After a luxurious night that included five hours of omakase-style gastronomy in Air Algerie’s A330neo business class over the Atlantic, I connected on the airline from Algiers (ALG) to Tunis (TUN). Well, I sort of connected on the airline, given the wet lease roulette the airline subjects its passengers to (or maybe blesses them with, given that getting to avoid Air Algerie seems like a prize?).
I thought I would be on Bulgaria’s Fly2Sky, but I actually ended up on Lithuania’s Avion Express. I digress, that’s not actually what this post is about. Instead, it’s about the incredibly bizarre jet bridge situation I encountered at the airport, which was unlike anything I’ve witnessed.
There were three document checks on the jet bridge!
During my layover, I got to briefly check out the Air Algerie Lounge at the carrier’s hub, which was actually reasonably nice, at least compared to my exceptionally low expectations.
I mean, it felt a bit like a furniture store — let’s call it a 2026 version of Flea Market Montgomery. Or Flea Market Algiers. Take your pick.
My Air Algerie flight was scheduled to depart at 7:10AM, with my boarding pass suggesting boarding would start at 5:40AM, a full 90 minutes before departure. I mean, why not have passengers show up the night before, while you’re at it?
Okay, that actually has nothing to do with the story, but the thing about Air Algerie is that nothing actually makes sense, so it’s hard to not throw in these tidbits. Anyway…
When boarding did finally start, the gate agent scanned my boarding pass and checked my passport, as usual. Just inside the door to the jet bridge was an Algerian police officer who was also checking everyone’s passport and boarding pass again.
Okay, fair enough, I’ve seen that at several airports, so that wasn’t at all unusual. However, 10 feet past him was another police officer, and she then checked all the same passports and boarding passes again.
And then at the very end of the jet bridge, there was a third police officer checking again. Like I said, I’ve seen one document check before, but three, all from the police?! I should also mention that this wasn’t just a quick glance, but each police officer carefully scanned the details on both documents.
I didn’t get the sense that this was a situation where they were looking for someone in particular, but instead, it just gave the vibe of “government workers performing tasks to justify their jobs.” Like, does anyone not find that to be insanely excessive? And by the way, if they were looking for someone in particular, you’d hope it wouldn’t take three police officers separately, carefully studying each passenger’s details.
Smoking on the jet bridge is apparently fine, though!
Here’s the funniest part of this story to me. Minutes before boarding started, the police officers were already on the jet bridge, as was one of the gate agents. All of a sudden, there was a noticeable smoke smell in the area. I wondered where that was coming from.
Well, the gate agent was standing just past the door to the jet bridge, and through the little “porthole” style window they have, I saw him smoking a cigarette. We’ll of course forget the announcement on the flight about how smoking outside of designated areas is strictly prohibited. Or perhaps the jet bridge is in fact one of those designated areas?
You’ve really gotta love places like Algeria. “Hey, safety is very important, make sure that each passenger’s boarding pass and passport are carefully inspected four different times within a minute.” “Oh, also, rules don’t matter, feel free to smoke.”
Bottom line
I’ve certainly had police or military do document checks on jet bridges, prior to boarding a flight. I’ve even had onboard air marshals inspect my bags in the jet bridge. But I’ve never had my passport and boarding pass checked by three different police officers on the same jet bridge.
I’m happy that there’s seemingly such a commitment to safety and rules that they don’t want anything to slip through the cracks. It might just be nice if they didn’t actively ignore smoking on the jet bridge at the same time. But hey, what do I know?
Is this just the standard operating procedure at Algiers Airport, or were they just overstaffed this morning, and looking for tasks?
I recently flew from DOH to the US on Qatar in business. There were 5 different document checks at the gate from getting into line to the secondary screening area that all passengers go through to the holding pen to boarding the aircraft. I told one agent how annoying that was and he just shrugged.
Exactly my experience. Air France business ALG to CDG 07/2025. Glad you enjoyed the lounge
It feels like you're *trying* to get banned from Air Algerie and ALG so you have a built in excuse to never fly this airline or fly through ALG ever again... ;)
My wife and I visited Algeria on a cruise last winter. A panel of four officials came on board to review our passports and to lay eyes on us. They were courteous and professionally dressed in civilian clothing. We were escorted by a police vehicle on our drives into Algiers and Annaba, and by a couple officers of foot during tours. They were professional and pleasant. The tour guide spoke at length how Algeria is...
My wife and I visited Algeria on a cruise last winter. A panel of four officials came on board to review our passports and to lay eyes on us. They were courteous and professionally dressed in civilian clothing. We were escorted by a police vehicle on our drives into Algiers and Annaba, and by a couple officers of foot during tours. They were professional and pleasant. The tour guide spoke at length how Algeria is trying to recover from its 1990s civil war and the more recent Arab Spring, closing Madrassas as educational institutions while keeping them as cultural centers, and upgrading elementary and secondary education including a requirement for three languages (Arabic, French and English). I think the security overkill is part of an effort to prevent the re-emergence of violence, and to assure visitors and citizens that they are safe and the country is indeed advancing. Yes, it seems heavy-handed to us, but I'd cut them some slack while watching how things progress. Not so much slack for Air Algeria.
"omakase-style gastronomy in" Huh, that felt a wee bit sarcastic... *cough*
That was my first impression on seeing the pic of the lounge, looks like a furniture store.
When an airline is implementing things so poorly you have to wonder how adept they are at maintaining the aircraft.
Sounds like my two years in Baghdad.
But that's just to get onto the airport grounds to go to work.
They don't want any misunderstandings that you might have had at CAI ;-)