Jeddah Airport

Awful experience in Jeddah airport. I had to wait 2 hours to enter into the airport. I was allowed in just an hour before my flight's scheduled departure. Had to rush every stage after I got in check-in, security clearance, gates. All in all total chaos, just made before gates closed. English language is not entertained here. Passengers / staff smoke wherever they want, no designated smoking areas. If you have options from different airport, I highly recommend alternatives.

18 flights this year from Jeddah and back. It's looks like it's improving as the terminals are getting make overs but sadly the organisation and customer service is the worst. The arrogance which is shown by the staff is disgraceful. They shout at you, they grunt and wave thier arms. Probably the most frustrating and annoying airport on the planet.

Arrived into Jeddah from Jakarta via Doha in the evening. Was surprised there's no jetbridge only a shuttle bus to take us from plane to the terminal - the bus was crowded. Airport staff pretty helpful and give special transport for disabled people to bring them from plane to terminal (my mom really needed it). Immigration progress very slow, almost 2 hours. The toilets very dirty and smelly. The following week, we travelled back to Jakarta via Doha with an early morning flight. Very crowded because only 4 or 5 immigration counters were open. I waited for my flight in a cafe because the seats are more comfortable than the main airport. The airport departure area was very hot. I don't know if it's because the air conditioning doesn't work well or because the departure area was crowded. There are many restaurant, cafe and shopping options in departures. No special transport for disabled people for boarding, they just take the regular shuttle bus (but board first).

I had to fly out of Jeddah airport last night and was extremely disappointed that, as a Skyteam Elite Plus Member I was not allowed into the domestic lounge. There was no indication that this would be the case and last time, about three months ago, I could access the lounge which made the waiting time tolerable. The airport is overcrowded, loud and the staff are sometimes unfriendly which I knew before. So, the only reason for me to fly out of there and not getting a driver from Jeddah to Medina was the possibility of avoiding the mess by waiting in the lounge. They told me the rules had changed and you can only access the AlFursan lounge as a member of the AlFursan programme. Terrible service and definitely a reason for me to avoid domestic Saudia flights via Jeddah in the future.

I am very impressed with the quality and service at King Abdul Aziz International Airport. On arrival on 14/12/2015 it took a long time to pass through immigration (around 4-5 hours) because of the heavy rush of Umrah passengers but on departure the services were remarkable. In half an hour all the formalities of luggage and immigration etc were completed and I was relaxed. Wonderful experience at King Abdul Aziz International Airport Jeddah.

I am an expat resident in Saudi. I have lived near Jeddah for 3 years. My experiences in the Jeddah airport lately have been atrocious. The security and passport control employees are incompetent. Men have at least 3-4 "men only" designated security lines. Women are forced into only 2 "women only" lines. Then women are forced to share the baggage conveyor belt with men, with an average of 10 men bags being checked to every one bag of a woman's that makes it onto the belt. My husband waited for 30 minutes for me and my daughter to make it out of that mess on our last trip. Yesterday, when I arrived with my family from holiday travel, we got in line under a sign which said "Residents and Visit Visas" because we are residents with valid resident visas. We waited patiently for about 30 minutes to reach the front of the line. When the passport official looked at our foreign passports he threw them to the side and barked at a green uniformed man who took us to another longer line and put us at the end of it! They said "you are not Saudi" as the reason for moving us to another line, even though there was no indication that the line we were in was a Saudi only line. Also keep in mind it was 3am and I had a sleeping child in my arms. When I protested being treated this way, showed the guard our resident visas and our IDs from our employer, the official said some thing dismissive in Arabic that made other airport workers laugh and mock us. This airport has shocking disregard for basic human decency.

We stayed in transit for 9 hours, it was awful. Only three coffee shops, nothing good to eat, and the toilets are the worst. No smoking area, but not that, every 15 minutes they are telling you on the speaker that it's forbidden to smoke. I don't recommend this airport.

To travel from Nairobi to Jakarta I used this airport as a transit airport. I have read a lot of negative stories of this airport so I was quite reluctant to book this trip with a 4 hour stop at the South Terminal. But I have had only positive experiences. To get into the transit area I didn't have to queue, also boarding the plane was smooth. In between you get into a duty free shop. The most commendable thing is the lounge. As Skyteam Elite Plus member you are allowed in the lounge. 10 mbs wifi and marvelous food made my 4 hour waiting quite pleasant.

I had a transit for around 10 hours. Very bad toilets and there is only 3 cafes and no other food options. None of the cafes would take credit or debit card and all the payments needs to be done though cash. Fortunately they took Euros. There is no arrangement for passengers to sleep or take rest. If you are just flying through with 2 hours max transit time it is okay, otherwise I recommend other routes. Also there is no WiFi.

Worst airport experience, even worse than some of than the poor provincial airports of my hometown. Rude, unhelpful staff who treat you badly for even daring to ask a simple question like, 'Would you happen to know anything about the 3.30am flight to Toronto?' That question was asked because the flight wasn't listed on the departures board, leaving the transit passengers in limbo, not knowing if the flight was still scheduled or not. Neither the posted signs nor the staff give helpful information. Airport staff treat passengers like cattle, giving out, at best, vague instructions at security checkpoints and boarding, but are quick to anger when a passenger does not comply. I usually don't mind not having the best of facilities (see above, regarding my hometown's airport which has zero facilities, maybe a shop), but I do expect at least a modicum of politeness. There is no excuse for not just rudeness, but the outright animosity that the staff held for passengers.