"never seen such a bad management"
Sodeh Hamzehlouyan (France)
Not Verified | Terrible management in this airport, all European flights are during the nights, the queues for luggage last at least 1h 30. Too few staff members in the middle of the night, exhausted travellers. Nobody to help, I have never seen such a bad management. Only the business lounge is great, for usual travellers there is no consideration.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | August 2023 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo 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 |
Recommended | no |
"this airport functions a bit differently"
Melissa Cristóvão (Portugal)
✅ Trip Verified | If you're coming from a western country, be aware that this airport functions a bit differently than what we're used to. First, you and all your bags have to pass through security (bags in the scanner + you in a light body search), and then you enter the hall where the airlines check in counters are. You do not need to present a boarding pass to enter this first hall, meaning you can come in with a friend or family member who isn't flying. This hall has some chairs, toilets and 2 or 3 shops. After you check in and drop your bags with your airline, you proceed to immigration. At this point, you can only get through if you have a valid boarding pass. You get to a second hall with the duty free and a couple more shops and restaurants. Last, you move to the area where your gate is. There's different areas with different gates each with their own security line, if you go to the wrong gate area (like I did) you need to ask airport staff to escort you out so you can go to the correct area. This security check is the same as the first one, bags on the scanners and you get a light body search. Then you proceed to your gate's waiting area, where you have toilets and 2-3 shops. No one ever checks for liquids or electronic equipments and I even had my own bottle of water in my bag when I went through both security checks. Men and women have different security lines so that man are searched by a male officer and women searched by a female one. As for facilities, there were enough chairs for everyone but chairs were not the most comfortable. If you like shopping in airport this is also not the best place, not enough offer of shops and even the duty free doesn't have much to offer. The airport is generally clean and there are western toilets, plus free water. On arrivals, immigration lines are often under staffed so prepare for waiting 30mins +. If you're looking to exchange money at the airport, you need go back the stairs after you collect your luggage because the money exchange counter is on the departures floor.
Experience At Airport | Arrival and Departure |
Date Visit | October 2019 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | N/A |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"staff in general are pleasant enough"
R Cooper (Czech Republic)
✅ Trip Verified | The airport is outside the capital and it could be a 90 minute drive depending on the traffic. Aesthetically it's not the nicest facility and in some places it seems like a warehouse. The security is really good and the immigration formalities for Iranians are fine. I'm not entirely sure how immigration is for non Iranians but I heard that it's alright but they have their own line which could take them longer to clear immigration if the line is long. The customs formalities are alright, I never had any problems as a regular traveler there. The toilet facilities are not so clean but there is almost always an attendant there cleaning the place and offering to watch your bags in return for a small tip. The staff in general are pleasant enough. The duty free isn't the best in the world but the prices are reasonable. Good opportunity to buy some Iranian products as gifts for friends and family. The eating options are pretty good with two open air cafes after passport control with deserts and sandwiches and beverages at reasonable prices. There's a decent fastfood restaurant in the international departure area and the prices are alright there too. If you have a long transit, there is a mosque at the departure terminal where you can prey, relax and even take a nap. There's no public transportation to and from the airport so the only way to get there is by car. A taxi to Tehran for Iranians is about 30 USD. I heard the business class lounge is good as well as the VIP terminal. Wi-Fi is basically non existent for passengers. Enjoy your time in Iran!
Experience At Airport | Arrival and Departure |
Date Visit | July 2017 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo 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 |
Recommended | yes |
"speed up the passport clearance"
T Kelvin (Malaysia)
❎ Not Verified | Arrival was super speedy, world class speed by the immigration guy. Airport facilities (money changer) is up until the time we arrive in there (early 11pm ish local time). Kudos to the landside staff. However departure is a different story, travelers are mire with last minute opening of AAX counters where usually it opens three hours ahead of time however at IKA it opens 1.5 hours before departure time. For non Iranians, immigration queue is super long with one female officer working only, we had to queue for more than 30 minutes just to clear our passport. Before immigration the seats are not enough to contains all the travellers and after the immigration there isn't any trolleys to move the luggage of us. Good part about IKA, you will feel safe in the airport with thorough checks and the presence of officers in military fatigue, the security here is top notch. After immigration there are sleeping benches at the most behind of gates. Improvements to be done, add more chairs before the immigration, speed up the passport clearance and introduce trolleys after immigration.
