Maputo Airport

Not Verified | Maputo airport is very close to the city centre. It consists of two vast glass buildings [domestic & international], totally of proportion to the small number/of flights/passengers. However check-in area was quite busy, security was rapid, and air-side was bright and airy. A few souvenir and duty-free shops and a number of airline lounges, most of which were closed Airbridges looked tired and rusty!

✅ Trip Verified | Arrival at Maputo Airport is via air stairs to the ramp to the terminal. There is no covering that I could see in the event of rain. Inside the arrival area is what seems to be a mass of confusion at the desk where one collects his visa, unless you are one of those coming from a country not requiring a visa. Following issuance of the visa, one then has to clear immigration to have an entry stamp put in his/her passport. This is a slow procedure and one is frequently asked where one will be staying - so best to keep a copy of your hotel confirmation with you. Customs is simple enough, where all baggage is screened in an x-ray machine. Following this, you are finished and can exit the terminal. Note that there is presently no air conditioning in the terminal and it can be hot. Also, lighting is rather limited. Departure is likewise slow. I arrived 2 hours before my flight time and had to sit and wait almost 1 hour for the counter to open. Again, the terminal lacks air conditioning (the story being that the system is under repair). Following check in, one takes an escalator to an upper floor where one processes through immigration which oddly enough is a fairly fast process. The departure area has a few shops and some airline lounges, but is otherwise fairly devoid of anything. Flights are called over a loudspeaker system and one descends again to the ground level and proceeds out of the building, across the tarmac to his/her plane. The very worst part of utilizing Maputo Airport is the arrival where it seems that confusion reigns, mostly due to the matter of issuance of a visa and having it applied to one's passport. This occurs even if one has acquired the pre-visa on line and involves paying the fee for issuance of the visa. Note, the visa fee can be paid by cash or credit card (Visa, Master Card only). If you have secured the online pre-visa, be sure to bring a print out of it to show to the visa issuing clerks. There are some countries that do not require a visa and apparently this number has just been expanded - although the expansion has yet to be implemented as of this writing. If you have not secured a pre-visa and are from a country that requires a visa, you can be delayed by this process for as much as 2-3 hours. In my case, I asked the tour company with which I arranged my bookings and tours in Mozambique, to arrange a meet and assist service for both arrival and departure at Maputo Airport. This was a good investment and I tipped to man who assisted me with US$10. I highly recommend this type of service for a first-time visitor.

✅ Trip Verified | Nice new Airport. I have been travel through his airport for last one year and it is very nice and good airport overall. It is relatively new but still there is a lot things which can be improved like Air conditioning and bathroom cleanness etc.

Flew out of Maputo up the coast to Inhambane. Found it to be clean well organised free of queues and with fairly friendly staff. We used the domestic terminal which was largely devoid of facilities apart from a couple of shops but also virtually devoid of passengers. A surprisingly pleasurable experience.

One nice feature of Maputo Airport is that it has one of the few remaining exterior viewing terraces so you can stand outside and take in arrivals and departures. A worse airport on arrival than on departure with the slow waiting around for visas on arrival be sure to have exact change if you can and the relatively slow delivery of baggage which may or may not have items missing or delayed if your transit was via JNB.

A pretty basic airport but seems to function fine. At customs people needing visas need to line up in the "visas" line - if you line up anywhere else you'll just be told to go to the visa line. It's a bit confusing as the booth is slightly behind the others. Visas are US$25 cash there are no change facilities so be prepared. They take your money and passport and then walk over to an office near the baggage claim where the visas are processed. Everyone has to stand around and wait in front of the office until an immigration official walks out with a stack of passports and starts calling out names at which point they will give you back your passport with the visa inside. In the meantime you can collect your bags the carousel is literally 2 metres away. Plenty of taxis right out the front you can't miss them. Barclays ATM also just outside so easy to get local currency. Outbound the check-in is pretty straightforward though I would suggest getting there a bit early as it looks like it would get mad in a rush. Public toilets on the second floor a little bit away from the action but nice and clean. Not much past customs other than the ubiquitous bar but nice to have one last Laurentina premium before leaving.