Rio De Janeiro Airport

Customer Reviews

No Skytrax Rating
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Queuing Times 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Staff 12345
Customer rating from 60 reviews
3/10
No Skytrax Rating
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7/10

"appears old but clean"

(Canada)

On Arrival In Brazil, they do not have any Customs and Immigration officer. The border control is being handled by the Federal Police. No questions was asked and they just verified my visa and then I was welcomed to Brazil. The airport itself appears to be old but I find it clean. There is a free wifi at the airport which is always a big plus. Just outside the International arrival hall was an information desk and the guy who was there speaks really good English so it was not a problem asking for direction. There's many choices to go to town but we opted for Taxi as there were 4 of us and it will be cheaper that way. There's an Airport Bus that stops to the hotel zone in Copacabana and Ipanema or they have the Local Public Transport Bus as well but was told that you will need to make 2 transfer as there's no direct service to GIG airport to Copa. Our taxi driver spoke a good English and he was telling us the sights as we pass them. Taxi costs us about BRL60 (USD 15) which is really cheap and that's including the BRL2 charge for each bag (for big size only..no charge for small carry on bag). On Departure ,GIG utilizes the use of mobile Phone apps for boarding which I find very convenient. The signage was not very clear so we got lost a little bit on the way to the boarding gate. The big arrival/departure flight information monitor outside security does not have any gate information, once you entered security, then the monitor has the boarding gate. Our Boarding Pass did not have the gate number either which I found really odd. Security line was a breeze. However, I am not sure if Brazil follows the same rule in regards to liquid. Me and my friends had a bottled water in our carry on bags and we forgot to take it out before security. We were never asked about it and they just let us go without any question. Our flight was around noon and the airport was quiet as there's not very many flight going on at that time so check in, baggage drop, and security only took us about 15 min altogether. Again, departure area looks old but clean. Washrooms are old style as well but again, clean. Once inside, there's a choices for food and drinks. Prices are reasonable for airport pricing. However, the souvenir shops was expensive. The same time we bought at the mall or in the Streets of Copacabana as Triple the cost inside the airport so but your souvenir outside. I like the boarding area set-up for each gate. They have stanchions and signage of your boarding zone so you know where to line up when they call your turn. it was really organize. Airport paging system was good and you can hear the announcement loud and clear.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitDecember 2015
Type Of TravellerSolo 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
yes
1/10

Rio De Janeiro Airport customer review

(Belgium)

This international airport is a bad joke. Everything is old nothing works. The staff in unprofessional nobody speaks English not even the airport staff! There is only one duty free shop with no selection of products and the few things are completely overpriced. Absolutely a shame.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

Rio De Janeiro Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

This is most probably the worst International Airport I have had the misfortune to pass through. I was shocked at how bad it is. On arrival we landed evening time and waited nearly 2 hours at immigration as there were 6 European flights all in around the same time - Chaos! No AC anywhere. Finally got my case and made my way to the exit where we were met by a driver. Departure was a different story. On arrival at T1 we were met with a shoe shine boy outside who hassled us for money. Check in security and immigration passed relatively easy however when you are airside there is absolutely nothing inside apart from two over priced cafes and an even more over priced Duty Free shop. The building is falling apart and we couldn't see any renovations being done for the World Cup. Also no AC and the building stank. I suspect serious problems leading up to and during the World Cup and I pity any tourist or fan going to Rio (and possibly onwards) in the next 12 to 18 months as the airport is simply not capable of handling general passengers let alone anyone else. If I ever go back to Brasil I would avoid GIG at all costs.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

Rio De Janeiro Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

Arrived in Rio at 7pm from London and took a taxi. Don't even bother with a bus. Couldn't find one. Not a good idea to take a bus that time of night anyway. The airport is very third rate and this was confirmed when I returned 7 days later to catch an internal flight. Automated check-in which you had to do was hell. They don't do counter check in. You're not allowed to check in your bags until you've done automated check-in. 4 days later I was back at the airport to take a flight to London. Internal arrivals and international flights is a good ten minutes walk. The whole place is under construction so it's a building site to say the least. I was at the check- in desk 4 hours before take off no cafes nothing. There was nothing to ease your waiting. Business desk opened as stated but economy wasn't going anywhere. After check in tried to find the business lounge through the building site. When I eventually found it what an utter disappointment and judging from the faces in the lounge there was a universal agreement. The lounge is not fit for purpose. Tiny and cramped. There were a couple of showers crammed into the little lounge and using them wasn't a nice experience. Door being rattled the whole time with people trying to get in to use the toilet. I saw successive people trying to use the mains power for their laptop and surprise surprise hardly any of the sockets worked. Food was very much a token affair. I've never left a business lounge to wait at the boarding gate an hour and a half before take off before but that was better than sitting in that awful lounge. The departure gate waiting area was even worse. Another building site. Silly me to expect world class airport amenities for a city that's to host world cup and the Olympics. So let down. My advise go after the Olympics and maybe it's sorted by then.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

