Tel Aviv Airport

✅ Trip Verified | Allow 5 hours to get through this airport. They tag anything that is not a standard wheel bag as oversized so every other passenger has to go through the over sizes luggage area. When I was there, the line was at least 50 people and there were 4 workers in the area. Three stood around talking while one worker worked through the line in the slowest possible manner I can imagine. I have been standing in the line for 30 minutes and there are still 10 people ahead of me. Check in was no different. There were only 4 people in front of me but it took 40 minutes to get me. I am anticipating security to be the same but since I have had so much time in this line, I figured I would write this review.

✅ Trip Verified | Tel Aviv should be renamed Tel Avoid! Staff are rude, not helpful. Try to avoid helping in any way. One occasion witnessed one person asking for help after they’ve checked through & was advised to go all the way back. Simply because the staff couldn’t understand English. Get some real workers in and be kind

Not Verified | The absolute worst airport I ever saw. We waited, like everyone, 2 hours for Check in, the staff were nasty and snobby.

Not Verified | The worst experience I've had at an airport. We had to show our passport 7 times. We were not shown where to go, and ended up walking back and forth across the full terminal with our bags and small children 3 times. The 1st security check the line was long and slow, very inefficient. Multiple times those grilling passengers would leave their post with a passport in hand, I assume to ask questions of someone with higher authority. Finally we check our bags, go thru passport control and get to the security check, 1 system only. We are waiting for our bags to get through xray and I see the xray guy grab our passports and take off running. The line is halted, and it's a long line. After a few minutes he returns and pulls my bags aside and said wait. We are now a half hour before our flight leaves, took us 2 hours to get here. Finally someone comes to question us. All kinds of questions, but finally gets to the point. My red and white scarf I bought in Petra apparently raised their suspensions that an old lady must be a terrorist. I've never seen such inefficiency.

Not Verified | 4 hours and 30 minutes to complete the security checks. A lot of pressure and discomfort throughout the time spent here. Very rude and intrusive staff. 1h 30 queuing just to get your passport ‘checked’, I was an unlucky one with 1h interrogation which makes you feel like a criminal. 2h queuing for having the hang luggage being searched. It’s a miracle if you don’t miss your flight. I went there to meet my clients I worked with and it felt like I went there to do bad things. Awful, exhausting, intrusive and aggressive.

✅ Trip Verified | Awful experience in this airport. Went there three weeks ago, they took 2 hours to get through check-in and security. Nearly missed the flight. Luggage came 6 days later!!! Today it took 2+ hours again, and they withheld my (brand new) Mac laptop and my headphones and told me they would ship it to me. In a cardboard box. A laptop, in a cardboard box. Awful experience and horrible handling of individuals. Slow tempo of employees throughout airport. Frustrating experience.

Not Verified | Terminal 1 at the Tel aviv airport is for domestic flights and international low-cost flights. Upon arrival to the terminal, we were directed to security check for luggage, even though we were traveling only with a smaal backpack. We have a person that is considered with Special Assistance, no line or service for families with children or for passengers with special assistance. Everyone has to pack up in the same security line, there is no seperate line for passengers only with hand luggage. At the upper floor, the space was crouded, toilets were not really cleaned, even though threre were cleaners all the time. Seens as if the cleaners were just standing there waiting to go home. Cleaning carts were left in the way to the toilets, what caused a mobility problem for a person with a wheelchair or blind. All in all, the place is hectic. Boarding was strange, passed the gate and stood an hour waiting for the bus to take us to the plane. All in all the place is under-service and gives a bad taste. Pity tourists leaving Israel have to pass through such a place.

✅ Trip Verified | Arrival experience seamless. One scans passport and issued a blue ticket which is presented to passport control. The departure experience is cumbersome. We arrived 3 hours before our flight. Airport was very crowded. There is a security check before getting to the check in counters. This process is lengthy as the officer asks questions about where you have been, church affiliation etc. Check in was chaotic as passengers blocked access to the business class check in with their luggage and themselves. It took the intervention of another passenger to request the passengers clear the way for business class passenger. The signage here is primarily in Hebrew and no clear directions to the departing gates. By the time one gets through security, check in and passport control/security, there isn't much time to relax. This is a very stressful airport to go through. Not impressed.

✅ Trip Verified | It is hard nowadays to say anything regarding of air travel has improved. But the experience at TLV this September took me by surprise in a good way. The airline check in opened three hours before departure reducing stress of any long lines that may be ahead. Security was efficient and to the point no wasted time. The biometric passport control is probably the fastest passport control system less than half a minute for each passport. Duty free shops are all privately owned and operated sadly all over priced and under staffed waste of time and money. On return trip back to TLV it took 40 minutes minutes from arrival until we were out of the airport doors including the time waiting and picking up our checked suitcases. Wow.

✅ Trip Verified | Security screening is multi layered, useless and unnecessary. I was accompanying a mentally challenged 50-year old man and the security at the entrance thought that I was a criminal and he was ok to proceed with the remaining of the security process alone. It was like taking the mother away from a 2-year old baby, that can't even talk. They separated us, without any notification whatsoever, based on the answers I gave a teenage girl at the airport gate: - How many languages do you speak (u trying to recruit me?) - Who packed your bag (not my mom) - Are you a part of any community (latin) - Which religion do you believe in (none) I then was taken to a separate security point where many things of mine were wrongfully confiscated without a decent explanation or even notification. I found out many things were missing even after I got home! They held me there for approximately 2 hours and when they finally let me go, my plane had already left. I spent my last money buying a return ticket home. The personnel at the airport barely speaks English, is deadly rude and denies to offer the services they are being paid for: Customer Service. That includes the people assisting at the boarding gates, the restaurant stuff and the cleaning crew. The only exceptional in behaviour and services was the guy at the Information desk. The announcement boards are all mixed up and not as easy to locate. Many changes take place, like flight times or boarding gates, but you will never know because nobody informs the passengers! It is the worst airport I have ever been to.