MY Favorite or Worst Airports! and WHY!

[troutman]

Flying into San Fran, over the Golden Gate bridge, and downtown, is a spectacular landing.

The arrival/departure board in the Frankfurt airport is fascinating to watch.

We liked the monorail between terminals at the Dallas airport.

Landing in Castlegar is an adventure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Ko...gional_Airport

Due to the mountainous terrain impinging on both runway approaches, there is no possibility of a straight-in approach. The airport is therefore certified for day operations only, and the glideslope on approach is set to a steep 5% rather than the standard 2.5%. The instrument approaches to Castlegar are considered among the most challenging of any in use at a commercial airport in North America.

[Kybosh]

The worst:

1) LAX
2) O'Hare
3) Heathrow (although it is getting much better than it used to be - not too long ago, flying into Heathrow was like flying into a refugee camp)

It's tough for me to enjoy any airport experience, I hate sitting and waiting at the best of times so airports usually bother me. That being said, the worst major Asian airports I've been in are better than the best American airports.

[Flacker]

Favourites:

Schiphol (Amsterdam) - amazing transportation infrastructure.
Heathrow (London) - vastly improved experience, handy bus service between terminals.
Kansai (Osaka) - amazing display of ingenuity, man-made island airport in Osaka Bay.


Worst:
Winnipeg - pre-renovations this was one of the worst examples in Canada.
Mazatlan - taxiways, jetways, and cleaning are all overlooked.
Seattle - dated, poor transportation options.

[BlackEleven]

I'm amazed we're 43 posts in and no one has mentioned the two I hate the most (at least from a quick cursory scan)

1) Paris Orly. I've been to probably hundreds of airports. This one sticks out in my mind as the worst. It's mostly only cheap flights that fly out of there, so overcrowded and dumpy. It's basically the Wal-mart of airports.

2) Miami. Too young to remember the 80s? Pay the Miami airport a visit.

Nicest:

Copenhagen (and all the Scandinavian airpots) are top-notch.

I liked Tokyo for all the stores selling everything under the sun. I told my friend to pick out a drink and I would drink it no matter what it was (it is really not evident what is in the cans unless you speak English). Turned out I got some delicious sparkling apple drink.

Frankfurt is probably the nicest for a huge airport. Easy and efficient to get around it considering it's size and how busy it is.

[The Goon]

Originally Posted by troutman

Landing in Castlegar is an adventure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Ko...gional_Airport

Due to the mountainous terrain impinging on both runway approaches, there is no possibility of a straight-in approach. The airport is therefore certified for day operations only, and the glideslope on approach is set to a steep 5% rather than the standard 2.5%. The instrument approaches to Castlegar are considered among the most challenging of any in use at a commercial airport in North America.

Before I moved to Calgary, I always used to fly to Castlegar to visit my family there. I have not had an air trip without something happening, I've been on such bumpy flights that people are puking on takeoff.

Another time, we were trying to get out before the sun disappeared behind the mountains (no runway lights), so we went and stood on the runway while the plane landed right in front of us, and then a couple of us helped with the loading and unloading of baggage. We got out with two minutes to spare.

Now, I just drive there.

[Erick Estrada]

I haven't been to a lot worldwide but as far as North America goes I'm picking strickly on the best if you have to spend an entire day there (as I have before) and that's the Minneapolis airport.

[The Goon]

Airports I've liked:

San Diego, Denver, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto (T1), Orlando, Cape Town, Dublin

Airports I've disliked:

Atlanta, Edmonton, Phoenix, Chicago O'Hare, LAX, Toronto (T3), Newark

...with a special shout-out of hatred for all the Mexican airports where you get accosted by Time-Share sales guys upon landing.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Schipol, Incheon, Hong Kong, Heathrow all stand out to me.

The worse IMO, and it's not even close, is Rome.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I haven't been to a lot worldwide but as far as North America goes I'm picking strickly on the best if you have to spend an entire day there (as I have before) and that's the Minneapolis airport.

Rock Bottom Brewery!

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Flacker

Favourites:

Schiphol (Amsterdam) - amazing transportation infrastructure.
Heathrow (London) - vastly improved experience, handy bus service between terminals.
Kansai (Osaka) - amazing display of ingenuity, man-made island airport in Osaka Bay.


Worst:
Winnipeg - pre-renovations this was one of the worst examples in Canada.
Mazatlan - taxiways, jetways, and cleaning are all overlooked.
Seattle - dated, poor transportation options.

Winnipeg actually completely rebuilt their airport. Their new terminal is pretty nice but their old one was just brutal. It will rightfully be demolished soon.

[Bigtime]

I forgot one for the worst category:

Wheatland, Wyoming. The little shack with the uncomfortable leather couch I had to sleep on overnight. Boourns.

[blankall]

Worst:

Narita International, Tokyo

Japan has amazing service everywhere with the exception of domestic terminals. This place was an absolute hole. The international terminal is great, but the place where you wait for domestic transfers is downright bizarre. It's poorly heated. There is one food stand but nowhere really to eat. People are akwardly balancing bowls of soup everywhere.

Bangkok International Airport

Prepare to be absolutely hounded by taxi drivers and tour groups attempting to rip you off in every way.

Best:

Ohare

I know it's been knocked already, but this airport just feels like Chicago the moment you land. So much personality.

[Hevishot]

Nobody has mentioned the welfare warrior airport of Cuba yet?

[Huntingwhale]

The airpost in Liberia, Costa Rica is pretty cool. Land on the tarmac and customs is in a large open area right off the runway. Made it through customs less then 20 minutes after landing.

[jar_e]

Madrid-Barajas Terminal 4 is absolutely spectacular. Could walk around for hours in the place.

Pic in tags for size.

Spoiler!

[EYE_Overstand]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

I forgot one for the worst category:

Wheatland, Wyoming. The little shack with the uncomfortable leather couch I had to sleep on overnight. Boourns.

Omaha's airport was so small! seemed like only 8 gates and one food stand and one stand for like 10 books and 20 magazines.

[Muta]

My favourites have to be Kansai (in Osaka - the man-made island is frickin' ridiculous), Vancouver, Amsterdam, Changi (Singapore), Hong Kong and Auckland.

Craphole airports, for me, include Edmonton, Sydney, Sapporo, LAX, San Diego, Athens and Newark.

Airports that are unmemorable (neither good, nor bad) include Calgary, San Francisco, Brisbane, Kagoshima, Okinawa, Pearson / O'Hare (same thing) and Palm Springs.

Taipei's airport is just weird. Deserted when I went, and there was a giant phallic statue in there. Lots of laughable tough-guy security gurards in there, too.

[Misterpants]

When I used to smoke, the best airport ever was the EasyJet terminal in Nykoping, Sweden. They had a little glass dome you stood under to smoke in right in the terminal. There was a mega air exchange unit that just hoovered all of the offensive air away. Ahh, those were the days.

[Bigtime]

Those of you crapping on the Edmonton airport, have you been there lately?

I was there a couple of weeks ago and the renovations and expansions are very nice. It pained me to admit it.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Those of you crapping on the Edmonton airport, have you been there lately?

I was there a couple of weeks ago and the renovations and expansions are very nice. It pained me to admit it.

they could build a waterpark in there and it would still be crappy. Worst location of an airport ever!! what were they thinking?