Best and Worst Airport
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Best and Worst Airport
We had the best and worst Airline and best and worst hotels so how about the best and wort Airport in terms of passenger friendliness and amenities. Lets make it Large Airport and small Airport.
Dubai is my best large pick and Lagos my worst pick. Heathrow is my least favourite large airport, and I'd do my utmost to avoid Kano. In Fact if someone wants to bomb that $?#^!(?% place, they will have my undying gratitude.
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Wake me up when we get there
Dubai is my best large pick and Lagos my worst pick. Heathrow is my least favourite large airport, and I'd do my utmost to avoid Kano. In Fact if someone wants to bomb that $?#^!(?% place, they will have my undying gratitude.
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Wake me up when we get there
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Best large
Kuala Lumpur's new International Airport. Lots of space and as yet few pax. Great showers for a brief stopover from Oz!
Worst large
JFK. Main international arrivals hall was a cattle market. Much better if you're in one of the other termini. "STAND BEHIND THE YELLOW LINE!!! NOT IN FRONT OF THE LINE OR ON THE LINE, BEHIND THE LINE!!!" So polite in immigration!
(typos)
Kuala Lumpur's new International Airport. Lots of space and as yet few pax. Great showers for a brief stopover from Oz!
Worst large
JFK. Main international arrivals hall was a cattle market. Much better if you're in one of the other termini. "STAND BEHIND THE YELLOW LINE!!! NOT IN FRONT OF THE LINE OR ON THE LINE, BEHIND THE LINE!!!" So polite in immigration!
(typos)
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Worst small (admitedly as at a couple of years ago, don't know if it's any better now): Lyon during the skiing season - sort of a corrugated iron shack, packed out with people, no shops to speak of, nowhere to get anything to eat and horrible loos.
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Large - definitely LGW is the worst - seriously in need of yet more building expansion, 
although I avoid JFK as a US gateway (much prefer BOS or PHL). DXB is pretty good, although I've not been there since they opened the new terminal - hope thay don't hide the bar as well as they used to in the old one! 
Small - Real glad they've built a new Dammam/Dahran airport - haven't been there yet but the old one was The Pitz! - LCA is a loverly stopover on the way to/from UK and CY is a pleasant airline that really does try to please (even if they sometimes fail dismally!) and I sometimes end up spending a couple of days in Limassol on the way through. 
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---- "Per Ardua ad Mixas" ----
(Through hardship to the bars)
although I avoid JFK as a US gateway (much prefer BOS or PHL). DXB is pretty good, although I've not been there since they opened the new terminal - hope thay don't hide the bar as well as they used to in the old one! Small - Real glad they've built a new Dammam/Dahran airport - haven't been there yet but the old one was The Pitz!
- LCA is a loverly stopover on the way to/from UK and CY is a pleasant airline that really does try to please (even if they sometimes fail dismally!) and I sometimes end up spending a couple of days in Limassol on the way through. ------------------
---- "Per Ardua ad Mixas" ----
(Through hardship to the bars)
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I hate all US gateways only because of the friendly immigration. Welcome in the freedom country they say , JFK being the worst.
I like DXB (hope to win that Porsche one day), SIN (but not really these smoking rooms), AMS (just perfect), JNB (much more friendly that the city itself) and KIX (impressive airport). My favorite vacation airport is BOB in tahiti, an island by itself, with the boat shuttle across the blue lagoon!
, JFK being the worst.I like DXB (hope to win that Porsche one day), SIN (but not really these smoking rooms), AMS (just perfect), JNB (much more friendly that the city itself) and KIX (impressive airport). My favorite vacation airport is BOB in tahiti, an island by itself, with the boat shuttle across the blue lagoon!
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Was disapointed with Seattle/Tacoma, it certainly needs money spent on it as it is by no means a direct route from the aircraft
Immigration, slow baggage delivery, customs, transit train then another baggage reclaim.
Leaving again tedious navigating the airport to the South satellite for BA flight.
