• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

World’s best airport

Status
Not open for further replies.

Bald Rick

Veteran Member
Joined
28 Sep 2010
Messages
29,236
It seems that Changi has lost its 8 year stay at the top of the charts .... to Hamad @ Doha. Conveniently just before the World Cup!



The World’s Top 10 Airports of 2021:

  1. Hamad International
  2. Tokyo Haneda
  3. Singapore Changi
  4. Incheon International
  5. Narita International
  6. Munich
  7. Zurich
  8. London Heathrow
  9. Kansai International
  10. Hong Kong International
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Royston Vasey

Established Member
Joined
14 May 2008
Messages
2,205
Location
Cambridge
Some surprising entries there, I've used most of those. Also London Heathrow has a lot of variation between terminals in usability and amenities, as does Munich (the non Lufty non Schengen area is pretty poor!)
 

Aictos

Established Member
Joined
28 Apr 2009
Messages
10,403
The best airport in Europe which was overlooked and of course has now closed was Berlin Tegel as you were never more then a few minutes from the taxis/buses to the stand itself.

Much much better then Heathrow which is just a shopping mall that happens to have aircraft using it.
 
Joined
13 Apr 2011
Messages
624
Location
Helsby
In my experience both of the best airports I have travelled to/from were in Scotland, Sumburgh and Inverness. Both highly pleasant to use, no crowds, no delays and very swift security. In contrast most of the large airports in the world and awful places to have to deal with.
 

TXMISTA

Member
Joined
17 Sep 2019
Messages
130
Location
London
I’ve flown to/from Tokyo Haneda numerous times and it’s brilliant. There are parts of the complex that make you forget that you’re in an airport entirely. It really puts Tokyo’s other airport, Narita to shame. I’m surprised it’s made the list of top 10.
 

WestCoast

Established Member
Joined
19 Jun 2010
Messages
5,590
Location
Glasgow
Totally agree with Cheshire Rover. The best airports for passenger experience are not big hubs at all but actually places like Newquay or any of the shacks in the Scottish Highlands. You’d struggle to be stressed in those places where a few steps takes you from check in to plane.
 

Butts

Veteran Member
Joined
16 Jan 2011
Messages
11,330
Location
Stirlingshire
Totally agree with Cheshire Rover. The best airports for passenger experience are not big hubs at all but actually places like Newquay or any of the shacks in the Scottish Highlands. You’d struggle to be stressed in those places where a few steps takes you from check in to plane.

Best one is Barra with the added bonus of taking off and landing on the beach !!
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
98,104
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
The best airport in Europe which was overlooked and of course has now closed was Berlin Tegel as you were never more then a few minutes from the taxis/buses to the stand itself.

London City was like that until it overexpanded. It was in many ways like a 1960s flying experience.

Much much better then Heathrow which is just a shopping mall that happens to have aircraft using it.

Heathrow Queen's Terminal and T5 are excellent in my view, turned one of the worst airports to one of the best. Just need to sort out 3 and 4, though if the downturn is permanent it might be possible to simply close them.
 

Aictos

Established Member
Joined
28 Apr 2009
Messages
10,403
London City was like that until it overexpanded. It was in many ways like a 1960s flying experience.



Heathrow Queen's Terminal and T5 are excellent in my view, turned one of the worst airports to one of the best. Just need to sort out 3 and 4, though if the downturn is permanent it might be possible to simply close them.
Heathrow is over rated, you might have well as well just plonk a airport on top of Westfield or Bluewater shopping centres and you get the same experience.
 

WestCoast

Established Member
Joined
19 Jun 2010
Messages
5,590
Location
Glasgow
Heathrow is over rated, you might have well as well just plonk a airport on top of Westfield or Bluewater shopping centres and you get the same experience.

Of all the London named airports I’ve been to, I think Stansted is the worst for that. The terminal itself is still looking modern but the layout inside is now dreadful. They ‘redesigned’ the terminal so that from security to your gate you have to twist and turn your way through the enormous duty free store (complete with hungry salespeople trying to shove products in your face), then past all the other shops and then all the eateries and only then do they have seats. I know lots of UK airports try to do this a bit but Stansted is new level I find. Presumably they have to heavily top up the amount they make from Ryanair!
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
98,104
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
Heathrow is over rated, you might have well as well just plonk a airport on top of Westfield or Bluewater shopping centres and you get the same experience.

I think it's excellent, precisely because the shops and cafes are down the side and are not in the way. It's like Schiphol but brought up to date and considerably better.

