What makes a good airport and what's your favourite?

[BenP]

Good public transport links to and from the airport terminal/s.

100% agree with this which is why domestically I like Brisbane and Sydney and Melbourne really needs to get a train.
Considering I'm going to be sitting for awhile I like airports where there are different areas I can walk around without having to leave the terminal from where I'm departing or re-clear security . Added bonus if there is something to look at PHX museum was pretty cool.

 

[offshore171]

#1 attribute for me is that it is connected to downtown by a train line.

Other factors:
Airport hotels that don't require car/bus shuttles
Places to eat and drink both air and land side
Clear signage ahead of security queues advising whether laptops in or out of bags, shoes on or off etc

 

[luxury-lizard]

Here's a couple from me which even the top rated airports don't always get right:-

• Clear signage everywhere including location of lounges
• Sufficient clean bathrooms
• Sufficient staffing for passport control, exit immigration and security (no waiting more than 10 minutes)
• No bussing gates
• High quality air-side hotels (in addition to those "yotels")
• Well organised transport to city with signage indicating pricing, distance, time etc etc
• And for those of us who travel in the "pointy-end" - decent lounges which sufficient space for peak periods (I'm looking at you - SQ in SIN - it's a total zoo around midnight), priority queuing for security and any other checkpoints

and the list goes on - no airport IMO gets a 10 out of 10.

 

[goldenhorn]

I vote for Changi as well. The SilverKris lounge in T3 is my happy place. The incredible food, the Champagne, lovely showers...it has it all.

 

[eastwest101]

Added to the above of all international and domestic under one roof, sufficient staff and space to handle pax loads, sufficient seating at or near gates and decent transportation links to nearby cities. I would also add an efficient and logical pick-up and drop-off zone, and well-designed roads into and out of the airport, so that its not a permanent traffic jam around the airport, no point having a bus every 5 minutes and/or Uber links to the city if everyone is stuck in traffic. Oh, and also well-signposted and properly maintained entry and exit gates to carparks that don't require an IT degree to operate or the driving skills of Fangio to enter/exit safely.

 

[GDSman]

I like LHR. Part of it is nostalgia - I've been passing through LHR for over 50 yrs. Memories of landing at T3 on GF to find a Concorde on the next gate. Bringing it up to present the transport links are amazing, whether into London (HEX, Elizabeth) and my most common of late, the National Express buses going all over the UK (I refuse to hire a car after a flight from Aus). Then on departure T3 has really picked up, I've never had a slow security experience and the lounges are good as others have said. I like HBA (yes really) as arriving there means I'm home and the air is so...bracing. And HEL, as mentioned before, is a great, efficient small airport with a good AY lounge.

 

[dajop]

One thing an airport has to be is fit for purpose. What makes a good airport for a long haul transit hub is going to be different to a short haul /domestic hub which in turn would be different for end of the line airport.

I think efficiency above all else. But otherwise, in addition to many of the items mentioned

1) Noise dampening - with the large hard-tiled monstrosities that modern airports tend to be, many of them are insufferably noisy (BKK - looking at you). A good airport has features that will dampen that noise (look at SIN T3 - it can be incredibly busy but still relatively quiet - in addition to carpet in many areas, there are also other design features that help contribute to noise dampening).
2) Intimacy - SIN and perhaps HKG to a lesser extent are both large airports, but still seem maintain a sense of intimacy . DXB on the other hand, like the city it serves, is big and glitzy and not to my taste at all.
3) Airports that have a good range of shops but don't feel like a shopping mall with an airport attached. In Europe for example - the likes of CPH, MAN and LHR just seem like giant shopping malls, whilst ZRH seems to maintain more of a balance.

A diverse range of airports I actually like that meet the fit for purpose criteria well includes LCY, ZRH, SIN, HKG, ADL, USM, OSL, amongst others.

 

[stm1sydney]

SIN - Changi by a mile.

 

[smiliemonster]

Security that doesn't require you to take anything out. Bliss!

 

[antycbr]

Where the gate is a literal gate:

 

[elanshin]

Personally, HKG is still the top airport for me. Whether thats the Pier F/J lounges to the general openess and different seats (they even have lounging semi closed pods that beat most lounge chairs) out in various areas.
Connectivity is good with the MTR or the Buses to various areas of the city.
Good amount of food and shopping throughout the airport both airside and some landside. The airside even extends to all the branches rather than the central area. Lots of cool features. My only real pet peeve (and it's a first world one) is that the people mover only goes one direction. I have to walk all the way back from the Pier.

Singapore is a close second and if we include Jewel then it'll definitely take the crown in the entertainment department. But the actual inside of the terminal, I find I like HKG better.

Have only been to a few NA airports but the new LGA is really really nice. You can see they've taken inspiration from some of the better airports out there and it feels brighter and roomier which is a stark difference between the old LGA airport which was a coughhole.

 

[elanshin]

The major Japanese airports are quite good at almost everything, besides the shutdown of public transport overnight (a big problem for HND) and the total randomness of processing through arrivals.

