Nanjing Lukou International Airport — Local services in Nanjing City

Worst travel experience ever!!! Flying from Vancouver, Canada to Bangkok, Thailand both ways with China Eastern Airlines included a transit through Nanjing International Airport. There is no international transit area of this airport. This is what the ordeal was in both directions for us: When we arrived to Nanjing, we encountered a row of customs counters. We didn't need to enter China, as we were staying in the airport to get to our connecting flights (and needed our connecting flight boarding cards as we were unable to get them from China Eastern Airlines at our start points; either Vancouver or Bangkok). We (all the Canadians on board; about 15 of us going to Thailand, and about 20 coming back home) got in line and once reaching the counter, were asked to sit in a waiting area. Once everyone on our plane was processed (mostly Chinese people entering the country), then we got back into line and got a stamp in our passports (why I don't know, because we don't need to enter the country) and then got past the counter into another area, where we were corralled and watched closely by customs staff (mostly young men). So far, this took 1-2 hours (it was much worse coming home). Then we were asked to group ourselves into groups of 10 and stand in single file. Then we walked down an escalator to a baggage claim area, and those with checked luggage grabbed their suitcases. From here, we walked as a group out of the security area to the general check in area of the airport in front of the China Eastern ticket counter. While all of this was happening, our passports were taken from us and held together by one of the customs agents as they escorted us to each step. It took an hour to get boarding cards for the 15-20 of us. Once we all had boarding cards (held by the customs people), we then were escorted back to security, where we were given back our passports (funny watching the agent not be able to distinguish our pictures to us; I guess us caucasian folk all look the same; one of the Canadians said on his way to Thailand, he was nominated to hand out passports to everyone) and boarding cards, got another stamp in our passports and got back to our connecting flight terminals. Coming to Thailand, this whole ordeal took about 2.5 hours, but coming home yesterday, it took 3.5 hours. For a super power nation, they sure have things backwards at this particular airport. We were treated like criminals as they escorted us from step to step. And there were no washrooms once we got off our plane. I snuck away at the ticket counter to go to a bathroom when the customs guard had his back to us, but he spotted me as I was about 40 feet away and then ran after me but I got into the bathroom before he could stop me so he waited outside and escorted me back to the group waiting at the ticket counter. We are not going to defect and sneak into your country. In fact, my husband and I have totally decided to never travel to China period. We don't mean to sound ignorant or racist cause we are the most tolerant people you would meet but it was such an unpleasant experience that we can take it to the level of not even wanting to travel to this country. Shows how bad it was transiting in Nanjing. Just before jumping onto a plane for 12 hours back to Vancouver, the idea is to get very hydrated but we stood around for 3.5 hours getting dehydrated. For what was supposed to be a 5 hour layover, we ended up being rushed to get some food in our bellies before the long flight home. And then to add to the pain of this ordeal, our flight was delayed at the gate by 1.5 hours (no explanation why as the plane was sitting at the gate), and then once we boarded the plane, we sat on the tarmac for another 1.5 hours. Messages on the plane got repeated every 20 minutes (due to air traffic controllers, we are unable to depart). Nanjing International Airport is not small by any means. It is a large airport but it was completely dead inside. We saw the random plane go onto the runway, and the occasional one depart but to keep us on the tarmac...

Lukou International Airport serves as the gateway to the historic city of Nanjing. It was a generally pleasant experience travelling in and out of their well-organised, spotless international terminal.

The airport provided a seamless immigration process, with attentive, English-speaking staff who were more than willing to assist. During both arrival and departure, we could feel that everyone was doing their utmost to ensure a smooth experience. Notably, there were plenty of open counters for foreign passport holders—a convenience that isn’t always guaranteed at second-tier city airports.

When it comes to shopping and dining, the airport offers a decent selection. Duty-free shops featured Chinese liquor, local sweets, perfumes, and a wide variety of souvenirs. These were spread across several locations, making it easy to make a quick stop before boarding. However, I must point out that the dining options in the airside area were noticeably limited compared to those in the check-in zone. Although the Niuroumian restaurant was enjoyable, I recommend having a meal before passing through TSA.

Located approximately 40 km south of Nanjing’s city centre and CBD, the airport is around a 40-minute taxi ride away. In addition to taxis, there’s a 50-minute airport bus to Xihuamen and a 35-minute metro ride to Nanjing South Station. That said, I found the taxi more comfortable, thanks to the dedicated highway that makes road travel considerably efficient.

Overall, Lukou International Airport stands proudly as the southern capital’s primary gateway for international visitors. It delivers a swift and polished passenger experience, complete with highlights like quality duty-free shops, convenient city access, and spotless facilities. I’m pleased to give NKG Airport a well-earned five stars—with just a bit of room left for...

Get your connecting flight in Shanghai. As other people have said (wish I had read this beforehand) they take all the non-Chinese people- Take your passports and parade them around in front of you through a series of tedious steps where you can clearly see it would have been 10 times faster if you could complete the steps yourself. You feel like a prisoner for 2 hours while they take you from place to place and make you wait with no seating while they get someone from your group to call out names because they can't speak English. We had a little bit more fun than everyone else though because when we went through security we were told we couldn't carry on our duty free...even though we were told it would be fine before we boarded the plane to Nanjing. So in the 2 hours we waited to check in, we could have put it in our checked bag if someone bothered to tell us. Then they took our passports again and told us it would be an hour to get the checked bag back....so we just paid $25 US to wrap it (thank god I had US dollars on hand because they don't take credit cards) and of course Westjet broke it despite the fragile sticker and then told us we should have carried it on. Different story though. Also theres one place the sells beer at the airport and they take credit cards..all the other places dont. Oh ya and our clock was an hour behind (our fault obviously) but we didn't hear ONE announcement that our plane was boarding even though we were eating like 50 feet away from our gate. Finally we heard one but all we could make out was our gate number and as we got there they said we caused the plane to delay because they couldn't find us anywhere....this is an airport that has like no people in it. Just don't do it...it's not worth it...