Of all the London named airports I’ve been to, I think Stansted is the worst for that. The terminal itself is still looking modern but the layout inside is now dreadful. They ‘redesigned’ the terminal so that from security to your gate you have to twist and turn your way through the enormous duty free store (complete with hungry salespeople trying to shove products in your face), then past all the other shops and then all the eateries and only then do they have seats. I know lots of UK airports try to do this a bit but Stansted is new level I find. Presumably they have to heavily top up the amount they make from Ryanair!

Stansted is awful, but most of that is because of their resident airline and how little they are willing to pay. I've also found the arrival process to be wanting, with very long passport queues the norm.

They also need to get a cherry picker and clean the inside of the roof, it's filthy. Mind you Manchester Pic is as bad, including above unroofed food premises where the muck could fall in food.
 

Mojo

Forum Staff
Staff Member
Administrator
Joined
7 Aug 2005
Messages
20,417
Location
0035
Heathrow is over rated, you might have well as well just plonk a airport on top of Westfield or Bluewater shopping centres and you get the same experience.
Completely disagree. The place just works. Don’t understand what everyone’s problem is with shopping at Airports provided you aren’t forced through them like at Stansted. It’s a good way of killing time if you don’t have lounge access.
 

TT-ONR-NRN

Established Member
Joined
30 Dec 2016
Messages
10,516
Location
Farnham
Completely disagree. The place just works. Don’t understand what everyone’s problem is with shopping at Airports provided you aren’t forced through them like at Stansted. It’s a good way of killing time if you don’t have lounge access.
I agree with you there Mojo. Big fan of T5 myself.
 

Kez

Member
Joined
8 May 2021
Messages
73
Location
Scotland
Totally agree with Cheshire Rover. The best airports for passenger experience are not big hubs at all but actually places like Newquay or any of the shacks in the Scottish Highlands. You’d struggle to be stressed in those places where a few steps takes you from check in to plane

Agree. Alice Springs should be way up there on that list.

I find travel via those hubs to be a de-humanising experience, particularly since 9/11, and something to be avoided if at all possible.
 

AM9

Veteran Member
Joined
13 May 2014
Messages
14,289
Location
St Albans
The most pleasant airport that I have ever used is Victoria on Vancouver Island (YYJ). We flew in from Calgary on a Q400. A short walk across the apron through the terminal to the baggage reclaim. Then straight out onto the can rank.
Staff were excellent, a very pleasant experience all round.
 

neilmc

Member
Joined
23 Oct 2011
Messages
1,032
We went to Trinidad a few years ago, with the choice of changing at Barbados or Miami - no-brainer, the West Indians are much more courteous and easygoing than any US airport, and you can even check in outside in the sunshine, with a cheapish cafe just off the premises! Oman has a new airport in Muscat which was very good last time we went, the Middle East destinations are prepared to spend serious money on upgrading facilities whereas in the UK it seems our major airports just get worse and worse.
 

zero

Member
Joined
3 Apr 2011
Messages
964
Tegel terminal A was great, terminal C not so much (like the extensions to LCY).

I don't think it's valid to compare a major transit hub to what amounts to a runway and a shack, even if the latter is preferable
 

AM9

Veteran Member
Joined
13 May 2014
Messages
14,289
Location
St Albans
Tegel terminal A was great, terminal C not so much (like the extensions to LCY).

I don't think it's valid to compare a major transit hub to what amounts to a runway and a shack, even if the latter is preferable
I think that it highly relevant, - it shows just how bigger isn't better and how the race to the bottom (i.e. cheapest cost per passenger) destroys much of what flying used to be.. Even in major transit hubs, there are plenty of passengers who only use the place to join or leave a local flight, (maybe to or from a runway and a shack).
 

306024

Established Member
Joined
23 Jan 2013
Messages
3,949
Location
East Anglia
The most pleasant airport that I have ever used is Victoria on Vancouver Island (YYJ). We flew in from Calgary on a Q400. A short walk across the apron through the terminal to the baggage reclaim. Then straight out onto the can rank.
Staff were excellent, a very pleasant experience all round.

When I flew to Victoria from Vancouver we landed in the sea :)

And me. It (and the new T2, though it isn't quite as good) turned Heathrow from an airport I should avoid to one that is worth specifically using. Truly transformational. They just need to sort 3 and 4 now, which are as rubbish as ever.

Yes both T2 and T5 are excellent. T3 is a rabbit hutch and future of T4 is unknown.

Singapore and Hong Kong are favourites, looking forward to trying the new Berlin, and not joining the scrum for a bus at Tegel.
 

