S. Africa and Malawi Airport Critiqes

Long cold walk between CT domestic to international terminals
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Johannesburg and Cape Town Airports

When I arrived at the Johannesburg international terminal it didn’t take too long to go through the passport check and customs counters. The airport is pretty basic with the basic necessities and fairly easy to navigate. You do however need to walk from the international to the domestic terminal for flights within the country. The walk between the two is about 20 minutes and you have to go outside and walk along a roadway on a cobble style roadway. If you travel in winter time (most people’s summers) you will most likely need some warm cloths. The traffic around the airport and walkways was fairly light when I arrived since it was early in the morning.

Still working on Cape Town and Johanesburg Airports

Walking between Jobergs domestic to international terminals
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When I arrived at the domestic arrival and departure area I found the lines were quite a bit longer since there were not as many check in terminals, so the lines were long. You also might want to make sure your flight is still the same because once you’re inside the terminal they do not have any stations or places where you can check about flight scheduling. If your flight has been changed, like mine, you have to go back out and check in at the main terminal airline counter for more information.

Lilongwe airport shopping area
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When I left to Malawi out of the international portion of the Johannesburg airport I was pleasantly surprised. The lines were fairly short and the check out and security went smoothly. The interior was nicely maintained, modern with quite a number of restaurants, shopping areas, exchanges etc. The departure terminal is still a temporary structure that basically looks like a large tent with numerous gates to depart out of and you have to board a bus to catch your flights. I did not find any free wireless internet access or terminals as I wondered around the airport. The airport is large enough with things to keep yourself busy for two to three hours if you have a longer lay over. There is an area nearby to find a place to sleep if you need to. I expect the airport to be a lot nicer when all the renovation work is completed.

Lilongwe, Malawi Airport

The Lilongwe airport is a small international airport about the size of most small domestic airports. You get off the plane and take a very short bus ride to the terminal. The main terminal is a small building that serves as the arriving and departing area. Customs was very fast and the passport area went very quickly and we did not need a visa to enter the airport.   Although there is a departing fee of about 30 dollars, which basically is a visa without the paper work.  There is a small restaurant area, a cell phone shop, a few trinket carts and a money exchange area. As far as international airports goes it’s the smallest I have been in, but it was fairly clean and getting lost is impossible. There were taxis and other “adventure tour” trucks out front to help provide transportation or quick trips to the various African adventure tour groups. There really isn’t much to do and arriving about 1 ½ hours is fine to check in and go through security etc. I did not see any internet hook up and there are only a few small shops so getting there early is a waste of time.