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JNB / Johannesburg Airport - Connections, Facilities, Layovers, etc.

Old Nov 16, 2015, 3:09 pm
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Last edit by: B747-437B
Guide to JNB (Oliver R. Tambo International Airport, Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa)


Welcome to the guide to JNB.

If your have any further questions that have not been answered after reading through, please do not hesitate to ask.

Bear in mind that the minimum connection times given below are the shortest connections allowed for tickets on a single PNR. It would be advisable to leave more time than this, particularly if you are arriving during the busy morning period. If you are travelling on two separate PNRs, add on at least an extra hour to the MCTs to allow for whatever delays the Travel Gods may throw at you.

Do note that procedures can change so this guide may not be accurate. If you notice anything has changed or there are any errors, just let me know.


International-Domestic Connection

Minimum connection time: 90 minutes

Once you have deplaned, simply follow the crowd to the immigration hall.
After going through passport control, you will need to collect your luggage and pass through customs irrespective of whether your bags have been tagged through to your final destination.
Exit into the public area and proceed up to departures level by way of the escalators which are opposite and to the left. The escalator can take trolleys.
If your bags have already been tagged through to your destination and you have your boarding passes for the onward domestic flight, you can use fast bag drop.
Otherwise you will need to check-in as normal.
Alternatively, you can use the baggage re-check desks on the left before exiting to the public area (NOTE : These are permanently closed now - Oct 2022).
If you would prefer to avoid the porters and taxi touts in the arrivals halls, there are escalators to the left of these desks which will take you to level 1. From there you will need to go up one more level to reach domestic departures. (NOTE : These escalators are out of service now - Oct 2022).

The domestic terminal is designated as a separate terminal (Terminal B) but do not be confused by this. All the terminals at JNB are under one roof so you barely notice that you are transferring between them.


Domestic-International Connection

If you can interline baggage, you can check it through from your initial departure point to your international destination. Once you land at JNB walk out to exit (ignore signs to go downstairs to baggage reclaim), keep walking through the shops/past the food court, around the atrium and there is a security/emigration point on your front right.

Please see post #106 for an illustrated guide.
[although there is no need to go up the moving walkway and then back down again - just come out of the domestic exit and keep walking straight on that level, which will bring you to the security/emigration point]


International-International Connection

Minimum connection time: 60 minutes

This is where things become a little more tricky.

If you arrive at a jetway, you will see a corridor heading towards International Transfers on the left just before the escalators down to passport control.
If you arrive at a remote stand and are bussed to the terminal, you will see the escalators on the left heading up to International Transfers as you enter the building.
Both these paths are well signposted and there is usually a staff member shouting out "International transit" and waving a sign to direct passengers.
When you go down the corridor, there is a transit immigration point before the transfer desks. Typically the wait here is 1-3 minutes, very much quicker than 'normal' immigration.
Your passport will be stamped with a "TRANSIT" stamp here even though you do not enter the country, and you must ensure that you have the required blank pages otherwise you may not be permitted to continue your transit and instead sent back to your originating point.

A few meters beyond the immigration checkpoint is the main transit information area which have desks for all the international airlines and handling agents.
If your bags have already been tagged through to your final destination, ensure that you give your connecting airline the tag numbers at this time so that they can verify them in their system.
If the tag numbers are not re-verified, they will not be loaded without manual intervention. This is not required if connecting from SAA to SAA flights however.

If your bags have not been tagged through, you will need to find a member of staff in International Transfers from your arriving airline.
Ask them to get one of their baggage services staff to pull your bags off the belt manually and coordinate with staff from your onward airline to retag them to your final destination.

This is a rather convoluted process and can take a long time.

Therefore, if your bags cannot be tagged all the way through, it is advisable to pass through immigration, collect your bags at baggage reclaim and clear customs.
After you clear customs but before you exit to the public area (the exit is a set of sliding doors on your right), you will see a series of baggage re-check desks on your left.
Proceed to these desks since they often have smaller queues and have your bags re-tagged.
Then head up the escalators to your left (do not exit the main doors into the public area) which emerge on the departures level.
Turn right when facing the Vodacom store and the departures security checkpoint is right in front of you.

