"processes are not streamlined"
5 reviews Joern Andre Horaczek (Germany)
✅ Trip Verified | Traveling through Murtala International airport in Lagos, Nigeria is an experience. Staff are generally friendly and smiled a lot. My documents were repeatedly checked. I counted ten checkpoints altogether. At five of them, I was asked if I would hand over some money. They weirdest situation was that the customs officer asked how much money I carry, and then after hearing the honest (as he was a customs officer) answer, asked me if I would give him some of it. The airport is quite run down and processes are not streamlined. Boarding was rather chaotic with passengers placed on different coloured seats after the boarding passes were scanned.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | June 2023 |
Type Of Traveller | Business |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"unsupervised, unregulated embarrassment"
C Roberts (United Kingdom)
Not Verified | An unsupervised, unregulated embarrassment. There's one bottleneck after the other for departure, including "sanitizing" luggage at entrance, two luggage weightings, and two window visits for passport control. All along the way are unauthorized touts trying to "help" you, and staff asking for bribes despite all the anti-bribe signs hanging in the terminal. Arrivals are hit or miss with passport control lines (can take up to two hours), and sometimes after a long wait you still wait for your luggage. And dealing with bribes and touts again. Gates are a mess and can't come close to accommodating the number of passengers for a flight, and there are useless security checks and a pat-down - again, with the occasional fishing for a bribe. It may be the worst airport in the world.
Experience At Airport | Arrival and Departure |
Date Visit | January 2023 |
Type Of Traveller | Business |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"staff were all asking me for bribery"
T Laniyti (Greece)
✅ Trip Verified | This was my first time visiting my homeland and my experiences both on arrival and departure were disappointing. The staff were all asking me for bribery starting from the carrier staffs till the immigration officers. What baffled be was on my departure time the purposely didn't tag my luggage leaving it behind, had to send my sister to retrieve my bag.
Experience At Airport | Arrival and Departure |
Date Visit | October 2022 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"Just horrible"
S Anderson (United Kingdom)
✅ Trip Verified | I travelled home from holiday in Lagos by myself with my two little daughters (1 and 3 years old). At immigration I experienced hostility, rudeness, lack of understanding and the most intimidating behavior by a female immigration officer. Traveling alone with two children is already difficult but when you are treated this way at immigration leaving the country on a European passport on a flight to Europe, it comes close to harassment. My husband is Nigerian and he has never been treated like this when travelling on a visa or with his residence card to/from the UK or to/from my native European country. I felt like the immigration officer tried to put a fault on me, constantly saying that she had been about to let me pass because of the children but the way I was talking to her would make her not to let me through. During all conversations I was most polite and even when using 'please' and 'madam' several times when speaking, she was still insisting that I was talking to her in a bad way. Most disappointing and daunting experience I ever had which made me feel that she was actually looking to be bribed. I was so happy when I was finally on the plane and I highly doubt I will ever fly to or from Lagos airport again. Just horrible.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | February 2019 |
Type Of Traveller | Family Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"A bit aggressive and unfriendly"
S Owen (United Kingdom)
✅ Trip Verified | A bit chaotic but not as bad as some of the reviews I have seen lately. We arrived and queued at the non Nigerian queue which was short. Had to queue and try to complete the landing card at the same time. Why can't we get this on the plane? Then immigration checks the passports. If you travel in a group then one person presents all the passports while the others wait to one side hence the chaos as several officials now begin to ask the rest of the family, where are your passports. I think they were asked 3 times! I presented the passports to the 1st chap, then I had to move across to the other chap next to him. He checks it again! Then he says to me, have you got something for me? In other words money. A bit aggressive and unfriendly. I give him $4 and go on my merry way. Then we wait for the luggage. Well! That took about an hour for our bags to arrive. And thats my biggest gripe. I will be travelling light next time. Out of the airport was just as chaotic. Touts everywhere, asking if you want to change money or a taxi or a trolley. Best thing is not to make eye contact and just walk away. Getting out of the car park was just as chaotic, that took an hour too!
Experience At Airport | Arrival Only |
Date Visit | September 2018 |
Type Of Traveller | Family Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | N/A |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | yes |
"rude at immigration and customs"
Finn Patton (Nigeria)
❎ Not Verified | So as always when arriving it is hot, one surprise the escalator was working. The staff were very rude at immigration and customs. When we got out people everywhere trying to "help you" but when they do they expect you to pay them and their friends. Once you finally get out of all that its fine. Not a very good first impression for newcomers.
