Tel Aviv Airport

I know I am biased. But I have a good reason to be so: I'm Israeli. I am also old enough to have experienced the old airport terminal which was archaic and chaotic. Thus I feel that Terminal 3 is just superb. I have passed through the airport 6 times since 2005 and have actually enjoyed my visit. Having an Israeli passport is a major game changer. I have never had to stand at the long luggage screening line and have breezed through every security check and processing station. The main aspect I feel is so important especially before a long flight is the sense of serenity and relative quiet. I understand the frustration of foreigners who encounter long waits and seemingly unnecessarily long security checks but that is the nature of being in the Middle East. I feel (selfishly) that this is the one airport in the world that I can feel like a king. I too am asked seemingly odd questions but I believe in profiling as it has proved to work. BG airport isn't the only hyper security airport. I witnessed an incident at Frankfurt airport where a young couple was escorted from the waiting area (having already passed through security) to a side area which was not private and was interrogated and searched in full view of all. It must have been humiliating. This is our present reality. BG airport is clean mostly well signed efficient (except for occasional labor strikes or slowdowns) and at least to me relaxing and pleasant. When comparing this airport to others I find it my favorite. I know my experience is different than for others but that's how I see it.

As an Israeli the security check is little bit loaded but since we know the threats we understand. Queues to check in depends on the airline pass to security is fast security check is little bit slow and passport control could do with some improvements. Prices foe food are crazy. Airport is clean and easy to find your way around.

Arrived 8th April departed 17th April. Not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Cons - the incoming passport queues are pretty slow and stressful. Pros - you don't get a stamp in your passport but a couple of separate stickers (entry exit) instead the handling on departure was even friendly a good layout and reasonable shopping. Enough room for the current passenger loads.

Very comfortable airport easy to navigate. Staff are very friendly and helpful. Great shops with a big variety and good prices. Very easy to arrive to the airport by the train from Tel Aviv. Airport is lively at any hour - makes it much more pleasant to stay where waiting than many other airports which can be so quiet and glum - here it gives you a feeling of a great mall although you can also enjoy the quiet Dan lounges which are superb.

Arriving in to Tel Aviv (Ben Gurion) is relatively straight forward. The airport is fairly new and looks good. Departing is a whole different ball game and the time is spent mainly with the security checks so make sure you have plenty of time and I mean plenty of time. We arrived 3 hours prior to departure but it took us over 2 hours overall just to check in! Firstly queue to go through the "interview" i.e. why were you in Israel where are you going who were you with who packed your bag have you been given anything to carry on behalf of someone else etc etc. Wait time for us was approx 50 mins. Secondly queue for your bags go through a scan. Wait time for us was approx. 15 mins. Thirdly queue for your bag to be hand-searched. Wait time for us was approx 30 mins plus search time. Fourthly queue to check your bags in. Wait time for us was approx 30 mins. As much as security is of high importance the level of efficiency to move passengers was really poor e.g. "interview" staff would suddenly disappear leaving a long queue of people waiting around. Also don't think you can skip a security line either as you need all of the proper security bar codes before you can Check In. And the distance for all of the waiting around in - a mere 50m! Fifth queue for Immigration. This is where they really need some form of "crowd control" and manage their staff change overs. People were queuing in front of each individual Passport counter but when 2 of the staff left the remaining (long) queues became disorganised as they struggled to find another line to queue in for yet a different Immigration Officer. It would have been better if there had been a single queue and passengers directed to the next available counter. As for the rest of the airport well we really didn't experience much of it. Since Check In took so long we had to head straight to the Departure Gate. The only good thing - free wifi albeit for 30mins. There's one question in this survey that asks "would you recommend this airport" well since it's the only international airport into Israel then there's not much of an option except "yes".

I fly into TLV every few years and love the airport. Both arrival check in at departure were smooth. Security was a bit slow but I was checked in and through security and passport control within an hour. Terminal 3's waiting area is very attractive and well laid out. I have no complaints about security considering the challenges faced to keep passengers safe.

This airport is a nightmare. It took 2.5 hours to go through security being screened and interrogated. You have to go through the first screening with all your luggage (before checking in). Absolutely disappointed.

Security checks went smoothly. No complaints here (in any case I wouldn't have any problem with a much longer security check if that's what a safe flight takes). Terminal 3 is beautiful and clean there are more than enough seating areas it's a nice place to start my vacation. In my opinion the only problem is the prices at the shopping area (5$ for a cup of coffee) including the duty free. Everything is too expensive so I'd rather spend my money somewhere else.

Very attractive interior and many seats for resting and the hub for all the terminals has a beautiful fountain in the middle of the circulars hall.

I am a frequent user of the airport (about once a month on average) The airport is generally very efficient. The only drawback being the often very long (and slow) queue to security and sometimes to the check in. The latter are the bottlenecks. Security is often understaffed and this is a long standing and notorious problem at this airport. My experience is that all staff are generally very polite and helpful and often friendly too. Walking distances are notably long though walkways are provided. The best feature is the baggage reclaim - it is extremely fast and it is not uncommon for your luggage to be at the reclaim before you arrive there. Free WiFi is provided. The business lounge is frequently overcrowded. All other facilities are first class.