Security check, transit train. A full 747s
economy cabin passengers held in a ridiculously samll area whilst First and Club were boarded.
The whole airport looks like it's been left since the late 1960s. Compared to the rest of the city's public transport system it's a let down.
Immigration, slow baggage delivery, customs, transit train then another baggage reclaim.
Leaving again tedious navigating the airport to the South satellite for BA flight.
Security check, transit train. A full 747s
economy cabin passengers held in a ridiculously samll area whilst First and Club were boarded.
The whole airport looks like it's been left since the late 1960s. Compared to the rest of the city's public transport system it's a let down.
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Another Airport which I would be grateful to be razed to the ground is AUH. It's a bloody awful mess. To cramped and if you are in transfer and want to use the Business Lounge, you have a bloody awful trek back through Security to get there. The "Improvements" now on-going look as if they will make thing worse.
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Thought Newark was pretty cr@p, until I discovered Miami!
They lull you into a false sense of security with free baggage trollies, then as soon as you’ve passed through Customs, a set of bollards stop you going any further. A “helpful” line of porters will assist you down two flights to the cab rank…
SIN always seems a haven of peace and tranquillity, and the showers there and in BKK lounges always go down well.
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29A please!
They lull you into a false sense of security with free baggage trollies, then as soon as you’ve passed through Customs, a set of bollards stop you going any further. A “helpful” line of porters will assist you down two flights to the cab rank…
SIN always seems a haven of peace and tranquillity, and the showers there and in BKK lounges always go down well.
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29A please!
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Worst- ATL. Arrived Monday 18:00 local, connection departs 18:45. Connection is 4 concourses away. Didn't know it was a long weekend in USA- I mean, really, a public holiday in February? To summarize: ATL == UGH.
Favourite: CYTZ. It's downtown, 10min walk from everything. I'll admit I'm biased- got my PPL there.
Favourite: CYTZ. It's downtown, 10min walk from everything. I'll admit I'm biased- got my PPL there.
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If it was domestic and you got your skates on in normal circumstances you *should* have been able to make it in 45 minutes using the train - even four of those "strung out" concourses in a row. February holiday weekend? Oh yeah, President's Day. However, it's one of those bank/post office/government holidays - us ordinary folks don't get the day off. 
Did the connecting flight know that you were on your way? This is an example from a *long* time ago (1979) - but when moving to Florida my mom and I flew to TPA via DFW. The 747 was four hours (!) late leaving HNL, but we had at least a couple of hours to wait at DFW. Got a tailwind in to DFW and made up some of the time. Luckily (or by design? can't imagine they'd do this for just two passengers) the 747 pulled in to the gate next to the one where our flight for TPA was *at that minute* scheduled to leave. An agent met us at the gate, escorted us "next door" and they almost literally shut the door after us!
When they built DFW in the mid-seventies (lived in Dallas before moving to Hawaii) those monorail people mover things were relatively new. My mom and I "got stuck" on the "trains" before they worked the bugs out of the system.
Will admit to liking MCO. Worked on the audit of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) when I was a *very* junior staff accountant. The A-side parking garage had just been built! (Asked fixed asset accountant how she arrived at $20 million for the A-side parking garage. Answer: "Two garages, $40 million. [points] A-side garage, $20 million.")
Back then the airport was simplicity itself - logical and easy to get around in. Airsides A and B branching off from one central terminal. Ticketing and departing flights on top level, baggage claim and arriving passengers pick up below that, ground transportation below that, and below that the tunnels to the parking garages. Now there are *two* sides to the ground transportation level, and between the taxi areas, the shuttle areas and whatever the heck they're doing with the rental (hire) cars this week, it is no longer so simple.
Hasn't been the same since the addition of C concourse (very posh international airside), the hotel and that second terminal lobby.
Add the addition of the South exit (badly needed, I know) and the demise of the big two-story (that's first floor to those of you on the right side of the pond) high arrival and departure boards in the lobbies, it is slipping fast.
