Having traveled to more than a few places I became aware that not all airports are created equal... here is a list of my most and least favorite airports...

Favorite Domestic Airport: Salt Lake City: Beautiful location, situated between the lake and the mountains

Lease Favorite Domestic Airport: Midway (Chicago): Very busy and very tiny airport. I remember actually waiting while sitting on the floor. I thought I was in some developing country.

Favorite Foreign Airport: Frankfort: The busiest airport in Europe. Not to be missed is the Duty Free Shopping area. Really a shopping center for the international traveler. Check out the Sex Shop.

Least Favorite Foreign Airport: Prague Ruzyne International Airport: No, this is not more Czech bashing. Its just that, a grand city like Prague deserves a decent airport. And that is most certainly NOT this filthy and overcrowded place. Located far outside the city, totally surrounded by farm land in fact, this airport had people from every corner of the globe, all of whome were engaged in shouting matches with the rude staff and even ruder customs agents. It was at this very airport that an inspector forced me to pay a, um... tax .. of $100.

Worst place to return a rented vehicle when you are running late for a flight: LAX Los Angles International Airport. City ordinances forbid Rental companies from advertizing their facilites in LA. So what means is that when you have to return a car you are driving in circles, clueless. If you are lucky, you may be able to find a shuttle bus to follow. Thanks to these stupid regulations I missed my flight and had to waid 6 hours to catch an overnight flight back to Chicago.

Worst political quagmire for an airport: Chicago's OHair International Airport is the worlds busiest. Its also a logistical nightmare for anyone going in and out. The City of Chicago, america's third largest city, is served by only two airports and the other is Tiny Midway (see above). The city mayor wants to expand the airport to ease congestion. Neighboring communities have told the mayor to shuve it. The GOP and the former Governer wanted to build an airport in rural Peatone, some 50 miles south of downtown Chicago. This is a totally idiotic idea of course and it was killed. The real solution would probibly be to build an airport in Indiana, which is economically stagnant and ripe for some economic activity, but sine its not in Illinois its a no go. So for the time being travelers are stuck with dirty, mean O'Hair.

Funnest shuttle ride: Dallas Airport, followed by Atlanta. Your chance to ride a real space age subway train for free: Whee!

Heathrow airport is great and i love going a few hours before embarking to enjoy the shops and eateries there.
Gatwick is smaller and also has a Gatwick shopping village.
Paris is crap and unfriendly. :not:
Frankfurt airport is ok.
Malaga airport is ok.
Madrid is ok.
Egypt Aswan airport is :hmm: :not:
Cairo :hmm:
Gran canaria airport is ok.
Tenerife airport is ok.
LA is okish.
Cape Town is ok.
Johannesburg is ok.
India Mumbai is ok.
Barcelona is ok.
*phew* am knackered if i remember anymore i shall post.

I love O'Hare cause it means I'm in Chi-town

I love Manchester, NH because its easy and I'm home!

Logan and Midway suck!
Montego Bay is very unorganized too...

Favorite: Vancouver

Least Favorite Foreign Airport: Prague Ruzyne International Airport: No, this is not more Czech bashing. ... with the rude staff


Glad that somebody agrees with me.
Most of them are O.K.
Don't like the one in Moscow and even more - in Toronto (and those two make you pay for the language wagon use in their local cash money, where from you supposed to get such money landing from internatioanl flight?!)

Favorite domestic airport: McCarran Airport here in Vegas. Huge, with a wide variety of activities, but easily navigable with a tram system to take you directly to your hub of gates. And there's video poker and smoking.

Least favorite domestic airport: JFK, New York. I had to run a half mile because there was no tram from where I was to the other terminal.

Favorite foreign airport: Heathrow, for similar reasons as McCarran.
Least favorite foreign airport: Charles de Gaulle. The maintenance people were on strike and it was disgusting.

My favorite domestic airports are Reagan National in DC, and the Providence, RI airport. My least favorite is Miami.

