Worst Airport You've Been To?

JCX BXC

My personal worst was Beauvais. Jammed to the Max with slow security queues and very unorginised. Airport itself is also very expensive.

Streetwalker

Cork.

























Do the langers have an airport?

Wang King

Madrid, terminal 4, Eta had bombed it a few hours beforehand... Cops with machine guns and itchy trigger fingers does not a happy Wang King make!!

Lollipops23

Nice. It was terribly organised and the staff were awful.

thereitisgone

Dublin

Aidric

Charleroi. Grim.

RFOLEY1990

Newark,

the only reason being they don't accept cash anywhere, it's all card. really annoying.

billie1b

JFK

Caovyn Lineah

Carnacalla wrote: »

My personal worst was Beauvais. Jammed to the Max with slow security queues and very unorginised. Airport itself is also very expensive.

I was there a few years ago, a horrible experience. The queue after security was hilarious, it was just a free for all to get out the door and on board.

nathang20

Only happened 2months ago. Schipol! telling us departures from closest BA to then the furthest with BMI...horrendous...If you've been through Amsterdam, you'll know how "huge" the airport is...

Caovyn Lineah

RFOLEY1990 wrote: »

Newark,

the only reason being they don't accept cash anywhere, it's all card. really annoying.

I definitely spent the last of my dollars there. I can even remember what I bought.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

RFOLEY1990

Caovyn Lineah wrote: »

I definitely spent the last of my dollars there. I can even remember what I bought.

when were you there?

I was there in March and it was full of iPads

stehyl15

The standard of wi-fi in Gatwick is terrible and £70 for two the feckin Gatwick Express plus a further £10 for a tube day ticket ,Schonefeld in Berlin isin't great either considering they make you go through two security checks and in Bari Airport they make you show you queue for passport control after security.

o1s1n

Manila. I shudder whenever I think about it.

the evasion_kid

Kerry airport....they were pushing the plane out onto the runway using a tractor ffs

John Mason

Port au Prince in Haiti

flying Sunday morning after day light saving time change. The airport didnt know the hour had changed, and they couldnt figure out if we had missed out flight to Dom Rep. or not

it took 90 minutes arguing with idiot staff members before they would let us on the plane.

totally true unbelievable story

DareGod

I can't remember if it was Luton or Stansted. This was back in 2005. I spent a few hours there while waiting on a connecting flight. The place was filthy. Dirt and rubbish anywhere. Was as if it hadn't been swept in weeks. I think was probably Stansted.

francis1978

Dammam, KSA.

Jimbob1977

Smallest airport I've been to.... Gothenburg City (the Ryanair/Easyjet airport).

Converted Air Force Base

Two gates. #1 and #2. Easy to get through.


Most stressful. ... London Heathrow. So many people, lots of traffic, tough to park

DareGod

Carnacalla wrote: »

My personal worst was Beauvais. Jammed to the Max with slow security queues and very unorginised. Airport itself is also very expensive.

I've got flights from Beauvais about six or seven times and I completely agree. Totally disorganised place. Expensive and crap too. When it's busy, it's quite the ordeal.

The Backwards Man

*Opens threads in anticipation of tales reminiscent of Air America and Good Morning Vietnam. Maybe even Independence Day*

Gets

RFOLEY1990 wrote: »

Newark,

the only reason being they don't accept cash anywhere, it's all card. really annoying.

stehyl15 wrote: »

The standard of wi-fi in Gatwick is terrible and £70 for two the feckin Gatwick Express plus a further £10 for a tube day ticket.

markfinn

Fuzhou, Fujian, China.
Ladders for plane boarding, no seats in the entire building. Tons of security checks on incoming foreigners (pre-baggage collection). No security for baggage chucked out on the floor before us laowai were released by security.

I was lucky. My luggage always looks like poverty-stricken refugee crap. Anyone with a nice expensive looking suitcase found themselves without same.

80Km to the city, no usable busses, no taxi ranks or licensed taxis just a never-ending swarm of potential kidnappings.

Antar Bolaeisk

francis1978 wrote: »

Dammam, KSA.

I second this, especially that first landing where you haven't a clue what to expect.

Sh1tbag OToole

Gatwick

It is a mess, low ceilings, dreary, permanently dilapidated no matter how many millions they pour into the place, claustrophobic, orwellian and ridiculously expensive to park there considering it's out in the rolling hills of the British countryside.

