Sao Paulo Guarulhos Airport

Went to GRU last month to meet a friend. Many quick improvements have been done lately like new restrooms new restaurants and a real upgrade in terminal signs - indeed very similar to the design used in Schiphol-Amsterdam. Small regional airliners are now operating to a new terminal 4 located 1.3 mile away (with a 5-minute ride bus shuttle between main terminal and new terminal 4). Guarulhos Airport main building still looks a bit dated overall and it was really crowded. But GRU is getting much better. Hope to see improvements especially in comfort.

I was expecting the worse after having read the recent poor reviews of this airport. My main issue here is the poor signage. I had 6 hours wait and it passed very comfortably. Arrived into T1 Domestic and left from International T1. The bus from the plane drops you off and you have to go through the main doors and straight forward towards exit and baggage carousels. Go through the black doors into T1 and take the lift up to the 1st floor. This area is divided into wings and if you have not already checked in and do not have a boarding pass proceed left to Wing B if travelling on TAM (Airlines directory of check-in desks near to the lift). If you have your boarding pass turn right out of the lift and the International Departure gates entrance is approx 100 yards on your left. There is an information desk near the lift - staff very helpful and speak English. There are plenty of WiFi areas and re-charging socket towers at the gates. Plenty of seating (although I agree the seats could be more comfortable) and sufficient food outlets and duty free shops. The food is overpriced but no different from other airports I have visited eg. CDG Paris. The temperature in the airport was temperate - not too hot.

Unfortunately I travel through this airport up to 4 times a year which I thought might mean I'd get used to it but not as yet. Very few places to buy food and what food that is on sale is very expensive even by international airport standards the seating areas aren't great and if you have to spend an extended period at the airport then you're well out of luck if trying to find somewhere a bit more comfortable to sit. The signage and flow between international and domestic flights and domestic to domestic flights is slowly getting better but it's still quite poor especially as the country is due to host the football world cup and Olympics. Aesthetically the building is drab with no natural light which gives it a generally depressing feel. Transport links from the airport are ok buses located outside the terminal and a taxi company has a desk outside of each terminal - not sure why it's outside the terminal but don't bother looking inside as you won't find anything there. Difficult to pre-book a taxi through the local airport provider as nobody seems to speak English. If travelling back from the city to airport on a Friday keep in mind that traffic is horrendous and the journey time can be up to 3 hours as opposed to 1 hour in off peak traffic. Within the last 2 years an information desk has been put in a more prominent position within the airport and they now even have some staff that can speak English. I sometimes case my mind back over all the airports I've ever flown in to and try to compare Guarulhos airport with all the others. Maybe I haven't travelled enough but as yet Jo'burg international airport back in 1997 is the only airport that compares with Sao Paulo in terms of general shabbiness.

Not as bad as some of the reviewers have commented earlier but I really wish there were few lounge chairs. Chairs with upright back when you have to wait for 7 hours for the next flight does not help at all. Food was ridiculously expensive too I paid almost USD 20 for a slice of pizza and coke! And yes it is true about unannounced gates changes. Gate for my domestic flight was changed twice I am not sure if they announced it or not even if they had I would not have understood.

I look at this airport with ageing infrastructure and several elevators out of service and inadequate signage (even if one understands Portuguese) and wonder how on earth it will be ready for the crowds descending on it for the World Cup and later the Olympics. There is a lot of work to do. The Customs process does move quicker now (no form to fill out unless you have something to declare) but overall GRU looks like an old airport in need of massive renovations or replacement.

I had two stopovers on my trip to South America. One was for 3 hours and the other for 14 hours. To be kind this airport is a dump. It is very old outdated and in need of desperate upgrading. In the international terminal where flights of 200-350 people leave at a single gate there may only be 40-50 seats. This leads to massive queues and many people having to sit on the nasty floors while waiting. There is very limited selections of food and they are very overpriced and the duty free shop isn't even worth going into. It is really too bad that this is the first impression people get of Brazil as the main entrance into the country of international travelers. I don't know how they are going to handle the World Cup and Olympics with the very limited space and outdated facilities they have currently.

I have the displeasure to make stopovers in Sao Paulo every year and it seems to get worse every time. There are no gates: you have to take buses to the aircraft's and they are always packed and warm! At the airport there are always huge queues for everything the building is old and dirty. No air conditioning! There's nothing to do apart from queuing: a few crowded restaurants and one ridiculously expensive duty free shop. You just have to sit on the floor and wait.

Expect long lines everywhere mainly in immigration not to mention expensive food and transportation to Sao Paulo downtown. Only positive aspect is that Guarulhos airport is pretty clean and security has improved.

I flew through Sao Paulo on a connection between Santiago and Florianopolis last week. My first impression of the airport was dingy and dated. Customs went very fast but I heard it can take longer in peak season. Transferring to domestic is a little interesting the signage is not that good and the airport is usually busy. In the domestic terminal there are very few places to eat expensive food and are not good but very busy. At the time I was there half the flight information screens did not work and neither the flight number indicator over the gate. This combined with last minute/random gate changes large crowds and everybody loading onto busses makes it very complicated.

They crammed 3 large flights into a small holding area. Two of the flights were delayed so this compounded the problem. Not enough seats. Transferring from domestic to international is difficult if you do not understand Portuguese. We got sent back to several different lines as we did not have the correct stamp. Queues for security were incredible. I have no idea how Brazil is going to be able to handle the World Cup and the Olympics in a few years time. They simply do not have the facilities.