Julius Nyerere International Airport — Local services in Dar es-Salaam

I usually post positive reviews however this airport as too many staff doing anything but work. There have so many staff just standing around having a chat with each other. If they're not talking face to face they are on their mobile phones.

Enter the airport and then you immediately have to put your bags through scanners. Then you find your check in desk via the screens and go to the area. You then get pestered by a member of staff questioning where you are going and demanding your flight number....not where you're going but your actual flight number. I don't memorise this but I said I'm going to Doha. She then insists I show her proof even though I told her I checked the screen and this is where I'm meant to be. Still had to show her.

Then you get to the check in desk and there's multiple employees per desk checking your bags in. You'd think with so many people it would be quick but it's such a long and tedious process. They check your bag in and give you your boarding pass.

On the way to security check you have to show your passport and boarding pass which has just been printed to another guy before being allowed towards passport control. Why??

You get to the passport control line and you're waiting forever to be seen. I must have waited for about 50 minutes and there must have been around 8 or 9 people in front of me. Absolutely ridiculous. Funnily enough when you're waiting another employee comes up to you randomly whilst waiting in line to check your passport and boarding pass. Why?? What is the actual need in this?

You finally wait 50 mins to see the miserable agent at passport control. No hello etc etc. Why you ask? Because he's on the god damn phone to someone rather than doing his job! He processes me and let's me go through.

I then wait in line for baggage security and look through my passport for my departure stamp. It's not there!! He's forgotten to stamp my passport. I had to go back and tell him. No expression on his face, no apology. He checks my passport, notices he's not done it and stamps it. By the way he's still on the phone to someone!!!

Security check is slow, employees waiting around and only one line open. You have to take your shoes off here too but then there's no space or seats to put your shoes back on. Absolute joke. They rush you off the queue too. It's the fastest I've seen anyone in the airport move. Honestly.

You get to duty free and the shops are all empty of customers. Duty free staff looking perplexed and asking why? Because it's taken passengers so long to get through baggage check in, mutliple passport and boarding pass checks, that there's no time to browse for anything.

But hey, the toilets were clean, which is a bonus. Hope you enjoyed reading about...

My real experience review

I really hope someone in management reads this because Dar es Salaam Airport (JNIA) has potential, but the current passenger procedures make the experience frustrating and outdated: No acceptance of mobile boarding passes – Passengers are forced to print a paper boarding pass even if they already checked in online. In 2025, this should not be necessary. Duplicate X-Ray screenings – There is an X-Ray check at the entrance of the terminal and then another full screening again before immigration. This duplication wastes time and creates unnecessary queues. One efficient security screening is enough, like in most modern airports. Extra staff before security – An additional checkpoint with one employee “verifying” passengers before the actual screening adds no real value and just causes delays. Slow security process – Screening and processing are unnecessarily slow compared to other international airports. Passport control asking unrelated questions – Immigration officers sometimes ask about destinations not related to your home country, as if they are responsible for your travel decisions. This feels intrusive and unprofessional. Major issue: Not allowed to enter departures earlier than 3 hours before flight – This rule is highly inconvenient and outdated. International travelers often arrive much earlier, especially when connecting from other flights or when they prefer to relax inside the secure area. • In many international airports (Dubai, Doha, Istanbul, Frankfurt, etc.), passengers are allowed to enter the departure area up to 12 hours before their flight. • This flexibility allows travelers to use lounges, dine comfortably, and shop at duty free stores. It also increases airport revenue because passengers spend more time (and money) inside. • By limiting access to only 3 hours, JNIA is hurting both the passenger experience and the airport’s own commercial income.

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Conclusion: Instead of introducing new fees and taxes, JNIA should first focus on simplifying passenger flow, removing duplicate X-Ray checks, accepting digital boarding passes, and especially allowing passengers to enter the departure area earlier (like in other global airports). These changes would greatly improve efficiency, satisfaction, and the...

Racial/Nationality discrimination alert (esp non US/EU/AU):

Disappointed and disgusted with how they slaughter visitors and that we needed to haggle for “unofficial taxi” (they were just regular cars) prices from T1 to T3 - for a less than 4 mins ride, they wanted $15 but eventually we settled with $10 as we were in a rush.

We had an extremely long wait at the airport because our flight got delayed at the arrival at T1 and we missed our flight in T3 to leave Tanzania, and had to book a whole new flight that departs 8 hours later. There’s pretty much nothing to do at the landside area (2-3 shops), seating areas had very limited seats and the “taxi drivers” take up most of the chairs. Ventilation is not great and flies were all around us as we were just sitting and waiting for our check in counter to be open.

We took KLM departure 11.15pm (to EU) and the check in counter DID NOT open until 8.30pm and the lines were long and chaotic by then. A staff was manned to “check” your passports before you are even allowed to stand in the line to queue for luggage drop off. It is unclear as to what they are checking because they did not ask for the boarding pass. I was held back from proceeding to the check in line (not my husband of a diff nationality) because they wanted additional “documentation” for travel, which we thought might be our flight itinerary or hotel bookings but he asked for a visa, which is not required for my nationality. They held me up, took my passport away from me for “additional checks” and also took photos of the PR card of where I currently live which is absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary. They also refused to read the public information from EU indicating that I do not need a visa (exact same as my husband, but he was not “challenged”). Bare in mind I have already checked in online without any issues and have a boarding pass and just needed to drop off my luggage and can actually head straight through immigration if I did not have a check in luggage.

There was zero apology after they realized that I can take the...