Worst of all are the staff there, in particular the security. I have been to a lot of airports but in Gatwick they are the absolute worst. Rude pig ignorant sh1ts who think they're going to be famous for catching the next Bin Laden.
The last time I was there they gave me a load of hassle over taking out of all things, a dead ordinary TV remote with me. Take anything other than clothes and a phone with you and they'll give you hassle straight away.

These boys actually believe they're doing good for Queen and Country when they're taking jam jars off of old people, they think everyone wants to bomb them. It must be a great feeling for these boys, to be so naive to think that you're saving the world with every jam jar you take from a granny. Power tripping little sh1ts who have been given one slither of authority over people and want to milk it for all it's worth.

Sh1tbag OToole

the evasion_kid wrote: »

Kerry airport....they were pushing the plane out onto the runway using a tractor ffs

How is that bad, did the tractor break down and did you miss your connection as a result?

Ruu

Sh1tbag OToole wrote: »

Gatwick

It is a mess, low ceilings, dreary, permanently dilapidated no matter how many millions they pour into the place, claustrophobic, orwellian and ridiculously expensive to park there considering it's out in the rolling hills of the British countryside.

Worst of all are the staff there, in particular the security. I have been to a lot of airports but in Gatwick they are the absolute worst. Rude pig ignorant sh1ts who think they're going to be famous for catching the next Bin Laden.
The last time I was there they gave me a load of hassle over taking out of all things, a dead ordinary TV remote with me. Take anything other than clothes and a phone with you and they'll give you hassle straight away.

These boys actually believe they're doing good for Queen and Country when they're taking jam jars off of old people, they think everyone wants to bomb them. It must be a great feeling for these boys, to be so naive to think that you're saving the world with every jam jar you take from a granny. Power tripping little sh1ts who have been given one slither of authority over people and want to milk it for all it's worth.

Hah! Chris O' Dowd tweeted this earlier this week!

Thanks Gatwick security! Some might think body-searching a baby and binning his bottle was over zealous and weird, but not me!’

the evasion_kid

Sh1tbag OToole wrote: »

How is that bad, did the tractor break down and did you miss your connection as a result?

I take it you're from kerry

G_R

Wouldn't be a massive fan of Belfast International - my main gripe being that it's nowhere near fucking Belfast!

nibtrix

Kathmandu. Went through 6 security queues including 2 extremely personal pat-downs. Had carry on bags manually checked twice. Had to queue for ages while they loaded 15-20 people onto a bus, moved them 100 metres across the tarmac and then wait for the bus to circle back around for the next 20.

Very expensive shop and cafe. Not really anywhere to sit. Flights were over an hour late taking off because of all the security checks.

I feel bad giving out about Kathmandu at the moment...

bnt

There are different kinds of bad, in my experience:
- worst airport to try to catch a plane: the old Bangalore airport. Wasn't even sure if I was getting on the right plane, and they managed to over-board it.
- worst airport for transfers: Heathrow.
- worst atmosphere: Pearson Intl. Toronto
- worst airport design: Paris CDG
- worst connections: Jan Smuts O.R. Tambo, Johannesburg.

PS re Gatwick: that might be my pick for overall Badness, but I see many others have already trashed it.

cml387

Sakhalin Island.

The toilets were infested with rats. The security area was patrolled by gigantic ex-soviet soldiers with fixed bayonets.All the announcements were in Swahili. There was a nest of killer bees in the smoking area and the one check in desk had a queue that stretched about eighteen miles. and was manned by Jeremy Beadle.

And the Costa coffee stand refused to stamp my get one free card.

Lia_lia

the evasion_kid wrote: »

Kerry airport....they were pushing the plane out onto the runway using a tractor ffs

That Airport is like it's stuck in the 80's or something. Especially the bar and restaurant area...

I miss the old Cork Airport. The fish were great!

Also hate Beauvais Airport. Used to fly in and out of there every few months when I was younger. Big difference to CDG.

Sh1tbag OToole

Lia_lia wrote: »

That Airport is like it's stuck in the 80's or something. Especially the bar and restaurant area...

I miss the old Cork Airport. The fish were great!

Also hate Beauvais Airport. Used to fly in and out of there every few months when I was younger. Big difference to CDG.

