Xiamen Gaoqi International Airport — Attraction in Xiamen

This is a review for a trip with a longish layover, as apparently whether your trip ends here, you have a short or longer layover can really make a difference. I arrived from AMS after 2pm on an itinerary that would end up in TPE the next morning. I asked for my bag to only be checked to Xiamen, due to my overnight stay.

Entering China was a breeze, except my agent took so long I asked him if the system was slow or if there was a problem. It took quite a while for my bag to come out but I used that time to answer nature's call.

When they talk about "gates" to describe the location of facilities they actually mean doors leading to the outside of the airport not flight departure gates. So, the foreign exchange booth is to the left near gate 1. The Xiamen Air counter to get your hotel or lounge voucher is to the right after exiting Int'l arrivals, near gate 7. The procedure to get your hotel voucher was smooth and here's the kicker, they provided free transportation on a big bus (just show your paper to the driver). Everyone was fairly pleasant to deal with, this continued upon departure the next morning. You will probably have to wait until the bus fills up, so be patient or take a taxi for RMB 20). The form says you might need to share the room but this seems to have been a leftover from the past.

The hotel looked a bit funky and old from the outside but was fine from the inside. I really liked my room also but: You probably won't get a view and the hotel likely lies in the airport's flight path. They include free breakfast too but it doesn't start before 6:30a and I had to leave before that. Transportation back to the airport is on your own. I came down just before 6a and a taxi was already out front & available. He used the meter, no funny business.

I queued up for the entrance for flights to Taiwan & Hong Kong and that line gets pretty long, so come earlier rather than later. They open that area around 6:20a for the 8:20a flight to TPE. I actually appreciated the airport not being so big & crowded.

Summary: I would totally do this again. Just keep in mind, basically none of the websites we use in the west will work and you probably won't be able to access the WiFi in the airport either...

As a non-chinese citizen, I would strongly advice you to not choose this airline. Not because of the airline itself, but because of the stop-over at Xiamen Airport. I've been flying for quite some years now, and this is by far the worst airport experience I've ever had. First off, they have no idea what a layover is. So, here we're talking about a two-legged flight where indeed it turned out you didn't have to collect your luggage on the stop-over. Standard protocol. Still, you had to fill out multiple forms with countless questions and go through next-to-impossible passport controls. All in the space of two hours, which was the length of our layover.

Moreover, the airport logistics was a complete nightmare. To begin with - there are no signs anywhere. Also, the international airport staff all lacked the basic skills normally possessed by airport personnel, such as being able to read simple information found in a passport, and the ability to speak english. They also lacked basic skills normally possessed by human beings, such as ackowledging the existance of a person standing half a meter away from you, asking the same two questions fifteen times with increasing determination to get an answer by the attempt. The questions in this case being "What seems to be the problem with our passports?" and "Does anybody here speak english?". This happened on no less than three different checkpoints which caused us a huge amount of stress and to almost miss our flight.

Meanwhile, none of this would normally have to take place, since on a flight like this, you would just enter and be in the transit area through the whole layover.

Spending some extra money to avoid this airport would be very...

I was here for layover/transit twice.

Airport staff here were generally polite and helpful, but can sometimes sound curt. Most can speak enough English to help non-Chinese-speaking travelers.

Taxi drivers from this airport aren’t friendly or helpful, and grumble when the destination hotel is too close, and their vehicles aren’t clean. I have much better experiences with DiDi, but don’t know where the pickup points are.

For the security check at Departures, they are strict. Lighters cannot be brought onboard. No batteries in check-in baggage. If their scanner detects a battery in your luggage, you will be asked to open it up for inspection. At the security check for carry-on, you’ll need to take out your power bank, phones, ipad, cameras for scanning. Your power bank must have the Mah rating clearly marked. There will also be a frisk check for all passengers. I would commend the staff handling the security checks as patient, polite and professional.

At the transit area, there were just a few shops, mostly selling overpriced souvenirs, a small local eatery and a Burger King.

At Boarding, many passengers were carrying as many as 5 big bags onto the plane, and these were the ones who scramble to be first in the queue to board- and they will fit their handcarry into any available overhead compartments near their seat.

For Xiamen Airlines, although their guideline is One carry-on at a maximum of 5kg, it is not enforced at all. It is unfair to other passengers who are forced to keep their hand-carry under the seat, or above someone else's seat.

For transit passengers, the Xiamen Airlines transfer/transit services is at the same level as International Arrivals, on...