Still love the "GOAA Critters" (or was it creatures? actually their official name!), the amusing animal sculptures near the parking garage elevators. When working on the audit, it was how I remembered where I was parked - "Okay, I'm on cattle level today."
Hate DTW - walk, walk, walk, walk, WALK! Always a minimum quarter-mile hike when making a connection. Ugly place.
Does anyone know if they've removed the lovely lime green 70s decor in one of the LGW airsides? Woke me right up after an overnight flight from MCO in the early 1990s!
[This message has been edited by pax domina (edited 09 November 2000).]
Did the connecting flight know that you were on your way? This is an example from a *long* time ago (1979) - but when moving to Florida my mom and I flew to TPA via DFW. The 747 was four hours (!) late leaving HNL, but we had at least a couple of hours to wait at DFW. Got a tailwind in to DFW and made up some of the time. Luckily (or by design? can't imagine they'd do this for just two passengers) the 747 pulled in to the gate next to the one where our flight for TPA was *at that minute* scheduled to leave. An agent met us at the gate, escorted us "next door" and they almost literally shut the door after us!
When they built DFW in the mid-seventies (lived in Dallas before moving to Hawaii) those monorail people mover things were relatively new. My mom and I "got stuck" on the "trains" before they worked the bugs out of the system.
Will admit to liking MCO.
Worked on the audit of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority (GOAA) when I was a *very* junior staff accountant. The A-side parking garage had just been built! (Asked fixed asset accountant how she arrived at $20 million for the A-side parking garage. Answer: "Two garages, $40 million. [points] A-side garage, $20 million.")Back then the airport was simplicity itself - logical and easy to get around in. Airsides A and B branching off from one central terminal. Ticketing and departing flights on top level, baggage claim and arriving passengers pick up below that, ground transportation below that, and below that the tunnels to the parking garages. Now there are *two* sides to the ground transportation level, and between the taxi areas, the shuttle areas and whatever the heck they're doing with the rental (hire) cars this week, it is no longer so simple.
Hasn't been the same since the addition of C concourse (very posh international airside), the hotel and that second terminal lobby.
Add the addition of the South exit (badly needed, I know) and the demise of the big two-story (that's first floor to those of you on the right side of the pond) high arrival and departure boards in the lobbies, it is slipping fast.
Still love the "GOAA Critters" (or was it creatures? actually their official name!), the amusing animal sculptures near the parking garage elevators. When working on the audit, it was how I remembered where I was parked - "Okay, I'm on cattle level today."
Hate DTW - walk, walk, walk, walk, WALK! Always a minimum quarter-mile hike when making a connection. Ugly place.
Does anyone know if they've removed the lovely lime green 70s decor in one of the LGW airsides? Woke me right up after an overnight flight from MCO in the early 1990s!
[This message has been edited by pax domina (edited 09 November 2000).]
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Retrieved from a suggestions box at Heathrow in the late 60s: "As I slide down the bannister of life I shall always remember Heathrow as a splinter in my ar$e".
Worst airport? It just has to be Geneva in the skiing season.
Best airport? The one nearest home when I land after a long business trip away!
Worst airport? It just has to be Geneva in the skiing season.
Best airport? The one nearest home when I land after a long business trip away!
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Best Airport? ARN - not too big, and friendly. I like PVD too.
Worst - nothing beats LEH in India. Fly there in winter to find out! No heating in the terminal with the terminal with the outside temperature at -15 degrees Celsius. You get no information on flight arrival/departure, flight are never on time; the loos are so bad, I have even seen stray dogs turn away in fear. The security is so tight that you feel violated by the time you are in your seat in the aircraft after being physically groped about 5 times. And last but not least, you wait in the cold outside as you are not allowed into the terminal unless your flight has arrived (as part of the security)!
