Johannesburg Airport

We live in the USA. Comparing OR Tambo to LAX couldn't even be compared. Yes its not the best I have experienced but things like cleanliness I would give an excellent. There is always someone on duty cleaning. On average airport restrooms are generally very messy and dirty but Johannesburg is always clean when we arrive.Another thing I can give them is there is plenty of affordable restaurants and entertainment on the floor which makes it less of an irritating experience if you have to stand in long lines. They do however need to get rid of those guys standing around telling tourist they will show them where to go and then afterwards ask for a tip!

You could say this is my home airport. Like most it all depends what time you arrive or depart pot luck as to how busy it will be. Immigration on arrival is split between South African passport holders and foreign. They don't have much trust in the electronic board indicating which counter to go to its switched off and someone stands there telling you. Baggage collection and customs are straight forward and I've never experienced a long wait. On departure depending the airline you use check in online and use their baggage drop-off counter with Emirates and Qatar I've found it to be a breeze. The line can be quite long at South African Airways regional and domestic check-in. Security and immigration on departure once again all depends at what time you fly I've never been waiting more than 10 minutes in the line. I've found all the personnel security and immigration to be friendly when you approach them with a smile and a greeting remember you are in Africa and anyone in a uniform thinks they're the Boss. There are a fair amount of shops in the international departure area some of them duplicated and unless the item is on special you'll find it cheaper outside the airport. And now my biggest gripe the two smoking lounges have been bought over by what must be a Muslim company as they are now both Halal and therefore only sell soft drinks you fill your lungs with smoke but your liver will remain dry so much for having a last beer and a smoke before starting off.

A complete and utter disgrace. Stood in immigration queue for more than one hour. Only one officer serviced the entire queue. This unfortunately is a regular occurrence. For a country with 25% unemployment maybe the government could train and appoint. It sends such a poor message to tourists who pump more money into the economy than locals on a per capita basis.

The Airport service continues to improve every time I use it. The queues for immigration and check in were quick. The facilities are clean and the airport duty free has a good selection. Compared to other busy airports I cannot fault it.

Poor SAA Lounge - what a let down for the flagship. Poorest food selection seating comfort average signage and information missing and in far flung areas where ones attention would barely be drawn. Very poor what a let down.

As another reviewer said the first impression you get of this country is passport control and it was the worst experience I've ever had. The agent angrily snatched my passport out of my hand. I was waved to the counter and then he sat there looking down at nothing and ignoring me after I stood in a slow and deep queue for over an hour after being airborne all night. When I asked if he wanted my passport he looked up and yelled "No" to me and I started to walk away and he reached out and grabbed my passport. He wanted to know what my purpose was in being in So. Africa and I told him it was a pass through on my way to Botswana. He looked through my passport like I was public enemy number one reading various stamps. There were other agents who seemed to be very professional. After riffling through the passport he finally stamped it and threw it back at me and nodded for me to pass through. I would never return to this place unless I absolutely had no other choice. Inefficient unprofessional and hostile.

Absolutely shocking. On arrival the staff at immigration were extremely rude. Do they not realise that this is the first impression that travellers will get of this beautiful country. Huge queues on departure 2 weeks later. The staff in the big 5 behind the cigarette counter ignored the customers and were chatting amongst themselves. There is a huge amount of unemployment in South Africa. Why give these jobs which are customer service related positions to rude and incompetent people.

While the airport is average the people are downright rude and lack basic courtesy required to deal with people. You really need to get rid and start again. After such a wonderful stay in South Africa it left a very sour taste in our mouths. I doubt these staff would appreciate being treated the way that they actually treated us. They are an absolute disgrace.

A disgrace. A lovely modern airport but the arrival and departure process is disgraceful. Only 1 yes 1 immigration booth open for both arrival and departure. So your first and last impressions of S.A. are disappointing. No excuses for it to be this way.

We arrived at JNB on an international flight from HK on CX. We arrived at an airbridge and got off the plane reasonably efficiently. We were in business class so by the time we got to the cavernous immigration area we were second in the queue. For a lot of passports no forms are needed - immigration processing was quick but not friendly. We made our way to collect our baggage - it took about 15-20 mins from when we deplaned - reasonably good. Then we tried to navigate our way to the domestic terminal. Previous comments about confusing signage are accurate. Essentially Terminal A is international and Terminal B is domestic. In the lifts they have signs referring to level 3/4 etc. but the buttons say level 1/2 - this seems to be the case everywhere. The terminals are one building so you can't go too wrong but ask a local if you can. You need to go upstairs from arrivals to departures and there are lifts so you can take your baggage cart with you. There was a free service to cling wrap your luggage so we took advantage when we checked into our SA domestic flight to Cape Town. I was concerned about how long it might take to get through arrivals so I booked a 3-hour gap to our domestic flight. In the end we got to the check-in within an hour of landing. We were able to get onto an earlier flight - essentially 2 hours after arrival. So keep this in mind - if you were traveling economy and there were more flights arriving time could easily get away. Departure for domestic flights was at the far end of the terminal but was reasonably smooth and efficient. No problem with baggage on arrival in Cape Town. On our return domestic flight we deplaned on the tarmac - with a long bus ride to the terminal (not dissimilar to Bangkok). Baggage arrival was within 20-30 minutes of landing - the bus trip through our timing a bit. We also had separate case of wine but it also arrived safely. We departed international a few days later. We were dropped at Terminal A for international but couldn't find check-in for CX - after checking we found this was actually in Terminal B - albeit at the first row of counters. But the flight departed from terminal A - not far away but a bit inconvenient especially if you were in a hurry. About 15 mins to get through immigration and then a bit of a hike to our lounge and terminal. IN HK our luggage arrived safely. So all in all it wasn't too bad but there are a few tricks as explained.