Love them or hate them, flying will always involve passing through airports. Sometimes this can be a seamless and even enjoyable experience, while visiting some airports can be truly trying. This week our members discuss which airports, in their opinions, are the worst in the world.
One member is particularly unimpressed by their home airport of Melbourne for, among other things, the amount of queuing involved and the lack of a smoking lounge.
I’ve travelled to Europe quite a lot, and to Asian countries along the way, and when I arrive back in Melbourne the contrast is pretty stark – they built it in the sixties, and it shows. Every other airport I’ve been too looks better than Melbourne does.
Be it leaving or arriving there, there are always far more queues to get through than anything I experience overseas. Last time I left the country, I was in agony from an ultra aching foot when I finally got into the plane, caused by an hour and a half (or more) of queuing.
A number of our members actually disagree with this criticism of Melbourne’s airport. For some, Melbourne is a great airport due to its linked terminal design that makes connecting a breeze.
However, almost all of our members can agree when it comes to some of the shockers overseas. Rome, London, New York and even Perth all call home to some of the airports despised by our members. And it’s not just large airports that get a mention – one member adds Haikou Airport (HAK) in China to the list for an interesting reason.
Out of the major airports visited CDG is my least favourite followed by JFK.
But the overall worst airport must be HAK which offers a unique combination of urine and cigarette smoke odour inside the terminal.
Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG) in Paris is a commonly-hated airport, but probably the most disliked among our members is Manila’s international airport (MNL) in the Philippines. AFF is littered with horror stories from members with bad experiences in Manila’s airport. In particular, Terminal 1 seems to take the cake when it comes to disorganisation and general chaos.
MNL for me…
Terminal 1 especially. Bad design, all the gates go into each other so everyone lining up is just a big unorganised mess. Takes ages to transfer between terminals and all the flights are always delayed due to air traffic.
Which airport do you rate the world’s worst? Add it to the mix HERE.