You can do the entire transit and enter/exit South Africa in less than 5 minutes if your bags come out quickly.

If time permits, the safest option is to clear customs and re-check your bags as described above rather than rely on the interlining system at JNB.

Have a look at post #9 of this thread for pictures.

Originally posted by Ambassador BA304.

Luggage storage

This is taken from the whyjoburg.com web site (April 2016):

BagPort South Africa, the original company that provided a luggage storage service at OR Tambo International Airport, has changed its name.

It now operates as Ateck - from the same premises down the escalators at the main exit of Terminal A arrivals, on Basement Level 1, going towards the Parkade 2 (South).

Costs are : (NB : CASH ONLY! No Cards Accepted.)
0-5 hours: R70.00
6-12 hours: R80.00
12-24 hours: R90.00
24 hours or more: R90.00 per day.

Open 24 hours, every day of the year.

Contact details :
Tel : +27 (11) 390 2689
http://www.a-teck.co.za/or-tambo-airport-store-teck/
Print Wikipost

JNB / Johannesburg Airport - Connections, Facilities, Layovers, etc.

Old Sep 12, 2016, 4:09 pm
  #511  
Ambassador: World of Hyatt
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
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Originally Posted by danielm
I see! Thank you for the clarification. I will avoid the escalator at all costs. Very, very glad to learn I won't have to go anywhere near the regular immigration line. Am doing this in a few hours! BTW, do I need a hard printout of my itinerary on SA, or will phone/verbal explanation do?
I haven't done transit immigration for a few months, so can't recall - I normally travel with a hardcopy of my itin anyway, but I don't think that the transit immigration requires it. After that, there are normal checkin desks, who certainly won't need hardcopy to give you a BP.
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Old Sep 13, 2016, 3:12 am
  #512  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
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Thanks to you both. Was very easy, and fast - though it could have been faster! Took the hard right at the escalator. Went to transit desk - one person ahead of me, took about 2 minutes. The officer noted my biblical first and middle names and then quizzed me on my bible knowledge...then to the check in desk, which was very fast. Security line had about 15 people ahead of me, and it was as slow as can be...but still only five or six minutes. Now I'm having breakfast in the lounge. All in all, the only hard part was passing the trivia portion of the transit!
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Old Sep 18, 2016, 12:54 pm
  #513  
 
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Originally Posted by danielm
I've read the thread at the front and at the back, and it sounds like there's changes. I'm arriving in JNB from DOH, then getting on another ticket to ADD. No luggage. Is it true that I'll need to go through immigration and that the wiki is not up-to-date?

Also, a few months ago at JNB the immigration line was horrifically long: two hours or so. Was that an anomaly or will I really need that much time? (I budgeted 4 hours, but I wanted to use those hours basking in the lounge.)
Our experience intl-intl 2 weeks ago was that we indeed needed to pass through a transit immigration line (different from immigration to enter South Africa). We landed at 7am and spent about 20 mins in line, processing slow until they opened more wickets. Meanwhile a longish line accumulated behind us and I'd guess many of those took 45 mins+. Based on that one data point I'd just say high variability due to passenger arrival clustering and staffing levels insufficienlty aligned with arrival volume.
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Old Sep 19, 2016, 12:45 am
  #514  
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
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Hello!
Anybody here with recent experiences of baggage interlining between LH (FRA-JNB) and BA/Comair (JNB-WDH) on separate tickets? Will be flying this route with 3,5h stop at JNB.
Thanks a lot!
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Old Oct 10, 2016, 8:45 am
  #515  
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 2
Transfer in JNB with two separated bookings

I will arrive JNB by Air China and transfer onto VFA by SAA with different bookings of the airlines. I will have no checked bags.