Its a problem for NRT too if you arrive too late or get delayed at immigration. With HND at least your taxi bill doesn't look astronomical.

The other thing about JP airports that catches a lot of people out is that they're not aware a lot of the shopping/restaurant areas are BEFORE security for both domestic and International. JP security and boarding is hyper efficient so I understand but to many tourists, they don't realise this, go inside too early and have a much much smaller choice of food (oh and their domestic lounges just tend to be nicer waiting rooms).

 

[clifford]

oh and their domestic lounges just tend to be nicer waiting rooms

The whiskey is a bonus though. And a smattering of snack food.

 

[Himeno]

HKG took a big drop for me when they rolled out their biometric boarding system. I don't mind the concept of such a thing. I do mind that the system shoves the camera feed in your face and forces you to look at it.

 

[rbjhan]

Not surprisingly HKG & SIN are my top two.
SIN is better in terms of hotels if you need it... HKG has better lounges IMHO.
Every time I went to T 3 silver kris it was a zoo!

 

[elanshin]

HKG took a big drop for me when they rolled out their biometric boarding system. I don't mind the concept of such a thing. I do mind that the system shoves the camera feed in your face and forces you to look at it.

SIN has also rolled out biometric passport clearance too a couple of years ago to enter the main airside. I don't think that's that much different to boarding which they could do if they wanted to install it at every gate.

 

[mbe1510]

Singapore is always a very pleasant airport to transfer through or start/end a journey. I enjoy how peaceful it feels (must be the carpet), no matter the time of day. I once had a 24-hour airside layover thanks to a Qantas delay (UK261), and I certainly wasn’t short of things to do—plane spotting, swimming, lounge hopping sleeping, and, of course, exploring.

I don’t mind Dubai either. Another airport where transferring between terminals is quick, even with the flood of passengers from multiple EK flights. European airports, particularly CDG, always feel like a zoo by comparison.

I do appreciate our domestic airports at home. While not exactly “wow,” I enjoy how chilled flying domestic is compared to the often slow and tedious international-like experience in Canada or the US.

 

[RooFlyer]

You'd have to say that USA airports have improved over the past decade. I mean, LAX is even tolerable now, esp with 100% airside interconnection. DFW is efficient for getting around but doesn't rate much in other criteria. Lounges - the AA ones are OK, maybe good on a good day and if you have Flagship First dining. Haven't been to non-OW ones. Non lounge activities - those dreary shops. A good airport must have a good landside hotel with covered and level-walkable from arrivals/immigration. I don't have 100% confidence in USA airports' ATC safety, in general - or, put better, lower confidence than other western airports.

Obviously any place with e-gates goes up the rankings. CHP recently had just 3 manual booths for hundreds departing!

I do think security set-up is important in ranking. The length of wait, the clarity of what needs to be taken out, even the attitude of the staff there. USA airports generally rank lower on those ... you can get some downright hostile agents there (and not just there).

Security at the gate - Changi - I was going to say how I groan every time I approach it, but then I realised I do that for any security and with Changi - well, within 5-10 mins of security you are on the plane with a bevvy (assuming J ). Changi airport is just pleasant to be in and I can't recall it ever feeling crowded. Early-check in at the Jewel. Immigration - well, choose which e-gate you want. SQ lounges can get crowded (except TPR ) , OW ones - just wow for the number and variety.

Certainly Asian airports seem to get it right. HKG very very good, but gets a bit crowded when I've been there; city check-in, and the lounges - wow.

Let the people who have no interest in looking at the shops actually go to the gate and wait for their flight and free up space around the shops so that the people who do want to look at the shops and buy things can actually do so without getting stuck in a maze of people just standing around taking up space.

In my investment banking days, I was on the team advising a buy-side consortium, looking at DRW amongst others. Awful airport! they said. Low value. We'll have to spend a LOT on changes if we buy it.

Um... why?...everyone thought, - it had a great new-ish terminal, very efficient, a breeze from check-in to gate.

Answer: At any airport we own, you can't go from check-in to the gate without passing at least 50 shops!

 

[elanshin]

In my investment banking days, I was on the team advising a buy-side consortium, looking at DRW amongst others. Awful airport! they said. Low value. We'll have to spend a LOT on changes if we buy it.

Um... why?...everyone thought, - it had a great new-ish terminal, very efficient, a breeze from check-in to gate.

Answer: At any airport we own, you can't go from check-in to the gate without passing at least 50 shops!

I think this is why I prefer SYD T1 to MEL T2.

I can walk past the duty free pretty quickly and get to the Macca's area (or the lounge) where as MEL is a winding path through the shops.

My surprising NA pick is LGA. Huge transformation from one of the worst to now one of the best in NA. Just shows that even in the US, if someone wants to make it good, it can be done.

 

[trooper]

i understand why we are talking about the BIG international airports, and there are a lot of great answers here as to what makes a good one. BUT...to answer the SECOND part of the question, my actual FAVOURITE airports are the small or smallish regionals... Here and in North America. Ideally two carousels., and walk out on the tarmac to the aircraft. Usually friendly staff. WTB. LST. NCL. MLU. CEZ. YXS.