General Travel Advice group posting on GLOBOsapiens

World's five worst airports

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marianne Premium account Joined: Sep 03 Points: 20248 Posts: 349 Posted: 2003-10-07 10:35:00    I read an article examining international airports. http://www.bcentral.com/articles/elliott/153.asp 5 worst airports: 1. London Heathrow (LHR) 2. Mexico City (MEX) 3. Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) 4. Moscow Sheremetyevo (SVO) 5. Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) Anyone in agreement? Marianne [ This Message was edited by: marianne on 2003-10-07 10:36 ] --- “I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” Robert Louis Stevenson Reply    Reply with quote    Contact marianne   wojtekd Premium account Joined: Oct 02 Points: 79125 Posts: 411 Posted: 2003-10-07 18:50:00    Dear Marianne... I have a feeling that the author did not see much out off main "hub" airports. Let him fly to Brazzaville or Georgetown - Guyana - he will change his mind... Even if will take only five mentioned into account I'll put perfectly disorganized CDG on the first place... Wojtek --- You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced... W.D. Reply    Reply with quote    Contact wojtekd   daniserralta Premium account Joined: Aug 02 Points: 11491 Posts: 124 Posted: 2003-10-08 00:39:00    Hi! Well, i think that, for example, the Vientiane (Laos) and Santa Rosa (Perú) Airports are really worst than the Charles de gaulle etc.... Dani! --- The journey is the reward. -- Tao saying Reply    Reply with quote    Contact daniserralta   downundergal Premium account Joined: Jun 02 Points: 12936 Posts: 221 Posted: 2003-10-08 11:46:00    Well for my 2 cents worth I think LAX for non American citizens, it's a cattle train! Mexico City is not that bad, except if you hit the compulsory button and score a red light. It's totally random and they make you pull everything out. London, Frankfurt, Paris they don't jump out in my memory. Just to continue on the same topics what about airlines. My personal worst experience was Air Cuba followed closely by Olympic....shockers. Cheers, Kerrie --- Where to next? Reply    Reply with quote    Contact downundergal   morc66 Premium account Joined: Jun 02 Points: 2383 Posts: 75 Posted: 2003-10-08 13:48:00    hahaha... nothing compared the the west african airports I've been to so far... A collegue of mine ended up in jail for a couple of hours because he could not pay the "dash" for the stamp in his passport... he lost his passport in the process... M --- See more photo's: www.flickr.com/photo-s/27408834@N05/ See the current Diveblog: mauricedeboer.blogspot.com Reply    Reply with quote    Contact morc66   marianne Premium account Joined: Sep 03 Points: 20248 Posts: 349 Posted: 2003-10-08 18:09:00    wojtekd, I agree the author of the article has probably limited experience of airports. I don't think there is much amiss with these five mentioned. Although I must agree that going from one terminal to the other at Heathrow is time consuming. Dani, I didn't go to to Loas and Peru but I can imagine they are worse than those five. I could not see anything wrong either with Mexico City. Morc, Dar es Salaam is the only African airport I have seen, apart from North Africa, but I don't consider that as Africa proper. It is probably all in the eye of the beholder. Kerrry, I had no bad experience when flying Olympic. But I hate KLM (our 'national pride' which was taken over by Air France last week. KLM has the smallest legroom I have ever seen, which is ridiculous as most Dutch men are 1 metre 80 or taller. KLM has the worst airconditioning system I have ever encountered, which is put on at full blast. When I asked if they had blankets the answer was: we'll get them in Singapore. (this was a flight from Jakarta to Singapore, two and a half hours) On this same flight, only in opposite direction I needed magnifying glasses to see the snack. Two crustless sandwiches of 3 x 4 cm, filled with a flimsy slice of cheese. Enough moaning. I like Malaysian Airways, Singapore Airlines and Royal Brunei --- “I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” Robert Louis Stevenson Reply    Reply with quote    Contact marianne   downundergal Premium account Joined: Jun 02 Points: 12936 Posts: 221 Posted: 2003-10-11 07:29:00    Hi all, Well I am glad that Malayasian Airlines have got the thumbs up because that's who I'm flying with on my next little jaunt. I believe they were voted best cabin staff for 2003. Just to add a bit I don't