Best airports you've been in

Witchie · 04-05-2015 07:19AM

Love Charlotte -Douglas North Carolina. It has oldie worldy charm with a treelined area with white porch rocking chairs. Its small and easy to negotiate.

Wish was going there instead of Philly today.

enda1 · 04-05-2015 07:30AM

American airports all automatically fail at the hurdle of airport security. The TSA are a horrible experience.

Mister Vain · 04-05-2015 07:35AM

fullstop wrote: »

I can think of plenty. There's **** all shops or restaurants. Nice building and very clean but don't know how people think it's the best.

One of the best I've been in is probably Philadelphia, from what I saw of it waiting for a connection. Nice, spacious and clean with loads of shops and restaurants.

I think T2 has more than enough shops and restaurants tbh. Do you really need so many shops and restaurants in an airport? If I want to go shopping I go to Blanchardstown. Maybe I'm just easy to please. Once I can grab a bite to eat and pick up a few travel necessities I'm happy.

dfx- · 04-05-2015 09:01AM

Zurich Airport by a long way

Port Elizabeth is nice, only about five gates though.

inforfun · 04-05-2015 09:42AM

Rotterdam.

As it was the closest to home i could ever fly.
I consider all airports a necessary evil. Spent way too much time on them relative to my average flight time.

fuerte1976 · 04-05-2015 09:57AM

Not the most impressive but the quickest experience - Hewannora airport in St Lucia. Hotel is 5 mins from Airport, check in takes 5 mins, security takes 5 mins and onto plane.

Honolulu was some sight alright viewing all the landmarks..
Shannon is brilliant. Quick and plenty of space. Cork not far off it. Was in T2 a few times but can't remember

Kerry for convenience but the ol' staff at security think they are FBI...

Turtyturd · 04-05-2015 10:26AM

martyos121 wrote: »

Worst I was in was Manchester. Looks more like a train station inside with the busyness of a major airport, nightmare to get out of.

Flew from Dublin to there a few years back. The marathon is probably shorter than the walk between terminals for connecting flights.

Egginacup · 04-05-2015 02:16PM

Samsgirl wrote: »

Flying into Honolulu airport was v interesting. We flew right over the Arizona monument in Pearl Harbour & could pick out landmarks connected to the invasion.

In fairness it wasn't actually an invasion but an attack. No Japanese troops landed.

Egginacup · 04-05-2015 02:27PM

JoannieG wrote: »

Sangster International in Montego Bay, Jamaica - it's bright, cheerful and happy! And has amazingly good duty free shops. T2 in Dublin is up there among the best, but the prize has to go to Carrickfinn in Donegal. It's small, intimate and very friendly. If only it had more flights and it wasn't so remote

Carrickfinn is really nice. I flew there to go to a wedding in Letterkenny. The flight from Dublin only took about 25 minutes. Turbo-prop aircraft flown by a pretty blonde female pilot. Coming back was great too. Just plonk yourself inside and get a beer from the little snack bar. Shame it's so far from everything. The drive from the airport to Letterkenny was over an hour.

Egginacup · 04-05-2015 02:38PM

Mister Vain wrote: »

I can't think of any airports that are better than Dublin T2.

Ah come on now. T2 is no great shakes. One fairly miserable bar before check-in. You go through check in and then you have that open plan cluster-fcuk and those massive escalators down to the gates. It's piss-poor if you ask me.

Lingua Franca · 04-05-2015 02:42PM

Another vote for Koh Samui here. Yes, I'd be delighted to stretch out on your lounge chair seating and gaze at the stunning view of the golden temple on the hill whilst being served cocktails, I don't mind a delay.

inforfun · 04-05-2015 02:43PM

**** yeah.... Forgot about Koh Samui airport

The nicest i have ever been for sure

Lingua Franca · 04-05-2015 02:45PM

There's a good article with plenty of pics of it here: http://skift.com/2013/06/30/nevermind-the-leisure-resort-behold-the-leisure-airport-of-koh-samui/#/0

munchkin_utd · 04-05-2015 02:46PM

funny that the airport in Europe that consistently gets awards for being the best isnt mentioned here, thats Munich by the way.

Probably as the main flights to Ireland are aer lingus which uses Terminal 1, which is not the most inspiring place in the world (but damn good if I am collecting you by car as its not even 20m from the luggage belt to where the drop off/ collection parking bay is ! ) but Terminal 2 is just bloody stupendous.