My question is, after I get into the international transition area, will the SAA help desk be able to issue me the boarding pass for the onward flight to VFA? The SAA reservation rep told me, since I am on different tickets, I will have to go to SAA regular check-in counter for check-in, where is outside the boarder control that takes time as well as needs to go through the custom & immigration twice. Confused.

Also, my trip is USA->JNB(transfer)->VFA->JNB(sightseeing)->USA. I have only three fully blank pages left in my passport (some space in other pages). Is this good enough for this trip? I am a US citizen and don't need visa for SA and can be issued a landing visa for Zimbabwe.

Thanks in advance!

Chao
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Old Oct 14, 2016, 5:47 am
  #516  
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I am about 90% sure that the SAA desk in the transit area will be able to issue a boarding pass - but if you're hand luggage only, why not just checkin online 24 hrs prior, and print your own boarding pass.

Three blank pages *should* be enough, so long as you can get immigration in ZA (transit, first time) to stamp on a used page - my Zim visa from last year is a full page, but they put entry and exit stamps onto the visa. You are supposed to have 2 blank pages for entry into ZA, so that would be fine. IME, they generally try to 'fill in the gaps' anyway, and if you ask nicely I would certainly expect them to do so.

[honestly, the ZA immigration guys have never checked for two blank pages in my passport, so the only danger would be SAA checking at VFA ->probably low risk anyway]
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Old Oct 17, 2016, 5:24 pm
  #517  
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
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Posts: 2
Hi folks! First-timer here...similar questions...
Flying JFK-JNB on SAA on Nov 1 arriving 8am on Nov 2, then flying onward JNB-BBK, also on SAA, but via a separate, independent booking.
Our departure from JNB is 11:45am...so theoretically almost 4 hours.
Traveling with a dozen all on same flights, some checking bags, some not.
Some friends have read the "horror stories" and are freaking out and wanting to hire a "guide" to get us thru Immigration (Transit Immigration, as I'm reading thru posts) to our connection flight. Seems this may cost 50-100 USD per person.
Obviously, no one wants to miss safari day 1, and there are no other flights JNB-BBK that day.
Anyone think this is worth our while?


Thanks in advance...
Bob
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Old Oct 18, 2016, 2:28 am
  #518  
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Originally Posted by bobdablob
Hi folks! First-timer here...similar questions...
Flying JFK-JNB on SAA on Nov 1 arriving 8am on Nov 2, then flying onward JNB-BBK, also on SAA, but via a separate, independent booking.
Our departure from JNB is 11:45am...so theoretically almost 4 hours.
Traveling with a dozen all on same flights, some checking bags, some not.
Some friends have read the "horror stories" and are freaking out and wanting to hire a "guide" to get us thru Immigration (Transit Immigration, as I'm reading thru posts) to our connection flight. Seems this may cost 50-100 USD per person.
Obviously, no one wants to miss safari day 1, and there are no other flights JNB-BBK that day.
Anyone think this is worth our while?


Thanks in advance...
Bob
Bob

*If* SAA can thru-check the bags JFK-JNB-BBK, then this is a very very straightforward connection. I think that they should be able to do so, but it might be worth actually checking with SAA staff at JFK, as they are the ones who will have to do it [in other words, getting someone in a callcentre to say they will means nothing when you're standing at checkin at JFK].

Honestly, even if you can't thru-check, 4 hours is an easy connection. Last time I was down (3 weeks ago), immigration was a nightmare, an hour wait, and I still had time to have a shower in the lounge and make an onward (dom) connection with a 2 hour window.

The only way that you'll miss the BBK flight is if your inbound is severely delayed, and if that happens then even the 'guide' won't help.

TL;DR. You'll be fine, but check with SAA at JFK that they will thru-check bags.
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Old Oct 18, 2016, 6:41 am
  #519  
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
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Originally Posted by Stewie Mac
Bob

*If* SAA can thru-check the bags JFK-JNB-BBK, then this is a very very straightforward connection. I think that they should be able to do so, but it might be worth actually checking with SAA staff at JFK, as they are the ones who will have to do it [in other words, getting someone in a callcentre to say they will means nothing when you're standing at checkin at JFK].

