Airports that Suck !!

Miami is really pissing me off right now .. it was Cayman Airways that cancelled 2 flights in one day but it is MIA that sucks massively and has made my delay super boring .. i guess I could have gone to Coral Gables or somewhere .. but i would rather sit in the depature shithole lounge and complain today.

But it gave me an idea for an amusing thread, which airports do you hate most and why .. I used to hate Hong Kong the most .. but they don't use that airport anymore i don't think.

Note to anyone coming to the caribbean .. if you can go direct or don't go through Miami .. there has to always be a better option !

Im currently in MIA (in a business lounge, so it's a little better) and it's soso. Very busy, disorganized, etc. But the king of all bad airports, uncontested, they had to make a special crown just to fit its big disaster area, is definitely Heathrow. I cant believe they havent already fired everyone with some form of authority there. The T5 meltdown is just the latest in a long string of blunders that goes back for years.

It's like a national disgrace. It's as if some people there had meetings just to figure out how they could make that airport the worst ever

Cor

ps: does it show I dont like Heathrow?

Salon.com's Ask the Pilot column did a couple features on this. First, the author's column, then reader submissions:

http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2007/0...askthepilot233/

http://www.salon.com/tech/col/smith/2007/0...askthepilot236/

Mike

The Port Morsby, PNG airport has to be the SMELLIEST, least hygienic airport I have ever flown through (and I travel frequently). The waiting area to fly out of PNG is OK, but some of the waiting areas to fly to other destinations within PNG smell like nothing less than a urinal. Although I would prefer a cleaner venue, my take on this was that this was all part of the adventure. After all, would PNG be PNG if the airports were Swiss or Singapore pristine???

I think it's easy to name some kind of third world country as the worst you've ever been. I once sat in the Solomon islands Airport for 8 hours. Let me tell you.. that was not fun. Chairs? No. Food..uhm..I guess. Toilet...well...maybe. But when you go to a place like that, your expectations are already lower. Maybe I should lower my expectations of Heathrow to that of a third world country.

If only every airport could be like Changi.

Cor

Ok I havent used anything but Terminal 4 at Heathrow .. and I have seen the stuff on the news recently (over last year) ... but I have never found Heathrow to be that bad .. maybe it is orientated to please brits ?

I like the seats .. i like the food places .. i like the shops (lots of shops) toilets are clean ... security isn't a pain like her in the US ..(or wasn't) ... this could actually be an interesting thread ... so far no one has brought airline faults into it .. well apart from T5 !! ... my day here in Mia was made bad by the airline .. Cayman Scareways .. but it could have at least been made more pleasant by a decent airport.

And yes expectations can be lower for 3rd world places .. but a lot of the caribbean has nice airports for 3rd world places .. so it can be done .. it's just a case of money i spose .. the caribbean makes a lot from tourism .. so i guess they concentrate on that.

having just briefly met Cor ... and his mentioning he is going to Heathrow now .. I am sure we will have some updated bitching info about it soon !

anyways .. boarding call happened .. so no more airports for 1.2 hours !

Miami gets my vote. I'll pay extra to avoid it.

Ahhh yes, if they could only all be like Changi...

I will also pay extra to avoid MIA.

LAX is definitely brutal on many fronts. Lack of pretty much anything in the gate areas. Always changing whether you go through security first or after check in. The fact that they have no real room for the security and on and on.

Get a Key Lime pie in MIA it helps. LOL

As for PNG and 3rd world airports. I expect it and it actually does not really bother me. On the other end of the scale though Chengi in Singapore is tops by a long shot for me.

I'd say Cairo (a true Egyptian experience), favorites: Hong Kong Int, Changi & Schiphol (home sweet home).

ya LAX sucks

I went through MIa once but can't for the life of me remember when or where i was coming from! haha getting old...

Newark, if you're connecting through Newark, plan on missing your connection. Most delays of any airport except LGA.

and if you look at the BALI customs thread, you will see Bali airport not so good either.. airport itself is ok though

Three of my oldie - goldie airports that are no longer around are:

the old PNG terminal for the dirt. Missed a great photo once when we arrived - just under the "Welcome to PNG" sign was an old condom laying in the center of the walkway.

the old Belize terminal for the damp, fetid smell of perspiration on a hot Saturday afternoon.

the old Roatan terminal for the dirt runway and sliding bar weight scale. I think the DC 3's had knobby tires!

Anybody remember the old Cayman terminal? There was no building, you just got off the plane and stood in the shade while they got your luggage. That was a great airport Airports that suck now? It's a tie between Atlanta, Chicago, and LAX. because that is where I'm always stuck. Oh yeah, Tel Aviv's no fun if your in a hurry.

Steve

well i'd have to add the Port Sudan airport as well, especially for the windows full of bullet holes, the absolute total lack of anythinthing resembling a decent seat to wait during Sudan Airways usual 8 hour delays, and then to top it off the "interesting"customs search on the way out where they ask you to please step in the side room and strip... (and that was for the entire plane, not just me with my smugglers' mug)...

Cairo, the old terminal, the smell, the constant ripoffs...

if you want to stay in non 3rd world countries then Brussels airport with its miles and miles and miles of walking and 45 minutes at a minimum to get your luggage back,

Paris CDG 1, old, smelly, completely inefficient, hours of waiting to get your luggage, crap shops

Heathrow (though i am so used to it that i don't really notice - and BA lounges are really nice), on the T5 front though it's BA taking the brunt of the blame, you have to realise that most of the sh... happening is BAA's fault through a very thorough lack of preparation at the cutover,

On the plus side: Changi of course, Hong Kong, Doha, I like Manado (but that's just because it's close to Lembeh), Ryiadh (though not many connections going through there),

edit: oh and St Barts in the french caribean for one of the most interesting landings and takeoffs there is

I dont dislike the facilities at Heathrow. The lounges are indeed nice, and being in T5 now, it looks very pretty and the lounge im in now is rivals Changi's SIA lounges.

What I dislike about Heathrow is that it seems to always be playing russian roulette with your luggage. Im hoping our luggage makes it through this time. It didnt the last 2 times. Im going to try taking Gatwick more often instead.

Cor

ps: what a small world eh Giles, being in the same terminal at the same time and finding out through wetpixel Nice meeting you!

LAX... is the int'l business lounge still out in the middle of the tarmac in that prefab shack and only accessible by bus...?

In Asia, I'd say Taipei and Narita are the two I can't stand...

Gile, LOL - I miss those memorable landings at the old Kai Tak airport in HK... but I sure don't miss the terminal buildings...

I had to wait Newark more than 1 hour just for the plane to get a spot to taxi. Of course, and being already late for my connection flight, customs were a nightmare with the guys being slower turtles (no offense to the turtle )

+1 miami