Arriving at the airport you go into one large, very beige sticky room and sort of form your own lines with everybody who was on that plane and the lit white booth you go into doesn't even have security cameras. Through the doors there is a large, sticky stuffy room with three turn tables. The bathrooms are disgusting and the parking lot outside is make-shift and lined with 40 different tour busses. If you are going to Cuba without a tour group - don't. You will get lost or mugged, I promise. There is no signage whatsoever, the only thing telling you where your luggage is is where all the other people have gathered around. There was another plane that pulled in and their luggage was spinning around the table, and they had not even entered the airport. It would have been easy to steal luggage, or create mischief if one really wanted to. There is very little security passing through the airport, and like the rest of Cuba, there were more than a few stray dogs. Upon departure there is another large sticky beige room smaller than the arrivals area. There were two planes departing (including mine) and the place was jam packed with people, barely able to move. All of us ended up in the wrong line because there was only one line that winded through the whole place. Once our bags were checked, and sent through the very questionable looking conveyor belt, the group of us (spring breakers) ended up sitting in a back hallway because apparently being early isn't a good thing. Once we waited nearly an hour, we made our way through security which was another strange white booth to walk through and only two security walk-throughs for the entire airport. There were two jam packed lines in a space not nearly big enough to hold all the people. The white doors flung open, hitting people in line and walking through the screen and having your luggage scanned made me feel very uneasy. Like if somebody really wanted to sneak something on, it wouldn't have been very hard at all. The departures 'lounge' is a long room with seats and booths and knick knack shoppes everywhere. It was loud and the screens displaying the flights were very few. I think there was only three in the whole airport. The gates kept changing and the place was full of people. It felt very unsafe and uneasy. Like I said, if somebody really wanted to sneak something onto a plane (drugs or bombs or whatever) it wouldn't be hard at all. The airport felt extremely third world and dated. But all of Cuba is dated, so I don't think people expect a high tech airport.

Like most things in Cuba it is well past its sell by date. There is one big departure lounge and if there is more than one aircraft departing at a particular time the place is quite packed. Also services are limited and expensive, just like every other airport. The airconditioning can't handle the load, and it gets stuffy but at least now they seem to be enforcing the smoking area rules. Security is hit and miss. On our last trip in November 2009 there seemed to be a problem with the jetways they were only using one and we had to take a bus from the plane on arrival and walk across the tarmac to the plane on departure.

************* Seriously, the best hot-dogs in the WORLD! Truly delicious!