Johannesburg Airport

Not Verified | Sadly this airport is poorly staffed and when there are staff at customs they spend their time chatting and joking. Rudeness which was prevalent is not good for tourism and business either. The Diner restaurant used the same utensils to serve hot meat and then cakes. The whole process was poorly coordinated...with unecessary queues. King Mswati 111 Airport in eSwatini is a much better experience and the Kingdom formerly called Swaziland makes for a fantastic holiday experience which is where we have travelled from.

Not Verified | Someone needs to take better charge of this airport. The airport is poorly maintained, bags take forever to get to baggage claim (1hour) and on departure at this very busy airport there are only 3 passport desks open. Worst experience.

Not Verified | I've been proud of the overall service and facilities at OR TAMBO. Travelling to SA 5 years later/post COVID, alot has changed..not for the better. We arrived into OR approximately 1am on the 6th of Sept/ Friday a.m. none of the shops were open. It was very stuffy/low air quality. Cleaning staff I groups around the Toilet areas, clearly after tips/denied access to toilets/stating that toilets are out of order. Staff not helpful, just chatting amongst themselves. We had to go to other levels to find available toilets. Toilets were not very clean. On departure on the 14th Sept..a very warm day and clearly the air-conditioning was not working properly. This made for a very unpleasant couple of hours waiting to board. Staff at Indaba and Out of Africa not helpful or friendly..clearly too occupied to worry about a few sales here and there in foreign currency. Staff at security and passport control not friendly or communicative, very robotic and disinterested. Hopefully customer service will be addressed at all levels as the South African hospitality/friendliness and efficiency is missing!

Not Verified | The most unpleasant (and not always effectual staff) I've ever experienced in airports and I travel a lot. Just shy of plain rude with the traveler. A woman at customs upon my return from Mauritius gave me me no eye contact, grunted when I said 'thank you' though she did not deign push my passport towards me but forced me to reach inside the window to get it back. That's only one example. I hope never to have to go through that airport again.

✅ Trip Verified | I recently traveled through Johannesburg International Airport and was thoroughly impressed by the exceptional service and overall experience. The airport staff were incredibly helpful and friendly, making the whole journey smooth and stress-free. The facilities were clean, well-maintained, and easy to navigate, enhancing the overall travel experience. From efficient check-in processes to a wide range of dining and shopping options, Johannesburg International Airport truly excels in providing a top-notch travel experience. I highly recommend this airport for its great service and overall pleasant atmosphere.

✅ Trip Verified |   Travelled through Johannesburg Airport to catch a connecting flight to Dubai. A lady at security was incredibly rude and dismissive of me bringing medicine and sugar through with me. I showed her my medical letters and she did not even glance at them. Told me to stand there and take my medicine now before going through. Shouted across to other staff that I was being difficult. I explained to her repeatedly that I was Type 1 diabetic and that I could collapse. We made our flight in the end with minutes to spare but I had to forego some of my meds as a result.

✅ Trip Verified | From being one of the best airports in Africa to travel through a decade ago, Johannesburg ORT has rapidly become one of the worst. On arrival, you will find dozens of immigration desks available but only a handful manned by some of the rudest officials you will ever meet, with lengthy lines as a result. Visit the toilets in the arrival hall and expect the attendant to ask you for a tip for standing there and watching you while you do your business. On departure, expect a single (out of 5 or 6) manned security lane processing hundreds of passengers leading to insane lines yet again. The ACSA staff manning these lanes seem more interested in chatting with each other than actually screening passengers. Further lines at passport control. There’s a security company that mans various checkpoints at the airport called Eagle Eye Security. The staff are thoroughly unpleasant to deal with. My experience on my last trip was not a one-off as I travel through ORT once a month and this is the usual experience. What an embarrassing gateway to one of the biggest commerce centers in Africa.

✅ Trip Verified | Awful, unprofessional, uninterested and barely functional. An astoundingly poor experience when international visitors arrive to Johannesburg, with seating frayed or falling apart (ceiling boards too); and that barely mentions the lack of signage. Naturally, the baggage carousel was broken which meant people and some staff started climbing over the broken/stuck/non-functioning carousel to try get their bags. All in all, 75 minutes to disembark, get stamped in, struggle to locate and find baggage before having to redo the whole process again for domestic departures since FlySafair counters aren’t available in the part of the airport where international visitors could easily switch. And of course; none of this is explained or communicated among the dozen broken, glitching screens or dozens of empty booths. Luckily, the actual staff that assist in the airport are friendly, courteous, knowledgeable and kind. Get them into the arrivals area and fix that disaster. Africa’s premier business city deserves much better than the pathetic effort you’ve attempted to throw together.

Not Verified | I am shocked at the state of the bathrooms at terminal A departures. A horrendous smell, and damaged stalls. Embarrassed to think foreigners have to use these poor state bathrooms.

✅ Trip Verified | Been to a lot of airports but this has to be one of the rudest, most unprofessional and unmannered members of airport staff I’ve come across - with the exception of those working in cafes/restaurants. Heading to queue at the check in desk and the first person checking my passport asked my final destination and if I was going as a tourist or a business woman. Told him I reside there so it was neither and he asked the same questions to which I responded and he huffed and walked off. Security checked my bag and threw away ‘marshmallow fluff’ which is just melted marshmallow - he looked at it as if he didn’t know what it was. He didn’t even look at me to ask what it was, just threw it away. Haven’t had a positive experience in Cape Town airport or Johannesburg airport during this trip which is a shame because the people of South Africa (outside the airport) have been nothing but pleasant. People I’ve spoken to in the airport have been nothing but rude.