AM9

Veteran Member
Joined
13 May 2014
Messages
14,289
Location
St Albans
When I flew to Victoria from Vancouver we landed in the sea :)
Yes we saw those Sea Otters at both Victoria Harbour and the quayside at Vancouver. Victoria Airport (YYJ) is an international airport although not so big that it loses it's friendly character.
 

Skymonster

Established Member
Joined
7 Feb 2012
Messages
1,754
Best one is Barra !!
We have a winner - that would be my choice too. Kerbside to airside about 50 feet, one check in desk, no walk-through metal detectors, no bag x-rays, no officious security, never more than 16 passengers per flight so no queues, a few seats and a small hole-in-the-wall cafe service.

Beside that I still like LCY a lot and LHR Queens Terminal is great except for the hike out to the satelite. Of those on the list at top, beside LHR my choice would be ZRH and HKG.
 

Brooke

Member
Joined
13 Jan 2020
Messages
264
Location
Switzerland
I’ll add my view to this “what is your fav airport and why” list, of the places I regularly go:

Best London - City, quick to get to, quick to get through (tho not as good as it used to be)

Second best London - Heathrow, esp T2 and T5, which just work well

Worst London - take your pick of the rest - all miles away, all pretty grim! Perhaps Luton worst of the lot?

Best Ireland - Kerry - tiny airport, super friendly, and amazingly recently upgraded with fancy baggage scanning, a new bar etc

Second best Ireland - Belfast City - very speedy, friendly, great views

Worst Ireland - Dublin T2 - so over-thought, takes forever to get around, poor quality retail, etc

Best Switzerland - Zurich - the epitomy of Switzerland!

Worst Switzerland - Geneva - probably has just out-grown the space available, but definitely in need of a re-think
 

Aictos

Established Member
Joined
28 Apr 2009
Messages
10,403
I’ll add my view to this “what is your fav airport and why” list, of the places I regularly go:

Worst London - take your pick of the rest - all miles away, all pretty grim! Perhaps Luton worst of the lot?
Actually Luton isn't that bad, I've used it three times in the last 3 years and it's actually a decent airport.

You can get from main entrance to gate and though security in less then 15 mins on some days.

Heathrow is worse as you've got further to walk which is not surprising how big it is.
 

Bletchleyite

Veteran Member
Joined
20 Oct 2014
Messages
98,104
Location
"Marston Vale mafia"
Worst London - take your pick of the rest - all miles away, all pretty grim! Perhaps Luton worst of the lot?

I quite like Luton. Security queues never that bad (and a fiver or so to jump the queue if they are), a nice, vaulted roof terminal, most gates not too long a walk (other than the old terminal gates used by Ryanair and gate 19), very quick luggage delivery (no faffing about with belt systems, just drive it over on a flatbed Transit) and very soon a proper link to the station too. Also much more spacious since they built the "new bit" on the front.

Stansted is dross in my view. Slow to get through in both directions, slow baggage and a generally mucky, run down atmosphere. Also has the stupid feature that if you get off the transit at the wrong stop you have to go through arrivals, get a new boarding pass and through security afresh - this caused some friends to miss a flight a while back (yes, actually friends, not me!) - you also can't go back to the main hall if your flight turns out to be delayed. And as if it wasn't bad enough if you're using it you're almost certainly flying with Ryanair.

Gatwick is a very slow airport to get through indeed, though is at least in a decent state of repair. Very similar to what Heathrow was before the new terminals.

LCY I think is now utterly terrible. It was good when it had 10 gates and was mostly Fokker 50s and Dash 8s, and the terminal had a "whole thing is the business class lounge" feel to it, perhaps like how flying might have been in the 60s. It can't even remotely cope with the extra gates and larger aircraft and direly needs a completely new terminal. I would avoid it these days, even if take-offs and landings on the short runway are quite fun (though not for those with the fear of flying).

Best Switzerland - Zurich - the epitomy of Switzerland!

Yep, it's excellent, it even *looks* Swiss.

Worst Switzerland - Geneva - probably has just out-grown the space available, but definitely in need of a re-think

Geneva is certainly not what you'd expect in CH, but Zuerich very much is. But it's not a bad airport, as a former regular I quite like it, including its quirks, and it's fairly quick to get through. The security queues at peak time (winter) were a sight to behold, though, and no "pay a fiver to jump the queue" option, only for those flying business/with status on some (but not all) airlines. They are also underprepared for snow, which is amusing given that they get it for several months a year.

Intentionally, one hopes.

I've done a Vancouver seaplane "tour" - great fun!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top