Security is a breeze, there's free coffee and newspapers when waiting on your flight and the selection of cafes and restaurants before or after security is very good.
The place is very well laid out and theres never a problem with crowds. Its just a relaxing place to be, which is not normal for an airport.

And obviously, the best bit is the on site micro brewery Airbräu which has pints for a mere €2.75 in an open air, yet covered, beergarden.

Der Meister · 05-05-2015 11:17PM

dfx- wrote: »

Zurich Airport by a long way

Port Elizabeth is nice, only about five gates though.

Big thumbs up for Zurich, never mind the expensive shops, but the train, that connects the terminals is great. You hear cows and yodeling and stuff like that

Jjiipp79 · 05-05-2015 11:23PM

I been to a good few but I can't remember one!

I'm heavy medicated when I fly....
But I think Dulles & Charlotte are nice!......the only reason I think this is because I had long stop overs in both and I can remember a little bit...

When the Sun Hits · 05-05-2015 11:24PM

Knock.

MarkAnthony · 05-05-2015 11:25PM

RAF Akrotiri

A different Lucy Lawless screen saver for every screen (about 30 of them) in the meteorology section.

ps3man · 05-05-2015 11:33PM

London City, I know its a little more expensive than LHR or LGW but its worth it.

branie2 · 05-05-2015 11:48PM

Lourdes airport

rainbow kirby · 06-05-2015 12:16AM

London City - 20 minutes from the office so it's perfect for a quick exit when heading back to Dublin for the weekend! Also pretty rock solid wifi and loads of places to charge phones and laptops.

snowstorm445 · 06-05-2015 12:51AM

Thought Barajas Airport in Madrid was decent; very clean, long spacious terminal (4, I think?), hard to get lost. :P

snowstorm445 · 06-05-2015 12:53AM

Punta Cana's Airport looks very cool and tropical as well, although the place in general looks class.

JoseJones · 06-05-2015 01:18AM

Munich and surprisingly Liverpool for me. Never busy and so easy to get in and out of, good selection of places to eat for a small airport. You can park up and be into the terminal and through security in 20 minutes.

Worst I have experienced has to be Salzburg. Way too small for the volume of passengers and absolutely nowhere to eat or sit down and chill out. Stressful!

Yamanoto · 06-05-2015 01:44AM

ps3man wrote: »

London City, I know its a little more expensive than LHR or LGW but its worth it.

Was checking out flights to LCY recently, as I'm taking the nephews to the Rugby World Cup in September.

Cityjet had some great fares on the DUB-LCY leg - loads of seats for sub €35.00 (all throughout the summer too).

As to the OP's question, I've flown just under 200K miles over the past 3 years & the airports that stand out for ease of transit & general agreeability are DUB T2, Cork, Munich, Grand Rapids & maybe even Atlanta too. I think we underestimate just how good DUB T2 is btw - fast free wifi, a short schlep to the gates & plenty of choice for pre-flight nosebag (though the fare on offer at the US gates could be improved).

beks101 · 06-05-2015 02:36AM

ps3man wrote: »

London City, I know its a little more expensive than LHR or LGW but its worth it.

Actually the last few times I've flown home it's been via City / BA because it has worked out to be quite a bit cheaper than the others. If you're willing to take an early morning or late night flight.

I quite liked Madrid airport when I was there, it's bleedin massive, like a small city. Denver airport was quite pleasant too, really big and shiny, lots of handy little cafes and restaurants and a really nice vibe to it. Lots of beautiful people knocking around too

TheLastMohican · 06-05-2015 03:39AM

Lia_lia wrote: »

Kerry of course!

You mean Farranfore International Airport

enda1 · 06-05-2015 07:44AM

TheLastMohican wrote: »

You mean Farranfore International Airport

It's actually not great though since they've the annoying habit of timetabling two flights for the same time departure leading to often queues of over a half an hour.

Sinfonia · 06-05-2015 10:51AM

I like being able to smoke after security, so Dublin's beer garden is great.

Otherwise, Vancouver is lovely. Barely even feels like an airport.

cournioni · 06-05-2015 12:16PM

Dubai and probably Las Vegas.

Best airports you've been in

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