airline ticket should be put towards this. Furthermore, I had a poor experience at Havana airport security. Although the process was quick, they confiscated my umbrella which had a metallic (blunt) end which they pointed to whilst saying something in Spanish that I didn't understand. It's been allowed through security at dozens of other airports with no trouble. It had great sentimental value as had been passed down from a previous generation. To its credit, the bartender at the bar on the left after security was impeccable. He pulls a mean espresso and is always smiling. He lifts the airport up from a 0 to a 3.

Not Verified | Don’t understand all negative reviews yes, you can not compare this airport to a modern European or US one but short lines friendly people despite unfriendly behaving tourists, enough seating to wait. Smooth entry into the country, expect to enter a country that is 50 years back in time and you will enjoy your trip.

✅ Trip Verified | Upon arriving at Jose Marti, the passport control queues were fairly short but the baggage claim area was awful- no air conditioning and hundreds of passengers in a very small area. You couldn't see your bag on the carousel and had to ask others to pass the bag to you. The arrivals hall is very busy and that creates a slightly uncomfortable atmosphere though there are lots of police officers around the ATMs. Getting a taxi is very easy. On departure, everything in the airport moves at a very slow pace- passport control had quite long queues and I was fortunate in that I was able to go through the premium desk. There is one VERY small cafe in the departure lounge that serves ham and cheese sandwiches, ice cream and soft beverages- bring something with you! There is very limited seating so try and find a spot quickly. If you have any CUC left over, you can buy some cigars and rum but be prepared to wait FOREVER in the queue. The gates are extremely close together so my flight to London was next to KLM's flight to Amsterdam in a very tight corner- they need to make more space in the terminal. Overall, it's not an airport I would recommend but I would go through it again out of necessity.

✅ Trip Verified | We had a stopover in Havana coming back to London from the Bahamas. When we landed in Havanas we simply could not believe what we saw. The airport itself looked like some kind of a warehouse. Inside the airport was very dark that made you feel very uncomfortable. The immigration officers were very unpleasant. At customs, you simply did not know what to do. There was no information available how to navigate and where to go next. Outside the airport was even worse. it felt like we went back in time to 1960. There was no information how to catch the connecting flight. We only learned from the taxi driver that the international departure terminal was 5 miles away. When we arrived there things were not much better. There no any bars or restaurants, no space to seat, no information desk. The departure lounge had one so called fast food counter serving burned soggy chips, undercooked burger and that's it. Overall it was an amazing experience for all the bad reasons.

✅ Verified Review | The lady at the counter gave me and my husband the exact same boarding pass. We realized only after standing in line for at least 30 minutes before passport control. So my husband had to go back and change his boarding pass. Turned out to be that they hadn't checked him in. The careless officer at passport control put a stamp on my boarding pass and this into my passport, so the stamp stained my U.S. visa! They chose me for a randomized control and took forever to check my luggage, I have never seen a person unzip a bag so slowly. No A.C. past security clearance. Only one bar serving food (3 sandwiches to choose from). Terrible airport.

After 40 years of travel, departing from Havana International Airport was my worst ever airport experience. The arrivals hall has only 2 female toilets for 100s of arrivals. The departure area has insufficient seats and grossly inadequate air conditioning. All the planes left late by at least an hour with no attempt to hurry things up. Our plane was 2 hours late leaving, which was of no concern to any airline staff. The departure gate was changed to B15 which is basically an unconditioned dungeon, with about 200 people stuffed into a small standing room only torture chamber and kept waiting there for 45 minutes with sweat pouring down faces.