Riyadh 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 56 reviews
4/10
No Skytrax Rating
Sort Reviews by :
Show
5/10

"It has only changed for the worst"

(Egypt)

Not Verified | I have been a regular traveler from Egypt (my homeland) and Riyadh (where my father works) for about 15 years up-till now. It has only changed for the worst. Staff are not properly trained, long queues from boarding to luggage. Emigration officers are the worst I've ever seen.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitAugust 2018
Type Of TravellerFamily 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
no
1/10

"long waiting for no reason"

(United Arab Emirates)

Trip Verified | Mess, long waiting for no reason, alot of redundant stops, official are rude and always like to stamp on a freah clear page on your passport, I fly alot and have five pages with Riyadh stamp only, as if their ego is busted if they stamp a page with another stamp on it. I need to issue new passport more often becouse of that.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitFebruary 2019
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
7/10

"nice and comfortable"

(India)

Not Verified | I am an Indian but my parents live in Riyadh. I visit them during my holidays. To be honest Riyadh Airport is really a great airport when compared to other airports in Saudi Arabia. It uses better use of technology by employing E-immigration channels in the terminal. The staff are always kind. The only thing I feel off is that queue management in the airport is not up to the level. The toilet facilities are great. They even have Medicine Vending Machine which is very thoughtful of the Airport authorities. Overall my experience in King Khalid Int'l Airport was very nice and comfortable. I would highly recommend this airport for those who arrive and depart from Saudi Arabia.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitFebruary 2019
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

"officials should get trained"

(Ireland)

Not Verified | I always have a bad experience in Riyadh Airport. Not the crowding, it's always the officials who treat expats like labors. Very rude and unprofessional behavior, not sure what is the problem. If compared to the neighboring GCC countries, it's a different story all together. The officials should get trained in the the neighboring countries. The plan to open up Saudi for tourism will only get worse if the behavior continues.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitJune 2018
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
no
1/10

"There is no organization"

(Indonesia)

Trip Verified | I was expecting an Airport in Saudi Arabia to be decent, but to my surprise it was the worst airport I have experienced. The transit area is small, many people sitting on the floor, no cafe or restaurants only a few stands selling coffee and pastries. The staff are rude and unfriendly, no Wi-Fi for foreigners, to access the wifi you need a Saudi Arabian phone number to receive an SMS, foreign phone numbers won't work. That's happening in 2018 in an International airport! I regret so much my choice of giving a try to Saudi Arabia Airlines, the flight was ok but the transit experience was terrible. Poor countries have better airports. There is no organization, many flights board on the same gate at almost the same time, it's a total mess. My advise: even if this option is cheaper you should avoid at all costs going to this airport.
Experience At AirportTransit
Date VisitMarch 2018
Type Of TravellerCouple 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
no
3/10

"Old airport stuck in the past"

(Saudi Arabia)

Verified Review | Old airport stuck in the past where the building and infrastructure suffers from serious overcrowding and capacity issues. Check in was ok and passport control had the usual long queues. Staff attitude varies from person to person, but I think people general need to learn to smile and be friendly to be in line with other Gulf airports.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerCouple 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
no
1/10

"a badly managed airport"

(Saudi Arabia)

Verified Review | Faced with large queues upon reaching passport control and once through it took about 45 minutes for the bags to arrive on the carousel. Clearly a badly managed airport which is still stuck in the 1980s and desperately in need of an extension and a facelift. Building is depressing and dull with no fast track for arriving Business Class travellers. One annoying thing about the airport is the taxi drivers (licenced and unlicensed) repeating "Taxi, Taxi" as soon as you reach the arrivals area past customs they always want to try to rip you off by charging a lot of money. The best and safe option is to use UBER or Careem or use the London style taxis which have a stand outside the terminal, who operate a fixed price and payment upfront policy with a receipt.
Experience At AirportArrival Only
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerCouple 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
no
1/10

"Worst airport in the Gulf"

(Saudi Arabia)

Verified Review | Worst airport in the Gulf. When travelling during peak seasons, such as Eid, always be at the airport at least 5 hours before departure, as you will be waiting at least 2 hours in the check-in queues and further 30 minutes at passport control. Had to wait 2 hours 30 minutes to check-in; as the airport was utter chaos with baggage belts in check-in counters malfunctioning and staff unorganised. This is the same case every Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha and you would think that the airport management would take a lesson from past experiences but it seems they are incompetent. The terminals for international departures (Skyteam and International Foreign Airlines Terminal) are too small to be able to handle anything especially for the amount of air and passenger traffic for a capital city. They should learn from Dubai.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitSeptember 2017
Type Of TravellerCouple 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
no
8/10

"only 20min from the plane to a taxi"

(Belgium)

Unverified | Used Riyadh International Terminal last week and, after reading past reviews, I was not looking forward to it. How wrong could I be. Immigration officers were much friendlier and more efficent than at Dubai, Doha or Abu Dhabi. Took me only 20min from the plane to a taxi. Agree that official taxis should be better signed, and all other unofficial ones better policed far and away from the airport, so better watch out. Excellent expressways allowing for fast transits from the airport to all suburbs of Riyadh. Departure also very smooth, friendly customs and passport control, good shopping opportunities, enjoyable terminal design with nice local touches, very nice & airy steel and glass business lounge "up in the sky of the terminal" with very high speed wifi, short walks to departure gates. A very good experience!
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitAugust 2017
Type Of TravellerBusiness
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

"cleanliness is poor"

(Saudi Arabia)

Verified Review | Riyadh International Terminal is one of the worst airports I've ever seen. There is nothing like customer service. The moment you step in the airport departure, you'll feel like you step into the fish market and airport staff behaves like prisoner guard and you are the prisoner. The light is not sufficient, cleanliness is poor, trolley boys always try to find a way to loot you in terms of a tip. Airport staff don't understand English and don't give respect passengers. Physical space is very limited for an international boarding lounge.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitJuly 2017
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
no