Heathrow voted worlds worst airport

[manintheback]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6087016.stm

Ryanair may have taken the honours for the airline but whilst Heathrow is pretty awful by some standards, I can only assume the voters havent visited such illustrious places as Delhi, Nairobi , La Guardia etc

[BALIX]

Yeah, but at the bottom it states that Ayr is the new 'must visit' holiday destination. :eek:

I think, therefore, we can take the survey as being a bit dodgy...

[Final 3 Greens]

Heathrow has got to rate as being a carbuncle on the posterior of humanity.

The surly and arrogant attitude of many of the security personnel in the London BAA airports is a striking feature and the general appearance is scruffy.

All in all, best avoided if at all possible.

I have to come to the UK next week and will be using LCY in and outbound to avoid the BAA airports.

[SXB]

While Heathrow is pretty bad, and I agree it's best avoided, it certainly isn't the worst airport in the world; I can only conclude that the contributors to that particular survey are not that well travelled.

RYR,also, isn't the worst airline. I don't like them but I've been on far worse. Airlines that spring to mind (restricting to Europe) include Air Zina (Georgian Airlines), JAT, Ukraine International, Montenegro Airlines and Armravia. To name just a few....My comments on airlines refer just to the quality of their customer services and the on board experience.

[PaperTiger]

While Heathrow is pretty bad, and I agree it's best avoided, it certainly isn't the worst airport in the world; I can only conclude that the contributors to that particular survey are not that well travelled.That may be true, but these surveys typically provide a list of airports and airlines for the respondents to rank. No write-ins. So LHR was rated worst airport of those in the list, ditto RYR.

A nuance obviously wasted on the Beeb.

[Phileas Fogg]

Ryanair is pretty bad but, unluss you're stupid enough to pay circa EUR150 far a late booking, you get what you pay for. Of regular airlines BA are p1ss poor, Lufthansa little better, KLM getting there and Air France, well let us not even go there :)

Of airports, regional airports are wonderful things, easy parking and little congestion but the worst airport I have ever had the displeasure of is Zaporozhye in Ukraine, the domestic terminal is a corrugated tin shack, with a 'cattle trodden' concrete floor, the air conditioning is the gaps in the iron and when it's minus 20 outside it's minus 20 inside also. I'll never complain about Heathrow again but I will do my utmost to avoid it :)

And guess who has a base ar Ayr International Airport a.k.a. Prestwick, yep you've got it, let us slang of Ryanair in one instance but, hey, Ayr/Prestwick is the place to travel to.

[Flying_Frisbee]

Not often I'd stick up for Ryanair, but having flown with them more times than I'd like to admit, delayed flights are not normally something they're guilty of. I've only had 2 substantial delays with them, both caused by bad weather.

[Bangkokeasy]

I don't know how you can compare the awards to LHR and FR. One is a shambles of an outfit that profits obscenely from "facilitating" the travel of millions of SLF a year, under appalling conditions, while cutting costs to a bare minimum and paying their staff peanuts, while the other is a low cost airline.

I have said it before, there is no excuse for the shambles that is LHR. It is a national disgrace.

[Gouabafla]

Ryanair may have taken the honours for the airline but whilst Heathrow is pretty awful by some standards, I can only assume the voters havent visited such illustrious places as Delhi, Nairobi , La Guardia etc

Frighteningly, I reckon that Nairobi is one of the best airports in Sub-Saharan Africa!

There is an article in today's Torygraph (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/foreign/davidblair/oct06/africanairtravel.htm) which gives a pretty good picture of travel in Africa. LHR is pretty awful, but there are FAR worse airports out there.

[Smiliesam]

I hate LHR with a vengeance and will do almost anything to avoid flying from there.
I also have no love for Washington The Virgin Lounge there is abysmal
However, my day lightened somewhat when I saw that the portable loos for the cast amounts of construction work taking place there, were called 'Don's Johns' !
But I recently went to Vancouver and had a happy suprise. Apart from the immigration queue which was hosting the SLFs from the Shanghai flight before mine, and seemingly the one before that, it was a wondrous place. Wide open and airy. Such a nice change.:)

[PaperTiger]

But I recently went to Vancouver and had a happy suprise. Apart from the immigration queue which was hosting the SLFs from the Shanghai flight before mine, and seemingly the one before that, it was a wondrous place. Wide open and airy. Such a nice change.:)You're welcome; my many contributions to the AIF helped to make it open and airy :hmm: . Seriously, it is one of the best terminals around.

The schedules have been cunningly contrived to ensure that all the Asian and European widebodies arrive at more or less the same time necessitating a huge immigration hall which is otherwise practically empty 20 hours a day.

[spiney]

Agree that anyone who thinks LHR is the worst airport in the world hasn't seen too many in Africa, Russia, India etc... What LHR is though is a 1960's airport, which has been built around passenger numbers unimaginable at that time, has been modified and expanded in everywhich direction. It has been squeezed by the people who are unfortunate enough to live next to the airport and it can't be relocated because of the power that Joe Public has over new developments... It's no different than many American Airports; JFK, LAX, ORD build at that time and suffering the same fates. If you look at the airports which would be rated amongst the best in the world - they're typically less than 25 years old and/or have started in green-field sites.... but I guess LHR was a green field site - in 1946.

Just wish people would stop kicking the old girl...

[Final 3 Greens]

Spiney

Having done a comparative study of LHR and LAX for a major airline, I would like to say that they are not comparable in terms of real estate.

LAX is much larger.

And I will keep kicking Heathrow, its a rubbish airport that fails to deliver a good customer experience and it needs to change.

At the moment, it is a great example of the famous British art of compromise, that does not deliver a complete solution, only partial satisfaction. And that is not good enough.

Austin 7s were good in the 1950s too.