Experience At Airport | Arrival Only |
Date Visit | January 2018 |
Type Of Traveller | Family Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"terminal is in a decrepit condition"
1 reviews B Morrison (United Kingdom)
✅ Trip Verified |
I arrived at the Arik Air domestic terminal (having taken an internal flight from Abuja) and departed on BA from the international terminal. Arik Air use remote stands and bus you to the terminal. Business class passengers get their own mini-bus, which is more than BA offer when they occasionally use a bus at LHR. The terminal is in a decrepit condition but quick to get through. Fortunately I didn't have baggage to collect. The worst part of the experience was the chaotic taxi "queue" area outside the terminal. Fortunately, I was with a Nigerian business partner who knew the form, but I wouldn't have wanted to navigate that on my own. I departed on BA from the international terminal. I had heard the horror stories about Lagos traffic so allowed plenty of time to get to the airport. In the event the cab ride from Victoria Island was only 40 mins so I was very early. I checked in online and printed by own boarding pass so by-passed check-in. The terminal is in a bad condition (although not as awful as the domestic one) but there were no queues and it was actually quite efficient. As I had checked in online I didn't know about or have a departure card. The immigration officer filled in it for me. I think he was expecting a "tip" but I just smiled and walked away. The BA lounge is like something from the 1970s, but plenty of seats and a reasonably good selection of snacks. The priority boarding procedure was a bit chaotic but not too bad. They let "infants" board first, which seemed to include kids of up to about 15 years old! All in all, not as bad as expected.
Experience At Airport | Arrival and Departure |
Date Visit | December 2017 |
Type Of Traveller | Business |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | N/A |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"whether I can spare some change"
Eric Trammell (Canada)
❎ Unverified | The procedure in the Lagos airport was to irritate and inconvenient the passengers. First, the airport did not turn on the air condition even though they have the unit in the hallway walking up to the departure gate. Upon entering the airport building, you must weight your luggage on a scale. Then wait in line. Before you get to the airline counter, you must go thru a screening to produce your printed itinerary and show proof of the credit card that purchase the ticket. Then you wait in line again to the counter. The luggage must be lifted up a meter high onto a stainless steel table and opened to have an officers to hand search. At the checkin counter, you check in the bags and get your bag weighed and your boarding pass. They give you a yellow color departure card to fill out and specify exactly how much foreign and local currency are with you. Time to change the currency (4 to 5 different booths). Before enter departure area, the passport and boarding pass was checked by a guard, then queue up to the immigration. Before you get your immigration stamped on your passport, you get to have someone check your departure card boarding pass again. Then the immigration stamp on your passport and collect the yellow departure card. However, I saw the immigration officer looking into my eye, the right hand holding onto my passport, and the left finger were thumbing or playing with his left fingers to signify handling over money. I looked at him and smiled and shake my head. Then, I went thru the security line with shoes off and laptop out on to the x-ray machine. Everyone get padded down. And I got my shoes back and walked away towards the Duty Free store. Going thru the store is the only way to the gate but there was no sign. I hesitated and stopped, an officer called me to halt. He wanted to know how much money I was carrying and whether I can spare some change. A Nigerian lady behind me just passed Niara 200 into his hand and quickly walked away (because I was in the front and delaying the line); while I had to explain to the officer that I had less than N900. I took out my billfold showing the Nigerian money and count in front of him. He was satisfied and let me go knowing there is too little money to extort from me. I went to the end of the hallway at gate #44 and waited in line to have the boarding pass scanned by the airline staff. Directly behind this airline staff about literally 2 feet away, sat a lady and wanted to see my passport and boarding pass. Then, I walked up a few meter in front, all items in my carry on bag were taken out, placed on the stainless steel table, and every pockets of the bags were checked. Then had me to take off the shoes to have body padded down again. Finally I sat on the chair in the hot room and wait to board the plane. One thing for sure is that all of these checks reduced the chance of terrorists bring in any weapon but what an experience.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | October 2017 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"cleanliness was horrible"
Mark Patton (Nigeria)
Lagos Airport cleanliness was horrible. Check-in time was outrageously long. Check-in hall was not air conditioned. Lounge was fine. Customer service was fine, not great though. WiFi is not secure. Flight info boards are incorrect. when I flew South African Airways last year our flight was late but the board said "On Time" - overall airport was poor.
Experience At Airport | Arrival and Departure |
Date Visit | June 2016 |
Type Of Traveller | Family Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
Avoid if you can connect elsewhere
J Johnson (United States)
Transiting through Lagos to catch a United flight to Houston was an unmitigated disaster. Immigration sent me to baggage claim to look for my bag even though it was checked all the way to the US. Took my passport. 8 different people will tell you 8 different stories or people to go talk to. Finally with my passport located I was escorted to the gate through Duty Free, security checkpoints etc. At the gate, my bag was checked, scanned, and rescanned and rescanned as the scanner needed re-alignment. In 15 minutes, I was checked 5 times by the same security staff even though I was just standing there the whole time. What possibly could have changed every 3 minutes requiring a check? The airport itself has no air conditioning, poor seating areas at gates and is highly disorganized and dysfunctional. I have been to many similar airports with infrastructure and organization that isn't close to the circus in Lagos. Avoid this airport if you can connect elsewhere.
Experience At Airport | Transit |
Date Visit | February 2016 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |