WordPress suggested this prompt, and I figured I’d give it a look, despite not having pondered it in much detail. I certainly have some opinions on the subject, though I’d be fascinated to hear what others think.
One of the best airports – at least in terms of my experiences – has been Stansted. Stansted is relatively local to me, nestled in Essex, and serves a variety of European destinations. It was the first airport I ever flew out of, and what I remember from that first trip was the presence of a small automated railway, conveying passengers to the departure area. Also, you boarded the plane via a connected ramp, rather than having to head outside and up the stairs.
Conversely, one of the worst airports – at least originally (it has since improved) – was Luton. Luton Airport also serves a lot of European destinations, and it’s very easy to reach from my parents’ home. In its modern form, Luton is alright, but once upon a time it looked tired, it wasn’t very spacious, and the facilities were in dire need of an upgrade.
I’ve experienced a number of foreign airports, and for the most, they’ve all been pretty good. Sydney Airport is big, comfortable and feels very modern. I once ended up spending hours in Philadelphia International Airport, owing to when the hotel required people to leave, versus when my flight home was. It wasn’t a bad place to whittle away the hours.
Whilst Faro International Airport, in Portugal’s Algarve region, may not have been especially amazing in terms of comfort (at least, back in the 90s), they looked after my elderly grandfather really really well, so they will always get credit for that.
Some airports are simply daunting, so much so that it can be hard to form an opinion. Heathrow is Britain’s biggest airport, and it’s controlled chaos. Gatwick is another major London hub, and on the few occasions I’ve been there, it’s often been too busy. I’ve not had the pleasure of John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, which I’m told is on another level of busy.
I suppose defining what makes an airport good or bad is about more than its size. It’s about experiences with facilities, such as the shopping, food and stuff like that. Stansted is clear and clean. Heathrow is organised. What I recall of Sydney was beautiful. Faro had great staff, another key element of what makes an airport good.
On the flipside, I still don’t rate Luton. It’s better, but it’s not amazing.
So, there you have it, there you have my airport thoughts! What about you?
Let’s see….
Heathrow. Exactly as you described.
Toulouse… I was 14 and the only thing I remember was the Concorde 001 was parked on the tarmac.
Tel Aviv. 1979. Dreadful. Landed after dark and the entire airport concourse- shops, restaurants etc was closed. The other thing was the security. Everyone seemed to be carrying an Uzi. Scared the life out of me. We were obliged to hand over our passports which were stacked in piles on a long table and ‘inspected'( probably to ensure these pasty faced brits weren’t secret Arab terrorists.
Jan Smuts(Johannesburg) was pretty bog standard when I first arrived. I was impressed by the sunshine.
After democracy and some renaming… OliverTambo (or Johannesburg International) it has undergone a lot of renovation and an extension added during the past decade. It is now quite swish, modern friendly and I for one enjoyed it the last time I flew out of it.
King Mswatti III International Swaziland. I flew there to watch Liverpool play Spurs after winning two tickets on a radio show. Don’t have any bad memories, the hotel was smashing and it was very sunny when my mate and I arrived. I have a photo of me on the concourse. Oh, the match ended in a draw.
Dubai. Very modern but quite soulless.
Manchester. Errr… Can’t remember. Probably boring?
You reminded me of one, Inverness. It was quite quaint, and surprisingly small, though to be fair I think it only served domestic flights. You stepped through security, into the small departure lounge, took a few steps and boarded the plane! It had a lot of lovely tartan souvenirs to grab!
I remembered another as well… Ilha do Sol. During Apartheid SAA were denied flying over some countries airspace.
I stopped at Ilha do Sol in the Cape Verde just once the first time I returned to the UK after my initial 12 month contract in joburg finished.
It was the dead of night when we landed and if memory serves we did not disembark while the plane was refueled.
I just read that it used to be an important emergency strip for NASA during the Shuttle era? Who knew? Not I.
I have also used Porto Airport twice before. Don’t know why that slipped my mind as I have fam. in Portugal! 🤦