Cancun's airport was the most unpleasant of them all (keep in mind I have also been to the Hanoi and Saigon airports). It was smelly and the place was literally falling apart. A security and safety nightmare.

Orlando was the most pleasant and easy going, while Hong Kong had the best incomming view (the old airport).

I've probably "only" been to 15 airports, all domestic. My favorite one is Atlanta. It's large but easy to navigate. Plus, during layovers there are a TON of restaurants and shops to keep yourself busy and fed.

West Palm Beach is cool because it's relatively small and getting into and out of it is simple. Plus, after flying in from cold, snowy New England, walking out of the West Palm airport into 80 degree sunny weather and palm trees is always nice.

My least favorite is my hometown airport of Hartford/Springfield, mainly because it takes friggin 40 minutes for those lazy bastards in baggage handling to finally get your stuff to baggage claim. The last thing you want to do after a tiring 7 day business trip is stand around the baggage return area for an extra 30-40 minutes.

Favorites: Pittsburgh, Reagan, Atlanta
Least Faves: JFK, Logan, Denver and Orlando

Flying Independence Air to West Palm Beach next week so I'll make sure to let you know how that one is.

I like Philadelphia's airport, because there's lots of shops and restaurants around while you're waiting for your flight. I don't really dislike any airports, but I haven't to a lot, so I guess there's still time. :D

Pittsburgh is my favorite domestic. Frankfurt for favorite foreign.

Montego Bay, Jamaica sucked. Small, hot, and crowded. Atlanta also sucked. Too damned big.

West Palm beach airport was okay. Actually all the Florida airports look the same to me. Also, this was the first time I flew Independence Air. I highly suggest it, the planes were really nice and I got a cheap fare.

I love Atlanta and Denver

I dont like Boston . . . it is really run down. I would have thought they would have had a better one.

Worst: Adelaide, Australia. No aircon in the main check-in hall, last time I was there it was over 110F outside. No mechanised catwalks to the planes, you have to walk out onto the apron and up the dinky steps.

I like walking on the tarmac, and you're going to have to go outside after you leave the airport, so it doesn't bother me. :shrug:

Best airport: Tempelhof in Berlin. In the middle of the city and superbly designed, though rarely used nowadays. Very attractive architecture as well, built of stone in a restrained classicism.

this is a concept thread

I like walking on the tarmac, and you're going to have to go outside after you leave the airport, so it doesn't bother me. :shrug:

Best airport: Tempelhof in Berlin. In the middle of the city and superbly designed, though rarely used nowadays. Very attractive architecture as well, built of stone in a restrained classicism.
An amazing history as well. This was where the entire Berlin Airlift happened when the US airforce flew in badly needed supplies after the city was blocked off by the Soviet Union.

I personally hate the Paris airport because it's confusing and makes little to no sense, and is loaded with annoying and rude french people.

Lease Favorite Domestic Airport: Midway (Chicago): Very busy and very tiny airport. I remember actually waiting while sitting on the floor. I thought I was in some developing country.

That's funny because I remember doing the exact same thing there...Midway and O'Hare are probably the worst ones to fly into in my opinion but the city is kewl as ****!

I never really like flying into the Toronto airport very much...It was very confusing and took forever. And the Montreal airport was old and depressing looking and half the airport was vacant lol...

Domestically I liked Las Vegas...Moment you exit the plane there were slot machines in the terminal ; )

I like flying out of St. Louis airport and I've never had any problems here...The Detroit airport was nice they have improved it and made it better...

I didn't really care much for the Kansas City airport because there is really nothing to do there and it's pretty far from the city...

Schipol, in Amsterdam. Too big, too many non-English speaking staff, not enough boards telling you about delayed flights and whatnot.

I'm amazed at the descriptions of Ruzyne. I had no problems what-so-ever, but then again they all thought I was a local. :D There wasn't a single rude worker there, in fact all I got were smiles and constant greetings of Dobry den!, at 5 AM mind. Ruzyne is my favorite so far.

