Worst airports...

These days, there is intense competition for the title of "worst airport."

Each year, the World Airport Awards, given by an air travel research and consulting firm called Skytrax, honor the best airports. Only a few in Europe made the top 10 this year: Munich is No. 4, Zurich is No. 6, Amsterdam Schiphol is No. 7 and Madrid Barajas is No. 10. The top three are in Asia, while no U.S. airports made the list.

While passenger numbers have skyrocketed in the past decade, airports have expanded in a makeshift fashion, leaving travelers to hike longer and longer distances. The treks are best suited for marathoners, doable for fit mortals. I am not quite sure how people with children or those who are elderly or have disabilities are expected to handle them.

Add to that the fact that air traffic and security procedures have both grown more onerous, and bad airport experiences far outnumber the good ones. So outing the worst airports may be more useful than praising the best.

In that spirit, and as a frequent flier around Europe, I have polled my fellow road warriors over the past two months - on airplanes, in security lines and at taxi ranks - to come up with an entirely unscientific survey of Europe's worst.

And though I am no statistician, I think it must be significant that nearly everyone gives the same response: London Heathrow is, hands down, the worst, cited by 100 percent of respondents, as the scientists say.

Charles de Gaulle outside Paris came in a close second. Leonardo da Vinci at Fiumicino, near Rome, and the Frankfurt airport won honorable, or should I say dishonorable, mentions.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/28/business/wbairport.php


BEST AIRPORTS


1
Hong Kong Int'l Airport


2
Seoul Incheon Airport


3
Singapore Changi Airport


4
Munich Airport


5
Kuala Lumpur Int'l Airport


6
Zurich Airport


7
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport


8
Vancouver Int'l Airport


9
Kansai Int'l Airport


10
Madrid Barajas Airport

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