dan1431

I will be connecting LAD (only way I could find award space for three to JNB) in three weeks, is there wireless internet in the TAAG lounge (which I assume that I will have access due to departing F on SAA)?

Dan

Koby

Nobody seems to know, so... here I go.

I cannot remember ever having seen or tried wireless in that lounge. (The reason why I have never tried is that it’s just not the kind of place where you expect wireless Internet... )
But my last visit was in April, so maybe things have changed. I do know that there are 4 desktops with (slow) Internet.

How long is your connection time in LAD? Not too long I hope...?

And good to know: there is a small separate room at the end of the lounge (right hand side) for first class passengers. But I‘m not sure if that’s TAAG first class only, or also SAA. (I know about the room because I got kicked out once, flying Business... )

dan1431

Thanks for the update, however, I was able to grab an award seat on LX N/S to JNB thus avoiding the LAD connection (which was 6 hours btw).

Again, thanks for all the info,
Dan

Koby

Good decision. ^
(I personally wouldn’t like to spend 6 hours at LAD. No restaurants, only one bar, no decent toilets, no way to leave the airport ...)

hjb

Well firstly, I'm not sure if I'm more amazed that my thread is still going or that I've now been based in Angola (and therefore frequenting LAD) for more than a year

Anyway, recognising Dan that you no longer need this information, I'll add to the knowledge in this thread by saying that there is WIFI in the PALL lounge. That lounge is indeed, as someone said above, available to those whose companies have a contract with PALL [which mine does so ironically I didn't need this thread really anyway!] or who pay $20. The business class lounge does not have WIFI.

Also, those that travel here a lot will know that the entire airport is being upgraded, supposedly in time for the Cup of African Nations here in January, although they are fast running out of time there. It is a far more pleasant experience in terms of fewer mosquitos and more organisation goth incoming & outgoing.

Now if they'd just do something about Soyo airport...

hrada2020

I am doing the same layover that was mentioned before heading to jnb. Couple questions, do I need the yellow fever cert. If I am not leaving the airport? Coming from Luanda into jnb will they require yellow fever cert.?
I am flying f from Frankfurt and to jnb so hopefully can use the lounge.
Thanks in advance
Hr

Koby

I departed a few weeks ago from LAD. The airport has now been completely renovated and I wanted to give you an update on the lounge situation (and the airport in general).

Both arrivals and departures are now situated in a new building, adjacent to the old one.

For arrivals, the new immigration is a big improvement on the old one. But the lines are still as slow as before. Biggest changes: the yellow fever certificate is now checked after immigration (not before) and the OilCo contacts are not allowed into the luggage reclaim area anymore. They have to wait outside, after customs.

On departure, you can now go straight to the check-in area. (Previously there was an extra check before getting to the check-in area.) And security is now before rather than after immigration. The somewhat suspect customs check for local (and sometimes US) currency in the separate, closed, office still exists. So basically you still have most of the “waiting in line” time that you had before, and it all still looks as badly organized as before. (I made it from entry to lounge in about 30 minutes, but this was at 6.30am and flying in C.)

For those that don’t have lounge access, the new upstairs waiting area now has 2 bars instead of one.
There still are 2 lounges, both completely new. I have used the Taag lounge only. I guess the other one is still the PALL lounge as mentioned in older posts.

Taag lounge
The new Taag lounge is used at least by TAP, but I guess all *A carriers use it. It’s a lot bigger than the old one, which very nice seating with tables. I especially liked the second area (behind the toilets).
I don’t have the feeling that the drinks and snacks offer has improved a lot. When I entered (at 7am) there was only a basic offer of drinks and some ham or cheese sandwiches and bags of crisps. The coffee machine didn’t work.
I could only find local newspapers / magazines. I think there were some PCs with Internet available (like in the old lounge). New is that I could now find 1 or 2 WIFI networks (paying) but I haven’t tried them.
Overall it’s a nice and spacious lounge where I would not mind spending a few hours. But... there was no running water in the toilets. (Same problem in the toilets outside the lounge.) And they were really abusing the air-conditioning. After 20 minutes I had to leave because I could no longer stand the freezing cold.

In general the new airport building is of course a lot nicer than the old one. But it doesn’t improve the whole LAD airport experience up to the point that I would gladly spend some hours there. It still is a place that should be left as soon as possible...

SurveyHand

Koby - Thanks for the info. I'll be flying out of LAD in a couple of weeks and that's exactly the info I was looking for.

Cheers

Boraxo

Placeholder to update later this month.

ironmanjt

I find what Koby posted 4 years ago was still accurate as of January 2014.

That said, took us well over an hour to get through check-in, security, and passport control in C...because the flights before ours were delayed due to late check-ins, so they wouldn't let us check-in until they'd processed all those people and their tonnes of baggage.

Boraxo

Based on my experience in July 2014, I'd say this review is still largely on target. I arrived on an evening flight, did not experience any delays at immigration, and was out to the curb in 10m. However the yellow fever card was checked before you got in the immigation lineup, so have it ready. The arrivals area is busy but nowhere near as chaotic as LOS and relatively quiet outside the terminal. Clean bathrooms.

For departure you have to go through a ridiculous # of checkpoints. The most anxiety-provoking is the currency checkpoint after you clear the first security checkpoint where you are directed into a small windowless room and asked how much money you have. I replied $400 (true) and was promptly dismissed. To be fair there are large signs outside the rooms that state it is legal to carry $5000 USD outside the country so hopefully nobody is still hassled over smaller amounts. Prior to boarding you will also go through an additional security checkpoint where you are wanded and your carry on bags are searched. But it was all very professional - better than TSA.

The TAAG lounge was nice and spacious. The food is nothing special but no shortage of beverages though you have to request mini liquor bottles from the staff. Wifi (free) was good enough for facetime calls.

Tip: bring insect repellent, the mosquitos were everywhere in the departure area.

angolanexpat

Actually, non residents can export $10,000 in cash and residents can export $15,000. Both can also now take out AOA50,000 (about $500) but you will struggle to change it outside of Lisbon. If you are within this limit just politely tell the fiscal police and refuse to give them any bribe. There are notices from the Ministry of Finance in both English and Portuguese in the check.in area confirming this.

SkyTeam777

Is the carry-on check before boarding for liquids? or simply a cursory search of carry-on bags? For example, can we carry bottles of water onto the plane from the lounge/airport?

groundops

After check-in you pass airport security, then passport control then customs. You can then access one or more lounges if your ticket/status permits. For a long time, airport security was not very strict on LAGs but just recently is becoming stricter.

Certain airlines (most European ones and 5Y) perform secondary screening at boarding and excess LAGs are likely to be confiscated at this stage.

Bear in mind, duty free shops at LAD do not yet have STEBs so if you were to buy a bottle of whiskey (why would you buy alcohol at LAD duty free? - it is not cheap!) or if you take water from lounge, your AOC's security may confiscate at secondary screening.