[flybywire]

While Heathrow is pretty bad, and I agree it's best avoided, it certainly isn't the worst airport in the world; I can only conclude that the contributors to that particular survey are not that well travelled.

I agree SXB, like in all surveys you can only get an idea of what that specific portion of travellers think. I Never even heard of TripAdvisor, if I had I would have probably casted my vote. So surveys like that only give us an idea of what a certain category of flyers like or not.

I really hate LHR, T4 isn't that bad but oh my, T1,2&3 get my vote for worst airport I've ever been to. I had far better experiences in Africa (although never been to Lagos) remote American towns and even the annoying, displeasing SHOREHAM (brighton city) AIRPORT (aka the Shoreham strip) :rolleyes: has given me less hassle.

I hated the queues in some middle eastern airports (Damascus anyone?) but people are usually much nicer and have better attitudes than most BAA security agents at LHR (F3G I so empathise with you).
I will never forget some police officers' smiles at the visa issuing office in Amman - have you ever seen an immigration officer smile at you at LHR?

By the way, it hurts me to say it but LGW is going down that road too unfortunately, although there's still a sense of humanity there - it really :mad: me off when they clearly see I am pregnant and they hand-search me anyway: if they had told me in advance I would have avoided going through the metal detector in the first place!!!:mad: :ugh: This thank god hasn't happened at LGW just yet.

While I agree with LHR being the worst, some Italian airports should have been included in the top worst airports ever, I would have put NAP at number two and FCO at number three. Believe an Italian!!!!

FBW;)

[flybywire]

I don't know how you can compare the awards to LHR and FR. One is a shambles of an outfit that profits obscenely from "facilitating" the travel of millions of SLF a year, under appalling conditions, while cutting costs to a bare minimum and paying their staff peanuts, while the other is a low cost airline.

Hahahahahahaha!!! You've made my (otherwise dull) day!! :D :ok: ;)

[apaddyinuk]

As much as I hate LHR I think I dislike Dublin Most of all....but then it is the homebase of Ryanair so there you have it!

[Blues&twos]

.... and even the annoying, displeasing SHOREHAM (brighton city) AIRPORT (aka the Shoreham strip) :rolleyes: has given me less hassle.


FBW;)

Just curious, FBW about what you didn't like about Shoreham. Always found it a reasonably pleasant experience as pax (free car parking helps!), apart from one rather stroppy check in woman....maybe it's a different story if you're a pilot.

B&t

[Final 3 Greens]

Can't speak for FBW, but I always found Shoreham a lovely place to visit in a light aircraft.

I have especially fond memories, as I did a leg of my qualifying cross country to/from there in 1994.

03/21 was a narrow runway and you always felt high on approach, due to the optical illlusions it caused.

Nice art deco feel to the whole place.

[flybywire]

Sorry my experience is the opposite...it used to be good but now that they think they're as big and important as Gatwick it isn't as good anymore.
Try to buy fuel from them.......I won't even go there.:mad:

Anyway, we have a dispute still going on with them, god knows when that will be resolved.

That's it, personal experience, nothing more! I now know that Lydd is a much more pleasant alternative, people are so pleasant, and the landing fees are a third of EGKA. Sorry for the diversion from the original thread!! :oh:

[Final 3 Greens]

FBW

Sorry to hear of your bad experience.

It is a few years since I last visited in my Pup, things must have gone downhill :ouch:

Lydd was always good to visit, nice lunch there.

[striparella]

I think people set their expectations too high with LHR.

They must think wow one of the busiest airports in the world, in one of the best cities in the world, it must be fabulous!

No-one thinks such things of Lagos airport, which is FAR worse!

[419]

I've been travelling between Lagos and Heathrow for the past 10 years.
When I first started, Lagos was indeed a nightmare to pass through, with corrupt immigration and customs officials.
On my last trip a few weeks ago, I was off the aircraft, through immigration within 20 minutes (even from the back of the aircraft), and I had my case in my hand 10 minutes after that, despite the baggage trolly being powered by local staff pulling it from the aircraft to the arrivals area.

My last arrival at heathrow was through T2.
A queue of what must have been 200 people with EU passports, all trying to get through 2 immigration desks, whilst there were at least 20 desks for non EU passport holders.
Then a 30 minute wait for the bags to start arriving.

Heathrow is a national disgrace, but how it came out worse than CDG is beyond me.

[Globaliser]

They must think wow one of the busiest airports in the world, in one of the best cities in the world, it must be fabulous!I think that there's something else at work, too - a matter of pure perception: Heathrow is the worst airport in the world, if you ignore all its advantages.

Yes, it's busy, crowded and inefficient. Much of it is desperately outdated and creaking at the seams. Most of it works only because of daily compromises and ingenuity.

But look at what you get with it. Foremost, an almost-unrivalled range of destinations around the world served by non-stop or direct flights. On most routes, a choice of airlines that can't be bettered for any comparable route from any other airport. And frequencies and therefore flexibility to die for. (A personally-important example: LHR-HKG, 5 airlines, 10 non-stop flights a day.)

Yes, if you ignore all of that and concentrate only on the standard of the facilities, LHR will be a long way down the list. But we shouldn't ignore the things that are good about it.

[praa]

It's pretty easy to slag off an airport like Heathrow that is familiar to most of the people taking part in the survey. But I have to admit that I find it a fascinating place though I'd think twice about changing planes there again. It is chaotic and anything but well planned. Despite all that, it has an unrivalled number of connections, countless food outlets for every taste, bars, shops and lots to take one's mind off yet another delayed flight. I had the misfortune to have to hang around the international terminal at LA for three hours waiting for a flight. There was one tiny bar in the whole airside departure area. I'd rather be at Heathrow than in such a dreary wasteland. At least it's making an effort for its customers even if it's very far from being perfect.