Experience At Airport | Arrival and Departure |
Date Visit | November 2017 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | N/A |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | yes |
"Greatly improved airport"
12 reviews Alain Kupferman (Thailand)
✅ Verified Review | Greatly improved airport, with better immigration facilities on arrival, fast track lane for business passengers on departure (entrance into departure hall, entrance to immigration), much faster retrieval of luggage and more smiling people. The departure zone after security has been revamped and is now more frendly too.
Experience At Airport | Arrival and Departure |
Date Visit | October 2017 |
Type Of Traveller | Business |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | yes |
"security checks were quite decent"
1 reviews Salman Moghimi (United Kingdom)
As I was travelling in Emirates Business class from Tehran, I was able to use the VIP terminal just around the corner of the main terminal. It was very clean, stylish and modern for Iranian standards. Emirates passengers got to use the whole second floor which provided a good buffet, nice leather seats, clean prayer room and very clean toilets. The customer service and security checks were also quite decent despite being busy during the day.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | May 2017 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo 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 |
Recommended | yes |
"unfriendly and stressed staff"
Georg Hoffmann (Germany)
Long queing times Tehran Imam Khomeini airport, rude and unfriendly staff. Not worthy of such a friendly and hospital country. Waiting times have been extraordinary long. We had to pass 4 diffrent security and xray scans to board the plane. Unfriendly and stressed staff all over the airport!
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | April 2017 |
Type Of Traveller | Couple 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 |
Recommended | no |
"like an isolated domestic terminal"
Hossein Nikou (Iran)
Tehran IKA Airport looks like an isolated domestic terminal rather than international. Arrival immigration is small and if two or more flights arrive at the same time, it will be chaos. Baggage conveyor belts are limited to three which seems no maintenance has been performed for a long time. At the same place the toilets are dirty most of the time. The departure section is little better in comparison of Arrival. Wi-fi is free but could not be used at all. Passengers security checks are conducted two times! Departure section is a little bit organized. The airport website is just in Persian language! Finding a car park is so hard. At the time writing review, no public transportation except taxi are accessible. In comparison of other region airport like Dubai, Qatar and Istanbul airports, IKA is messy.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | February 2017 |
Type Of Traveller | Family 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 |
Recommended | no |
"chaotic at baggage claim"
Andreas Becker (Germany)
For a city of this size Tehran Imam Khomeini airport is quite small. Overall a modern airport but immigration procedure at arrival took a long time. Also a bit chaotic at baggage claim as the space on the belt is tight if a B747 arrives. At departure all went fine, but the food in the restaurants was awful. Even in duty free no alcohol was avaiaible and there are no smoking rooms after security check. No free wifi available.
Experience At Airport | Arrival and Departure |
Date Visit | November 2016 |
Type Of Traveller | Business |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Wifi Connectivity | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"malfunction of the airport"
Asal Tabari (United Kingdom)
I have traveled a few times there and had no problem but this time I missed my flight due to the malfunction of the airport. The flight information board doesn't work properly any more and they only announce your flight once so be careful. Pay your exit tax (?!) in a bank before you go to the airport. Don't rely on the bank there like me. The cashier was serving one of us form the queue and 10 passport from a travel agency without our knowledge so some people from the queue were missing their flight. The police or security office weren't helpful and were nasty. It seems as if the Airport site doesn't let you to write a review since it's getting probably lots of bad ones. Hopefully they sort the airport out soon.
Experience At Airport | Departure Only |
Date Visit | April 2015 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Queuing Times | 12345 |
Terminal Cleanliness | 12345 |
Terminal Seating | 12345 |
Terminal Signs | 12345 |
Food Beverages | 12345 |
Airport Shopping | 12345 |
Airport Staff | 12345 |
Recommended | no |