Marrakech Airport

Don't be fooled by the modern appearance of this airport! Arrivals are very slow with details from landing cards (ours were issued by Easyjet on the plane) laboriously typed in at passport control (when the operator had finished their conversation). Then there was the crazy queue for money. Ignore it. On our arrival last week they actually RAN OUT of money yet ran out a few customers in front of us. Just go through customs and there are ATM machines as well as exchange facilities. The return check-in was OK. Fortunately we realised we needed boarding cards before joining the queue and found these near the boarding gates. The duty free only takes euros/cards but the snack bar will take dirhams (when they've finished their chats). If you're on a free seating airline it's one of the worst free for all I've ever seen.

Long queues at arrival for customs waited almost 15hrs with small children. Way back also very busy around 45 minutes line for customs. Not possible to spend my dirhams on cigarettes because only cards and euros were accepted.

Most unhelpful airport. I missed my Easyjet flight to Gatwick a few days ago with 9 others (plus more on other flights) due to a 1 hour delay in passport control. Tried to alert them that we would miss our flight but they were unconcerned and sent us back in queue. We checked in with plenty time to spare but got to the gate 5 mins late and watched as our baggage was off loaded. However 2 people did not have their baggage returned so security is an issue also. Had to pay extra for the next day flight and hotel etc.

Magnificent structure. Immigration and Customs on a par with world wide. On departure "check In" delay totally unacceptable each passport detail keyed into computer why ? No boarding gate details shown on boarding pass and no electronic notice board. Information desk unmanned (at busy period) and other staff dismissive and unhelpful. Announcements inaudible due to background music and general noise no provision for diverse languages. Despite heightened alertness only found boarding gate by observing aircraft on ramp almost missed flight. No currency exchange facilities. First airport where payment indicated for toilet use. Airport not generally passenger friendly. I suggest you add a "0 Star" to your "Quality rating"

Last Friday we had to spend 6 hours at Marrakech airport. My main complaint was the musak. We had to endure the one and only song for all those hours - it was incessant and there was no way of escaping the sound. After 6 hours of pan pipes playing Lional Ritchies "Hello is it me you're looking for" I was on the verge of being sick. I do not know who is responsible for organising the musak but please let them know we would rather have nothing than the repeated cd over and over again. I hope I help others by complaining thus.

Travelled through here in October 2009.On arrival there were long queues for immigration and not many people had a pen to fill in immigration cards which were not given out on the plane we had to collect them and fill them in on arrival. On our return journey although we had checked in on line everyone was made to queue and check in again causing very long queues and many frayed tempers as the staff tried in many cases to say baggage was oversized or overweight. We pointed out that the scales already read 1.8kg before we put our hand baggage on there and that was the only reason we appeared to be overweight in fact our bag was weighed on another scale and was only 8.7kg well within the 10kg limit. He then tried to tell us it was oversized until we placed it in the sizing basket where it fitted quite easily! Be aware that you must fill in an embarkation card before checking in or you will be sent to the back of the line to do so. Once through to airside the 2 cafes take dirham but the shops do not so at least you can buy drinks and snacks with any loose change. Water was 10dh similar for a croissant. Taxi from the airport to centre was 120 in a grand taxi (couldn't bargain any lower he started at 150) and on the return was 80 in a petit taxi from Jeema el Fna to the airport (we did not even try to haggle lower as felt it was reasonable)

Arrival and immigration is a bit on the old-fashioned side but effective. If travelling from the UK don't change money before arriving as the rate at the banks at Marrakech Airport are much more competitive than at Gatwick. You can probably find a slightly better rate in town but it's nice to have a few Dirham in your pocket before reaching the Medina. We had a minor problem with our boarding pass on leaving which we put down to the boarding passes being handwritten and the check-in desk staff forgetting to write down all the relevant details. Family who have just returned from an even more recent trip using the same airline report that they had ordinary printed boarding passes. It's possible that our problem was specific to that day or that new procedures have just been introduced. Airside is one of the older parts of the airport and looks a little tired. There can also be a mad scrum for the gates as (or just before) boarding is announced. The 'standard' duty free shops were slightly better than anticipated but food drink and reading material options are poor. Summed up renovations have helped improve the airport and the overall experience was positive with smooth straightforward multilingual service (though we speak French which doesn't hurt) in a relatively uncrowded environment. Individual subsections however could still do with some sprucing up.

All the flights in to Marrakech we have taken in the past 18 months have been on time and we were amazed how quickly we got through passport control and customs. There are major renovations in progress so we always travel out of peak season and mid day which helps. The airport is spotless and staff friendly.

Impressive architecture from the outside. Customs and security were very efficient both on arrival and departure. Straight through security and immigration took around 5-10min. Terminal is cool clean and calm. Good selection of shops at reasonable prices for last-minute souvenir shopping. Several cafe's at reasonable prices. Beware though that Taxi's into Marrakech try to exploit tourists. They should cost around 60 dh (£5) but they tried to charge me 150 managed to get them down to 100. Make sure you bargain them down and agree a price before you get in the taxi.

Awfully slow and frustrating. Passport control took almost an hour and so our and other flights were being delayed as so many passengers were stuck in the queue. The check in desk closed half way through check in when the clerk walked with no explanation. They didn't advise us so after a while we asked if someone was coming back. No they were not so we then had to re-queue at another desk. Baggage security check was also chaos and the attendent rude - throwing our bags into the Xray scanner before we could close it! Felt the taxis were a rip off at 200 Dirhams for a 15 minute ride from our hotel by the medina. They won't let you use your last Dirhams in the airport shops so you then have to take them home and convert back at a terrible rate loosing maybe 25% of the value. Allow plenty of time and patience.