Rio De Janeiro Airport

Airport has not been up-dated since the 1970s. Baggage handling is old fashioned. Depending on airline and class of flight baggage delay may be up to two hours on arrival.

Rio has two airports: the main international airport (Galeao/Tom Jobim) and the small downtown commuter airport (Santos Dumont). The international airport (GIG) has two terminals: one very old and one less old. The walking distance between the two is not short but is covered and a bank was offering free golf-cart rides between the two when we were there. Hard to get remotely accurate directions (eg. to the American Express Centurion Club) from anyone working in the airport. Gong through security (departing) and Immigration and Customs (arrival) both easy. Seating limited and not terribly comfortable in the gate area. Shopping choices limited upon departure. Best duty free store is just before Immigration and you can shop there upon arrival On our last trip we were departing Rio on an international business class flight and were able to use the nice consolidated "VIP" club (use by a few airlines) complete with showers. The club is not easy to find. Airport looks quite incapable of handling the expected big crowds for the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. They talk of expansion and renovations but that could take years.

Long and very slow queue to pass border control due to very few guards. Friendly enough though. Past baggage collection and there are cabins near the exit for taxis: these are the really expensive ones and they make a real effort to grab your attention: shouting and waving their arms like lunatics. Avoid! Cheap taxis can be found outside: yellow cabs. Just make sure the meter is running and there shouldn't be any problems. The airport building itself (BA use the old terminal) is an extremely depressing place. Classic 1970's concrete and none of the people seem very friendly though I was surprised by one very kind security guard when trying to find a cash machine for the taxi. All the ATMs are on the top floor at the far end of the building (turn right off the top escalator and go past the shops and restaurants). They are signposted "Banka" but only on the top floor. Only a couple of the machines will accept foreign credit cards: have fun finding out which ones they are! The whole place feels faintly threatening with security everywhere and people looking at you as though they would like to rob you. This is the worst airport I have ever been to.

Terrible airport unfit for an international city. Shops are scarce and scattered without a logic all over the terminals so you will find twenty ATM machines in a corner of an elevated floor after searching for one everywhere else. No connections to the city by public transportation at all tourist information booths are located right after the baggage carousels and nowhere else- good luck if you want to go back asking for a map. Dirty worn out nobody speaks a word of any language that isn't Portuguese my Spanish was barely enough to communicate. The worst of all there is one single place in the whole departure airside past immigration where you can buy food and beverage hiding a the basement floor that reeks of urine- right in front of the lounges. I have no idea how this place will be ready for the World Cup and the Olympics in such a short time.

Depressing place. Lacking shops/restaurants/anything to occupy time. Cavernous departure area (international). Business lounge (Air France) became very busy/full. Check-in was fine though (business class). Definitely needs perking up prior to football World Cup and the Olympics.

Rio de Janeiro Very depressing airport. One shabby kiosk selling packet chips and soft-drinks airside. Generally looking worn and run down air conditioning not working and staff not too helpful. Though the terminal was very clean.

Still prefer it to Sao Paulo but that's about all you can say for it. Few elevators some with non-working buttons on the outside. General unkempt appearance inside and out. Long walk between Terminal 1 (where I arrived on Continental) and Terminal 2 (from where I departed on TAM). High temperatures inside the airport (air con at all??). When trying to find the American Express club I received contradictory info from 3 different people (the itself was nice albiet small and without showers). The waiting areas for departing flights are spartan. At least you can shop at the large Duty Free shop upon arrival on international flights not just departure. This airport does not project the feel of a place ready for the World Cup or Olympics.

Rio's International airport is an appalling facility. When arriving from Houston on Continental the central AC wasnot working (it has been off for 3 weeks). In spite of only one more flight arriving (AA from Miami) lines for passport check-for both brazilians and foreigners was huge waiting 20 minutes before the line would start moving. When leaving the passport-check area you have to walk down several sets of stairs before reaching the baggage carrousel. Also the restrooms at baggage claim area were both out-of-service. Galeao-as we Rio natives still call this airport is a shame. Archaic poorly maintained facilities that coupled with poor staff service; make Rio's International airport a strong negative first impression.

I used to like this airport but that was probably just because it's not Guarulhos (Sao Paulo) airport or Pedro Martins (Fortaleza). Or perhaps because we arrived on Delta and departed on Gol (old wing?). The line for the Gol ticket counters was enormous; how they will cope with the World Cup I don't know. Once we passed through security there was almost no option for eating or drinking and seats were not comfortable (hardly the only airport with this problem). I'd still choose this airport over Guarulhos if I had the choice but not by a wide margin.

The older wing mentioned in the previous post is currently being overhauled. That means there are even less services available after security. There is one coffee place and a magazines stand; that's it - for the moment anyway.