Schipol, in Amsterdam. Too big, too many non-English speaking staff, not enough boards telling you about delayed flights and whatnot.

I'm amazed at the descriptions of Ruzyne. I had no problems what-so-ever, but then again they all thought I was a local. :D There wasn't a single rude worker there, in fact all I got were smiles and constant greetings of Dobry den!, at 5 AM mind. Ruzyne is my favorite so far.
I was last there in 1989. The place still was pretty much run by the Communist secret police who had changed their stripes but it was still the same old buracracy at work. Maybe the airport got a facelift since then.

Least favorite: Luxor, Egypt. A picture tells more than a thousand words, so...

http://members.surfeu.fi/jerkku/luxor.jpg

It's too hard to remember all of them...

But when I was overseas recently, I thought the airport in Osaka was cool... VERY modern, and new, free internet :nice:, lots of nice stores, places to get a massage, etc. Oh, and everyone there is really stylish... Our team felt kinda slobby dressed all casual in our travel shirts we had to wear, and jeans.

Narita aiport in Tokyo was a disappointment in comparison.

Funny everyone loves Atlanta- that's prob my LEAST fave airport- it never fails that my flight will be delayed either in or out of Atlanta throwing my whole trip off

Boston is nice

BWI my fave b/c it means I'm home

all in all I love lil airports (like Burbank) over large (like LAX)

I travel tons in the US but I've never been international so I have no opinion there

http://www.****************/jamais-surpris.com/.dtc

The last time I was in Boston airport (don’t know its official name) it seems badly organised. That was some time ago, I hope for their sake they have improved. So Boston perhaps I like the least or maybe Heathrow with its long lines of people and claustrophobic narrow corridors.

Chicago's O'Hare airport is nice, modern looking and has a friendly, people-oriented look to it.

Favourite foreign airport is Istanbul, all cool marble and granite and vaulted ceilings.
Favourite local is Heathrow
Worst was the old Titograd airport - not too bad to pass through but hell on earth to be stuck in - a departure lounge the size of a tennis court, seats broken and uncomfortable, upstairs was a perpetually closed restaurant, downstairs toilets you could smell outside the airport. I remember being stuck there for six hours one summer day - temperature was 39C or just over 100F, the only cool place on the airport was the toilets and I've mentioned them. Add to that it was a military base as well so no exploration, no photography uinless you wished to lose your camera, five mile soutside town so you could not even go there. the shop was so small that the owner could not stand inside it (think flat pack wardrobe) and the bar was so badly stocked that they only offered water or prvijenac (local brandy - totally lethal!) If only they had not had the Durmitor then I would never have gone back - year after year!

The Copenhagen airport is absolutely great. Spotless, dark wooden floor, large... almost elegant !

However, the food there is... let's be kind and say strange. Everything there is sweet. I had a hot dog there. Sweet mayonesse, sweet ketchup, sweet cheese. Yukky.

I really didn't like Athens airport... cause it's the only airport I've been to where smoking is actually allowed! Well Malpensa in milan used to be like that but not anymore... I'm biased but I always liked Pearson..

Heathrow is really big and too crowded for my liking and the first time I was there it was in the middle of a terrorist scare so all the cops had machine guns and such... it was quite scary! And Linate (also in Milan) I hate cause it's so ugly and depressing... I used to live in Italy so I have lots of experience with the italian airports

Schipol, in Amsterdam. Too big, too many non-English speaking staff, not enough boards telling you about delayed flights and whatnot.

I'm amazed at the descriptions of Ruzyne. I had no problems what-so-ever, but then again they all thought I was a local. :D There wasn't a single rude worker there, in fact all I got were smiles and constant greetings of Dobry den!, at 5 AM mind. Ruzyne is my favorite so far.
Interesting, Schipol qualifies as my favorite at this time.