They should re-open the Cork old terminal, complete with all the arcade games from the early 90's. Those airports are the best

My favourite airports are the ones on Inis Mean and Inis Oirr. They are just like a persons house. I think when you get off the plane sometimes you don't even have to pass through a building. Which is how it should be, no bureaucratic nonsense or sending you past a mile of shops hoping to squeeze a few bob out of you

My name is URL

Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris

Chaotic and full of French people

anncoates

The subtle niche airport competition is building. Not long before somebody throws in something about a Malvinas or Antarctic makeshift runway.

Sh1tbag OToole

anncoates wrote: »

The subtle niche airport competition is building. Not long before somebody throws in something about a Malvinas or Antarctic makeshift runway.

Barra.

TimTim

My name is URL wrote: »

Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris

Chaotic and full of French people

That place is a cesspool and I religiously avoid it. It is also the only EU airport that I've had my Irish passport stamped in...

Adhamh

Mumbai is a strange one. A lot of money went into this huge modern place. I was in the country fifteen minutes before a guard tried to scam me - singled me out from a group of people walking through a door only to tell the only foreigner that I can't go in that way and if I want to go to the prepaid taxi counter the driver behind me knows everywhere. Added to this the gun turrets where soldiers glare at you over their sandbags and toilet floors literally plastered in ****, it's not really a place I plan on returning to.

Stormington

Lollipops23 wrote: »

Nice. It was terribly organised and the staff were awful.

So you'd say it was not Nice.

Istanbul Ataturk was manky, expensive (€5 for a can of coke) and poorly laid out a few years ago. I'm not sure how it has changed recently but I am in no rush to find out.

joe swanson

Izmir - an absolute hole

salmocab

CDG the staff seem to actively pursue the french stereotype of being rude and ignorant

JupiterKid

Heathrow. Very rude staff, a pain to get a transfer from one terminal to another and a general sense of crapness. That said, it does now have Terminal 5 which is nice. Gatwick is not that great either.

I've never been, but I saw a TV doc on Lagos Airport in Nigeria and it was truly dreadful!

paulie21

Blackpool. Charged us a £10 development fee just to go through to baggage check in. Only restaurant was closed as well

Mister Vain

Atlanta. As well as the usual tight security you'd expect in the U.S, its about 12 miles long.

The Backwards Man

paulie21 wrote: »

Blackpool. Charged us a £10 development fee just to go through to baggage check in. Only restaurant was closed as well

Every airport you've ever been in your life, even it's just a windsock and a runway, charges you a development fee. It's like a gorilla eating a banana at the zoo. Sometimes you see it, sometimes you don't.

JCX BXC

paulie21 wrote: »

Blackpool. Charged us a £10 development fee just to go through to baggage check in. Only restaurant was closed as well

I agree with you, its a cheeky annoying fee that's often missed. Same in Knock airport.

wpd

Manchester, locked in a corridor for half an hour with the rest of the flight after arriving from Dublin. It seems there security cameras
cant spot 150 Irish people hiding in a main corridor.

JCX BXC

wpd wrote: »

Manchester, locked in a corridor for half an hour with the rest of the flight after arriving from Dublin. It seems there security cameras
cant spot 150 Irish people hiding in a main corridor.

I'd be skeptical to the truth of that post, I have not seen a daily mail article on it

My name is URL

salmocab wrote: »

CDG the staff seem to actively pursue the french stereotype of being rude and ignorant

Ask them the simplest of questions and prepare for a rant about how busy the airport is and how shouting at people is the least they should expect. If they spent less time berating and arguing with anyone that dares ask them something they might get some work done.

You'd think they'd be proud of working for one of the world's best known and busiest airports like.. instead of resenting the fact that they do.

I was blown away by the ignorance when I first flew there.. and I'm not the politest of people myself. I just ignore it now and try not to interact with staff.

Honestly, they'd make AH seem more like the UN.

It definitely doesn't help to dispel the stereotype, but not all stereotypes are wrong anyway. The French aren't the most endearing of people at the best of times.

Sh1tbag OToole

wpd wrote: »

Manchester, locked in a corridor for half an hour with the rest of the flight after arriving from Dublin. It seems there security cameras
cant spot 150 Irish people hiding in a main corridor.

Ah but those are security cameras, which are outsourced to Gruppe Sechs Ltd. who are the only ones with access, who are the only ones who are allowed to access them according to the contract. The cameras are only allowed to be used for security purposes, by trained security personnel employed by Gruppe Sechs who are only allowed to communicate with other airport staff when a security issue arises.

Want a camera to check the length of the queue? That's another few million for some other company