Afghanistan Flight To Kabul

So you are taking your first Afghanistan flight. Flying in and out of Kabul Airport is fairly routine. Here are a few tips that might help with your entry and departure at Kabul.

When entering Kabul Airport, there are no concourses so you will depart your flight on stairs and then get bussed to the terminal. Once you are in the terminal, you will go through passport control. This will take about 30-45 minutes.

A big word of caution. Here you will want to be careful because some of the Afghani Police will target Americans coming in on an Afghanistan flight. They will come up to you and tell you to give them your passport and show you a place to sit down. Do not give your passport to the Afghani police. Just say "no, thank you," and keep moving.

Decline this service. Really. Do Not Do It. Number one, you do not know what will really happen to your passport. Number two, they want money. It seems everyone in the whole country wants to be paid by Americans.

As you go through the various stages, people will be there to offer to help carry your bags. They just want your money! Avoid all help. Because the terminal is divided by sections, you will find one guy will move your bags twenty feet or less but want a $10 tip. Then the next guy will move your bags and they will want a tip. These are not regular airport workers. However, airport workers will not do anything for you but they will ask for money. I am not joking.

When departing on an Afghanistan flight, it is the same way. Always someone somewhere wanting to help, but wanting a big tip. If you have a lot of baggage it might be good for you, but otherwise I would stay away from them. Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, is a little different--the attendants are employees of the airport but they work for tips. They will take your luggage from the baggage carrousel and take it with you all the way to your cab. They are much nicer than the "help" you will find at Kabul Airport.

The two photos below are of Afghani workers at our base shoveling sewage out of the ditch. Note that they are in their bare feet, standing in raw sewage. It does not bother them at all. No complaints, just earning a living for their family.

We are in the mountains so the scenery is a little nicer here than in sandy Iraq.

Return from Afghanistan Flight to Location Afghanistan