think Peru's airports are bad in any way. Bolivia are security mad with uniforms and testorone omnipresent but I had a bad experience in La Paz when the guard obviously had a taste for Scotch and was after mine! Happy travels. Kerrie --- Where to next? Reply    Reply with quote    Contact downundergal   kathmandukitten Premium account Joined: Sep 03 Points: 2729 Posts: 82 Posted: 2003-10-12 23:46:00    anyone who's read my highly critical report on dehli knows i hate dehli airport, everytime ive been there i always get the feeling that im about to be strip searched. Lukla airport has to be in the top 20, it's a nice airport but the landing strip is barely 60m's long and the wreckage of many an aircraft lays on the side of it. Coz its so high, it's the only airport ive ever taken off from where at the end of the runway the plane came off lower than the tarmac... it's right on the side of a mountain! Especially disconcerting when the pilot starts banging flight instruments before take off to make them work (strangely i was the only person to find that quite funny!) --- Would you risk it, for a biscuit? Reply    Reply with quote    Contact kathmandukitten   whereisliz Joined: Oct 03 Points: 8654 Posts: 164 Posted: 2003-10-22 15:51:00    Have you checked out The Budget Traveller's Guide to Sleeping in Airports http://www.sleepinginairports.net/airports.htm They have this to say about the Worst Airports (for sleeping in): "Worst Airport(s) - This was toughy. I certainly could not narrow it down to just one in this case. First up, everybody please put their hands together for Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea), an airport in which one of our contributors witnessed 7 seven being killed in a gang shoot-out. When in Port Moresby, be sure you're wearing your bullet-proof vest and run. And then there are the airports in the Mid-East and India section where we have received MANY Hellish reviews. As there are so many to choose from, I am also giving the Worst Airport(s) award to the entire country of India who only has one airport rated "good", but only because it was a better alternative to actually sleeping in one of their hotels. Unacceptable seating, foul odours, filth, fleas, safety, and general hassles have resulted in India's 5 year reign of the Worst Airport(s) Title. Travellers beware: when sleeping in one of India's "fine" airports be sure you have your own bug spray, air freshener and disinfectant or just go to the nearest bar and drink the pain away." --- travel inspiration & information at whereisliz.com Reply    Reply with quote    Contact whereisliz   ta-shy Joined: Jun 02 Points: 4110 Posts: 170 Posted: 2003-10-23 16:33:00    for my two bits, I nominate Bamako, Mali and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In Bamako, the airline agent (air Ethiopia) said to be at the airport for 4am to prepare for a 7am flight. No problem. I get there at 4am, find out it doesn't open till 8am, the flight doesn't arrive at the airport till 10am, and [Air Ethiopia] is always an hour late. There is a row of hard blue plastic chairs in which to make yourself comfortable if you can get past the other 50 passengers they told to arrive early. The toilets are also closed till 8am, and if you do happen to get in the guy outside will follow you around the airport till you give him a quarter for using it! In Addis, the plane is on an hour late(Air Ethiopia)and you have a connecting flight. They tell you what line to stand in and you find out its the wrong one. You get in the right line only to have your boarding pass refused because they had to bump 9 passengers to make way for the Ethiopian football team. The arrival time was 11pm, it's now 4am. Ethiopian Air will put us up for the night (after they take our passports*much protest by all*)in a hotel 1/2hr away. We arrive at the hotel and are told to double up.. lucky me I'm the girl and there with 6 Nigerian men, a Kuwaiti guy and an American/Nigerian.. I get a room to myself (after immense protesting).. The airline gives us strict orders to be at the airport by midnight the next day to catch the plane, opps they messed up it was 12midnight the day after! Don't let me forget that after about 6hrs of trying to get the airline to pick us up with their shuttle, we had to take a taxi which we couldn't pay for cause we had no Ethiopian$(we had no passports therefore no bank) We managed to leave Addis 2days and 1hr late! --- LIFE IS AN ATTITUDE! ALWAYS DO WHAT YOU WISH YOU COULD! ALWAYS! Reply    Reply with quote    Contact ta-shy