Honestly, even if you can't thru-check, 4 hours is an easy connection. Last time I was down (3 weeks ago), immigration was a nightmare, an hour wait, and I still had time to have a shower in the lounge and make an onward (dom) connection with a 2 hour window.

The only way that you'll miss the BBK flight is if your inbound is severely delayed, and if that happens then even the 'guide' won't help.

TL;DR. You'll be fine, but check with SAA at JFK that they will thru-check bags.


Stewie Mac...
Thanks for the quick response and feedback! I will certainly see about getting SAA to check bags all the way thru to BBK.


Bob
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Old Oct 24, 2016, 12:53 pm
  #520  
 
Join Date: Oct 2016
Posts: 2
thanks! the answer is very helpful and crystal clear.
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Old Nov 7, 2016, 10:07 pm
  #521  
 
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QR to IB transfer in JNB without visa

I'm on a RTW ticket that will end with MEL-DOH-JNB in Feb '17. Because SA Embassy refuses to issue me a tourist visa in another country except my home-country (Romania), I'm considering connecting to my other flight JNB-MAD the same day, basically transiting JNB.

I will fly MEL-DOH-JNB on QR (one PNR) landing at 14:35 in JNB and later in the evening fly JNB-MAD on IB departing at 21:10 (different PNR).

The problem is that OneWorld doesn't thru-check luggage anymore, so I have to pickup my luggage in JNB and re-check it for JNB-MAD flight, but without a visa I cannot "enter" SA to pickup said luggage.

I read the wiki where it says to contact incoming airline (QR) and outgoing airline (IB) and arrange for them to pickup and re-check luggage, but I'm interested if anyone actually done this or if there is another way.

Thanks!
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Old Nov 30, 2016, 6:02 pm
  #522  
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 1
Hello. A newbie on board! I will be flying with BA from LHR - JNB. Our small group, will transfer from BA to SA, with a 3 hour window, and then off to Ndola, Zambia (NLA).
Once we land will we go straight to the International connection area? Do we need to grab our luggage first? Is this enough time? Advice would be very appreciated!!
Thank you!
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Old Dec 1, 2016, 4:39 pm
  #523  
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
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Originally Posted by Canada Eh
Hello. A newbie on board! I will be flying with BA from LHR - JNB. Our small group, will transfer from BA to SA, with a 3 hour window, and then off to Ndola, Zambia (NLA).
Once we land will we go straight to the International connection area? Do we need to grab our luggage first? Is this enough time? Advice would be very appreciated!!
Thank you!
Welcome!!
You will need to check with BA if they will interline the bags with SA, if so, then you go straight to International Connections - your luggage will be transferred, BUT, and this is important, if you have a three hour transit time: LOCK YOUR LUGGAGE. Even if you must shrink wrap it.
If interlining is not possible, then you will have to go through Immigration, collect your luggage, then back upstairs to check in. In which case, three hours is sufficient.
Safe trip.
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Old Dec 8, 2016, 8:57 am
  #524  
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
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JNB transfer to AMS

Good day. Begin my mileage run tomorrow ATL/JNB/AMS/ATL - with a 5 hour layover in JNB. Question: Do you have to clear customs and immigration in JNB, and what do you say? Does everyone understand the mileage run concept??!!
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Old Dec 8, 2016, 9:00 am
  #525  
Ambassador: World of Hyatt
 
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Originally Posted by RITZOL
Good day. Begin my mileage run tomorrow ATL/JNB/AMS/ATL - with a 5 hour layover in JNB. Question: Do you have to clear customs and immigration in JNB, and what do you say? Does everyone understand the mileage run concept??!!
If you want to stay airside, then you can - just follow the international connections signs at the airport and noted here in the wiki. No need to say anything, just present your passport to the transit immigration officer...
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