Rio De Janeiro Airport customer review

(Brazil)

I am a Brazilian but I am very disappointed with our airports mainly AIRJ (Rio de Janeiro International Airport). Air conditioning doesn't work elevators do not work escalators do not work properly Nobody can pick you up at disembark (only authorized cabs). It is very old not many choices of services food and shopping).
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
2/10

Rio De Janeiro Airport customer review

(Spain)

Old building kept in bad conditions very badly illuminated dirty it feels really wet inside the terminal. It really looks like a regional airport smooth security few bars (expensive and bad quality products really nothing that you want to eat before flying ) some tax free store (average). The views from the waiting area are good. Getting to the airport from downtown Rio can take a lot of time so I recommend you getting there with lots of time (not lees than 3hrs before your departing time). I don't recommend any tourist to take the public bus. How are they going to manage all the traffic in the world cup/Olympics.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
1/10

Rio De Janeiro Airport customer review

(United Arab Emirates)

I just came from GIG airport yesterday and my expectation of the airport of a country who is hosting the World Cup and joined the Expo 2020 as finalist was not met at all. Outside the check-in area of Terminal 2 it seems to look like a domestic airport. Upon entering one can feel the humidity right away. Air-conditioning is not good especially with lots of people inside and the temperature outside. There is no wifi in the check-in area which makes it difficult for us who are waiting for long hours. They said there is wifi in the boarding area but still we are not able to connect. There is only a few selection of food/restaurants in the terminal and it takes ages to be served. Inside the boarding area there is only one cafe that serves very limited food item. Shops for souvenirs and other items are very less also inside the terminal. Toilets in the check-in area is quite tolerable compared to the ones in the boarding area. The toilet in the boarding area is very disgusting and I did not even dare to use the cubicles and just waited for the boarding to use the plane's toilet. I thought also that being inside the airport terminal is safe already but there are beggars everywhere asking for money which makes it quite scary for foreigners who have heard different stories about the city's safety. They ought to improve the security of the airport first and also do something about the comforts of the travellers especially the tourists who bring money to the country. If they want to remain a tourist destination better to spend money also in improving the airport facilities. The airport is like the face also of one's country.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
4/10

Rio De Janeiro Airport customer review

(Brazil)

It's probably better than GRU (Sao Paulo's international airport). That's the positive point. Terminal 1 being refurbished is ghastly - cramped and old. Terminal 2 newer and being expanded to handle all international flights but fewer facilities in terms of eateries and shops especially outside security (need to make the very long walk to Terminal 1 or try to get a ride on one of the golf carts going between the two). Elevators between levels were not working properly (tough if after arriving you have a cart full of luggage to go from the arrivals to departures level for a domestic connection). Saw almost no signage for arriving international passengers on where to go for connections to domestic flights. Food court overpriced and poor quality (Luxor Hotel - horribly overpriced even day rooms - probably best option for food). As noted facilities including baggage carousels woefully too small for expected World Cup and Olympics crowds.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
2/10

Rio De Janeiro Airport customer review

(Brazil)

Horrible just like GRU and BSB. Terminal 1 is old dark and gloomy - last time I was there there were signs saying that the building works would make it 'one of the top 10 airports in the world!' Terminal 2 is marginally better being newer but facilities are very poor (one coffee shop around departure gates) seats are uncomfortable PA is risibly incomprehensible both in English and Portuguese thanks to dreadful acoustics. On arrival you'll be hounded by illegal taxi services before walking out onto broken down sidewalks. The only way to avoid it is to enter the country via GRU in Sao Paulo - arguably worse. Good luck.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no
na

Rio De Janeiro Airport customer review

(United Kingdom)

Horrible airport. Terminal 1 is badly in need of refurbishment or even a complete rebuild. I travel there on a bi-monthly basis fortunately in business class. I would hate to travel economy as the check in queues are generally long and chaotic. Food is of poor quality and over priced and the cleanliness leaves a lot to be desired in the food mall on the upper floor.
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no