I remember getting a very long goodbye kiss from my wife's sister there! ;)

Chicago O'hare is NOT the worlds Busiest. Atlanta is. We do about 5 million more pax a year and waaaaay more movements

Obviously, ATL is my favorite, since they provide me an income. I've always wanted to work here or at Denver. Denver is the perfect airport. All new, way away from everything (no noise issues) all parallel runways, room for more, and a terminal/councourse area that can be expanded for years to come. From an airport operators view, it is the perfect airport

I hate MSY (New Orleans) for sooooo many reasons

DFW is by far the airport I hate the most. Get lost in DFW and it could take you days to figure out where the hell you are.
Atlanta used to be my favourite when I smoked because they had a smoking area there (don't know if they still do). I still like Atlanta, but mainly because it's the fastest way to get flights out of the USA from where I live.

Dublin Airport:

i get the ardee-dublin bus eireann bus sometimes and the traffic around it is really bad

Detroit Metro is the easiest one for me because I know it the best. I know where the gates are and I know where I can zip out onto the tarmac and smoke.

London Heathrow - I missed a connection from international to national and I had a 4 hour scheduled layover there.

Interesting, Schipol qualifies as my favorite at this time.

I remember getting a very long goodbye kiss from my wife's sister there! ;)
Actually I made a mistake, it was Copenhagen airport where I last saw her. Schipol was in Amstradam. But I would say it was a pretty awsome place all the same. :)

JFK's the worst..
Seatac is my favorite....Yes its still under construction, but what isn't in Wa.??

after my NYC trip last week, I have to now say that LaGuardia is by far the worse airport I have ever flown into :not: Man, it was like a time warp straigth to 1972

Favorite: Burbank, CA. It's 10 minutes from my house and tiny. It takes about 7 minutes to get from your car to the terminal. I'll be flying out of it tomorrow to vegas.

DIA to Vegas $59 one way SWA

Favorite - Manchester, NH ( now called Manchester/Boston regional aiport)

Least - Midway Chicago.

Ben Gurion ranks first in airport survey

Two years after its opening, the new Ben-Gurion Airport has received a public stamp of approval as the most customer-friendly airport in Europe in a new survey based on passenger feedback at 77 airports around the globe.

Making its debut in the International Airport Council's (ACI) "Airport Service Quality" survey, Tel Aviv was graded the highest among 40 participating European airports by both business and leisure passengers for the third quarter of 2006.Full article inside (http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1164881920231&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)

I depise LAX.
The people who work there suck on the whole, its badly organized (Dulles in Washington was pretty bad organisation-wise too), there are no showers or other useful amenities for weary travellers. Its busted up, and there is no healthy food option there. The lounges smell of sweat and general nastiness. The lighting is nasty and depressing.

To go to Europe, I have the choice between going via Asia or the US. I never go via the US anymore. The seucrity procedures are tedious beyond description, and nothing in the experience of the airport makes up for it. If people were friendly, it would help, but they aren't. They suck.

Singaporean Changi airport has been the best in my book ever since I first used it back in 2000. I'm a regular now, and I like everything about it. It is beautiful, with an orchid garden in the center with benches to sit on. There is a wide variety of food options, a travellers hotel where you can sleep in a real bed for the hours you have in transit.
There are FREE shuttles into the city and back.
Cheap electronics.
Massage therapists, showers, all right there in the airport. Someone tells me there is a swimming pool too: I'll have to check that out next time.
Free internet stations set up all over the airport. Not those nasty coin operated ones, but real computers.

On the whole, people there are very friendly (except the receptionists at the traveller hotel: they suck).

Everytime I fly to LA, I remember Singapore airport, and am forcibly reminded of how the US is in decline, while Asia is rising.

Oh: I'm really fond of Wellington airport here in NZ, mostly because it is really handy (7 minute drive from my house, 15 minutes from the city) and people are awesome there.

M.

Favorite- Tampa Airport

Least- Chicago Midway

Favourite: Aeropuerto de Madrid Barajas
I love it it's so big and well organized, love it

Least favourite: Alvedro Airport(Spain)