heart bleeds for BAA

[PRC1964]

Istanbul airport is great. If you're lucky you might be able to join an impromptu barbeque: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6175893.stm

[Cliphead]

Do they still stop and point at planes in the sky in Scotland?

The locals have been known to throw bread to a passing police helicopter.

[expat]

I can recommend Fairoaks, Surrey:-

Not useful in my normal flying schedule I'm afraid.

[Hart-floot]

Heathrow is the worst!!!
The best recently for me were Schipol and Frankfurt.

Best for me was Oslo , calm and efficient

Worst Madrid, but that was the old terminal. Not sure if the new one at barajas is up and running yet

[LegendsWear7]

Oslo - one of the best.
Klagenfurt - too easy, effortless.
Frankfurt - very good for its size.
Manchester - never had a problem there.
Heathrow - 3rd World. Welcome to UK plc.

[LegendsWear7]

Best for me was Oslo , calm and efficient

Worst Madrid, but that was the old terminal. Not sure if the new one at barajas is up and running yet

New Barajas has been up and running for a while. Stunning design, high quality fittings. Far too big. Typical Spanish organisation. Been there 4 /5 times this year. Biggest downer is Iberia dominating the show. Govt. backed assholes. Avoid.

[expat]

New Barajas has been up and running for a while. Stunning design, high quality fittings. Far too big. Typical Spanish organisation. Been there 4 /5 times this year. Biggest downer is Iberia dominating the show. Govt. backed assholes. Avoid.

Terminal great, eating outlets not. Cafeteria is a bit transport caff. Website and onsite plan also shows 2 actual restaurants after security, but when I went there, one was closed ("why is it closed?" - "Yes. It is closed") and the other was in a different section that I couldn't get to, not shown that way on the plans.

Also typical Spanish. I like Madrid, just not the airport.

PS The airport is big because they paid for the airport extension the same way as the Metro extension to the airport, and the M40 ring motorway: with EU money.

[Gonzo]

The first time I flew from London City I asked where the business lounge was...only to be informed there was no business lounge. However once you get in to the lounge area it might as well be as its actually quite nice.

Still get annoyed at having to take my shoes off though!

Mailman

They had stopped making people take their shoes off three weeks ago. They still confiscated our lighters though.

City Airport is still my favourite in the UK.
Edinburgh 2nd favourite for ease of use.

Frankfurt - pretty good, although we got caught up in the long queues for passengers trying to board a plane for the States - even though we were flying back to the UK. FFS.

Oslo - pretty good, very pleasant.
Singapore - ultra efficient. Best I've ever been through.
Luxembourg - very efficient but a bit shabby (they are building a new terminal at the minute)
Jersey was efficient and nice but don't go through security until the last minute because the only things the other side are the duty free shop and the departure gates.

Auckland - pleasant but queues can be long (both incoming and outgoing - although the immigration section had improved enourmously last time I was there).

Antwerp - the most surreal experience I have ever had - only people in the check in area when we arrived were a couple of old codgers sitting chatting but weren't going on any flights. Waited there for an hour - lots of people walked through but didn't have any luggage and didn't look like they were travelling anywhere. The cafe was full (of non-travellers), but it was the only thing that was open. There were nine check in counters but only two had computer terminals on them! Eventually they opened one of them for our flight.

[Back In Business]

Zurich airport is by far the best I've been in - the new one anyway. They have the longest lounge bar in the airline world (Swiss International Lounge). Not sure if that means much, but the experience was very good in general.

In the UK London City and Birmingham Intl. are the best (both non-BAA).

The worst is Coventry Intl. which is actually just a collection of sheds. I'm forced to use it because my client buys the tickets. The only good thing is that it only takes 15 minutes from landing to exiting the terminal.

[bobhope]

I thought LHR was the worst until one time I flew into Luton, which manages to combine the incompetence of Heathrow with the chavness of Gatwick in one package.

Zürich - I kind of preferred the old airport, which was an airport with a couple of shops. Now it seems more of a shopping mall that just happens to have a few planes flying in and out.