Heathrow voted worlds worst airport
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: South England
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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!
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!
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: London
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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.
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.
Too mean to buy a long personal title
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 Much of it is desperately outdated and creaking at the seams.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.
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: munich
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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.
