They were very efficient and the staff members made sure the lines moved faster. If you had young children (Hadrian was too old to be considered a young child), you were put through a faster line. If you are a veiled woman, you had your own private booth where - I assume - you have a female worker so you can unveil your face to see if you match your passport.
Like I've said before, they don't do small talk but it does make the line go faster. There are no checks of bomb residue like Brisbane airport and they don't intricately go through what you're bringing into the country like Australia and NZ do.
Their bathroom needs major work. 2 of the 5 stalls were out of order. The door to the ladies bathroom had a massive hole in it (the size of a standard pillow).
Their signs to various places were a little confusing as the airport was so large. To get to the car rental place, you followed signs but then the signs stopped and you wondered where you were supposed to go. We found it in the end after asking a worker but one place could have had more signs.
They have designated smoking rooms which was basically a glass room enough to fit perhaps 2 to 3 people that I assume is air tight once you go in there and close the door. If someone else is in there, you have to stand in close personal spaces while inhaling their smoke. If 3 are there, it's even tighter.
The airport is so large that when you leave the plane, you go onto a bus that takes you to the main airport. So if you are front of the line off the plane, it will mean nothing once you're on the bus. It still matters if you catch the first bus though - then you're at the front of the line at the airport.
Flying out of there was busy but smooth. Etihad, who we flew with, had a kiosk and we were given a quick scan of our belongings without having to remove everything from the bags. They didn't stop you from taking water through customs to the other side onto the plane. Since we had been through the airport before, we had a quick scan through customs.
All gates were close together as you also had to board a bus to get to your plane. It actually works out better that way - if you're on one of the earlier buses, you have the chance to pack your luggage away in the overhead compartments and get comfortable in your seats without people up your bum because shame, they're still waiting for their bus at the gate. I liked it that way.
Everything is in both Arabic and English and the staff we came across all spoke English to us.
You do not have to pay for a luggage trolley here and in fact, it is offered to you by staff if you have just come off a flight.
Wifi here is easy to connect to. You just sign up through your email address and once validated, it works fine.
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