Worst - nothing beats LEH in India. Fly there in winter to find out! No heating in the terminal with the terminal with the outside temperature at -15 degrees Celsius. You get no information on flight arrival/departure, flight are never on time; the loos are so bad, I have even seen stray dogs turn away in fear. The security is so tight that you feel violated by the time you are in your seat in the aircraft after being physically groped about 5 times. And last but not least, you wait in the cold outside as you are not allowed into the terminal unless your flight has arrived (as part of the security)!
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Worst: Has to be the shed that passes for an airport in Zakynthos. I shared the check-in experience in August with 10 other charter flights, all delayed with only two check-in desks.(yes, for all flights!) Forced to queue in the midday sun outside the terminal. Not good. Also agree that GVA is appalling in the ski season, as is the "tent" at LYS. ORD is too big, SFO needs to be completed and immigration at JFK is hardly welcoming. LHR is so run down in places I'm embarrassed to think this is the first thing people see when entering the UK.
Good: MAN, as it's home, small and pretty well maintained. Though I am biased, as that’s where I made my first flights – pax and pilot!
Good: MAN, as it's home, small and pretty well maintained. Though I am biased, as that’s where I made my first flights – pax and pilot!
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T2 Manchester - YUK!.
Scenario: Your LGW-TFS-MAN lands at 1830 T2, your last BA flight MAN-LGW departs 1930 T3
Your mission should you choose to accept it - to make your connecting flight!
Ones task is to chock, disembark pax, leave aircraft, get through security door on jetty, walk through arrivals corridor - travelator not working - what a suprise.
Then it's down through customs into arrivals, up those escalators - working thankfully, past the radisson, through, the rail station, oh what a suprise - travelator not working!. (pant, pant! trolley bag wheels emitting smoke, my four ladies trying hard to stay on their hostie heels).
Through into T1 down the escalators through the shops, up another escalator (usually working), barge way through shellsuited AIH family, turn left and they're into the final straight, it's Purser followed by bedraggled Assistant Purser, followed by the other three dollies with wheels on fire, into Eurohub, up to ticket desk (fighting for breath - portable 02 please!). And finally crossing the line down the jetty and onto the BA Shuttle.
In Manchester Airport nobody can hear you scream!! (mainly because you've got no breath left in your lungs to do it in the first place!)
Scenario: Your LGW-TFS-MAN lands at 1830 T2, your last BA flight MAN-LGW departs 1930 T3
Your mission should you choose to accept it - to make your connecting flight!
Ones task is to chock, disembark pax, leave aircraft, get through security door on jetty, walk through arrivals corridor - travelator not working - what a suprise.
Then it's down through customs into arrivals, up those escalators - working thankfully, past the radisson, through, the rail station, oh what a suprise - travelator not working!. (pant, pant! trolley bag wheels emitting smoke, my four ladies trying hard to stay on their hostie heels).
Through into T1 down the escalators through the shops, up another escalator (usually working), barge way through shellsuited AIH family, turn left and they're into the final straight, it's Purser followed by bedraggled Assistant Purser, followed by the other three dollies with wheels on fire, into Eurohub, up to ticket desk (fighting for breath - portable 02 please!). And finally crossing the line down the jetty and onto the BA Shuttle.
In Manchester Airport nobody can hear you scream!! (mainly because you've got no breath left in your lungs to do it in the first place!)
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having read all of your replies, I have one question to you all. Have none of you been through YVR in the last two years. Wow.
As for my picks, I will only list the ones I have had the pleasure of having to overnight in from best to worst.
LAX -ASA Terminal (behind desk 28)
CPH-International side
AMS-ok
KUL -New Terminal (nice but too bright)
YOW-nowhere soft
CDG- to cold
CAI -too many gaurds
As for my picks, I will only list the ones I have had the pleasure of having to overnight in from best to worst.
LAX -ASA Terminal (behind desk 28)
CPH-International side
AMS-ok
KUL -New Terminal (nice but too bright)
YOW-nowhere soft
CDG- to cold
CAI -too many gaurds