Mexico City Airport

Mexico City is the most unorganized and unfriendly to use airport I have ever seen. I was just stopping at the airport for a couple hours before I caught my next flight. I had to wait in line for 1.5 hours to go through customs. Even though I was using the same airline for the second half of my trip they would not allow the bags to be transferred so I had to stand in a second line for 1 hour to have all my bags x-rayed again and transfer my bags from one belt to another. (Made no sense). After that I had to go through another check point and have my carry on luggage x-rayed for a second time. On a scale from 1 to 10 I would rate my experience at best as a 2 at Mexico City Airport. Unless you have no other option I would avoid this airport. I know I will never use it again.

Terminal 1 shows its age and cannot handle large groups of people. Spaces in some areas are really tight and dark. Checking in can be challenging during peak times as people queue in very reduced spaces. Furthermore, the arrivals area and some places in the departures area smellues. On the plus side, the terminal is clean and people tend to be friendly. Going through security is not a hassle either. Terminal 2 is far better in terms of space, but it is smaller. Bad smells are less of a problem here, but be careful as Aeromexico ground staff are not the best service oriented people. Also eating options are reduced to a few really tacky venues, and connecting to wifi on both terminals is a challenge that might require you to have an IT degree.

After having traveled for many hours from Europe arriving in Mexico City becomes a nightmare. I am Mexican so I went through migration relatively quickly. However I felt so sorry for the foreigners arriving in the country so many people looking tired waiting in a line that seems endless and then having to deal with migration officers who are rude beyond belief. Surely Mexico should be welcoming tourists particularly now when our reputation - world-wide - is so dire.

Just returned from a trip from San Francisco to Costa Rica connecting through Mexico City. One of the worst experiences and I have travelled a lot. Even though you are a transit passenger you have to pass thru immigration collect luggage clear customs and then go to your connecting flight. A long frustrating experience. A totally poorly designed system that creates unnecessary work all around (filling forms for passengers and process work for agents - maybe this is a state employment opportunity) frustration and tiredness for the transit passenger and ultimately loss of control (if this is what they think they are doing). Avoid Mexico City as a transit point if you can. Of course if traveling to Mexico it is fine.

Coming through Mexico City Terminal 2 - from LHR connecting to PVR and back in opposite direction was a very pleasant experience. So much better than making the transfer from Terminal 1. Immigration on way in quick baggage transfer to next flight fine. On way back to Europe baggage tagged straight through from PVR and no additional security checks at MEX. All very efficient and hassle-free. Plenty of places to have a drink or snack. I find the design of the terminal a bit strange. Almost impossible to look out at any aircraft - something I like to do.

I arrived to Terminal 1 at night when flights were arriving form Europe. The lines at passport control and customs were long. Departing to the city it took me longer to get a taxi than it did to fly from Houston to MEX. On departure I found the hall unremarkable. The building is old and in need of updating.

Terminal 1 of Benito Juarez International Airport (MEX) in Mexico City remains among the worst in the Latin American region. Bureaucracy and bad organisation are the standard. For frequent travelers like me who uses the airport between 2 and 4 times every month arriving is a real nightmare. If you arrive from Europe (normally in late afternoon or evening) you will always systematically spend at least one hour if not more to go through migration because they only have very few officers at that time of the day - one per flight which means you may find yourself among other 500 or 600 people waiting to be taken care of. Even if you are in international transit you have to go through migration pick up your luggage go through customs and then check-in again for your next flight. This makes this airport a real nightmare.

Arriving to México is a real nightmare very long distances walking to get to immigration and then hundreds of people waiting because there are only 5 or 6 agents. And you have to go through this even if you are in transit since they do not have a system by which transit passengers go straight to the international area. And then after 40 or 60 mins of immigration procedures you still have to wait for the luggage and another long line to get out. A horrible experience that I have to endure two or three times every month.

Recently travelled through both terminals on my way from Paris-Puerto Vallarta. Mex is really a story of two different airports. As others have said T2 is great; ultra modern with plenty of space shops natural light and aircon that's at the right temperature. T1 on the other hand is dark showing its age and the air con barely works. It took nearly 40 min to clear immigration on arrival but with the amount of flights arriving from Europe most evenings this is to be expected. Security at both terminals was very fast. The most frustrating thing is having to clear customs in Mexico City and then haul my luggage over to T2. Signage for the Sky train is useless in T1 in fact signage overall is poor in T1. I kind of knew where I was going but still a few more signs for the sky train would be helpful. Staff in both terminals are friendly although it helps when you speak some Spanish.

Have used both terminal 1 and terminal 2 and both are great with very efficient operations. Terminal 2 which is the newest terminal is bright clean and ultramodern. The airport manages to operate efficiently despite the very large number of passengers and operations which seem to have the airport operating at full capacity. The signage in terminal 2 is very clear however terminal 1 has some issues with the signage. The selection of eating establishments is great ranging from traditional Mexican food to Japanese food. Arrived in the morning at peak hours when the flights from the united states were arriving and moved through immigration and customs in no more than 10 minutes. Overall a great airport and perhaps the best in the Americas.