Europe's Worst Airports
 

Perhaps I missed it, but I didn't see any discussion of this article in the Sunday NY Times, which I thought was kind of interesting (no surprise Heathrow was the worst)

http://preview.tinyurl.com/332wcf


The article really was about the world's best airports, and Zurich and Madrid were mentioned in Europe, but none in the USA (not surprising).

It did give some good tips for those who can't decide where to transfer, though, I thought. I didn't know Frankfurt was considered bad, myself.

We flew into and out of Frankfurt at the end of October. I was surprised at how sad it was. I hesitate to judge an airport by difficulties when we arrive not knowing for sure how much is a result of being sleep deprived. However, I do recall having some issues finding where to catch the train, something we have done successfully at many European airports. Still, might have just been the lack of sleep issue.

When leaving, we had no delays, but the waiting area for our flight out was a dungeon with a small bathroom and one small vending machine. Going back out to get anything to eat or drink meant going back through a level of security, though as I recall, it was not the main security line. The area was packed with only standing room the last hour or so before the flight left, loud (no carpet nor anything else to absorb sound), nothing on the walls, generally unpleasant all around.

When we return from trips to Europe, though, I am always aware at how unwelcoming U.S. airports tend to be to foreign travelers. I have a little trouble figuring out how to get out of them at times. I'm not sure how someone who doesn't know the language manages. PJK

My vote for Europe's worst Airport is Rome (FCO) The main terminal is the pits.

Worst in what way?

Most inappropriate for its footfall - Pisa

Dirtiest facilities - Pisa

Most dangerous runway - Corfu

Longest walk - Palma (must be the biggest one terminal airport in the world)

Most expensive burgers - Tromso £12

Hottest without Aircon - Limassol 48oC nearly died that day

I'd vote for de Gaulle...I KNOW there has to be more than one rest room, but most of us see to find only this one tiny loo with about three stalls.

airport with most goats on runway, Barbuda.

Wish people would check their facts before publishing an article - Heathrow allows 2 bags now as do most UK airports with the notable exception of Gatwick

Flying American Airlines from the U.S. into and out of Charles de Gaulle this summer was awful. So many people in the terminal that we could barely push our way through. Bad signage. Long security lines.

CDG can be pretty bad, especially if you are traveling at any high-traffic time. Just try to use the elevator to get from the main floor to the floor to catch the bus (to the RER), I dare you. People wield their luggage-laden carts like chariots in "Ben-Hur".

I'd take Heathrow over De Gaulle any day! That airport was terrible, and we had a heck of a time just figuring out how to get out of it. We finally ended up in some stairwell that we probably shouldn't have been in and somehow exited from a service door at the bottom of the stairs. No ATM to be found so we had to use an exchange bureau, and overall just a mess!

Tracy

>>airport with most goats on runway, Barbuda.<<

Airport with most gazelle on runway, Seronera Valley, Serengeti NP, Tanzania. :-D

Frankfurt. We thought we were trapped in some weird 1984-esque nightmare.

I don't mind Heathrow that much. Not the best, but I will take any EU-EU-US connection over any EU-US-US connection, if only to avoid the stupid collect bags/clear customs/recheck bags fiasco. Besides, the whisky selection at Heathrow makes up for a lot. Combined with a quick tipple in the BA lounge and you have yourself a winner.

Not sure how Zurich beat Schiphol in the noted study, though. Schiphol is just as efficient, despite being significantly bigger and with significantly better and more numerous services.

Heimdall

sorry that is childs play -

runway with a road running across it, with traffic lights to stop the traffic so the planes can land that also is too short and runs directly into the sea and has had three planes slide into the sea (try saying all that without breathing) -
Corfu - there was a time when pilots started to rewfuse to land there.

Dallas was certain a subject for the worst airport, especially about transferring from overseas to a US destination.

Coming Madrid to Los Angeles, you had one hour to pick up your bags, pass through the customs and immigration, give you bags to the carrier and then chase across the airport to find your new gate. You'll be running through the whole terminal, drooling on the food stalls alongside, until you barely make your next flight.

Frankfurt's airport is not as bad as everybody mentions. You can find this being a nice airport, if you've been there a few times. Good services below the airport, the train to the city is downstairs too. You have a four star hotel on-site and a lovely restaurant within ten minutes of drive. The photoshops in Frankfurt used to sell Nikon products very, very cheap. I could buy lens cheaper than New York prices. You can even spend some hours at Dr.Mueller's Sex Shop, if you need to pass some time. It's sure better than the Dallas airport.

Blackduff

I had one of the worst experiences ever at CDG, so that's my vote.

Where possible, when flying from Australia to Europe, I choose Frankfurt. I always exit there very easily through efficient customs and immigration procedures, and catching a train to Frankfurt (or anywhere else in Europe)is simply a matter of an escalator ride. My main requirement of a 'good' airport is one that is efficient in processing me on and off a plane, and, at this task, Frankfurt is the best of the major European hubs such as CDG, Heathrow, Schipol, or Rome.

<i>Wish people would check their facts before publishing an article - Heathrow allows 2 bags now as do most UK airports with the notable exception of Gatwick...</i>

IIRC this article was published before BAA announced the relaxation.

Biggest cluster-&quot;something&quot;: CDG
Second-biggest cluster: EWR

Depending on my mood and whether or not Tony Soprano has stopped by this week to collect his vig, EWR and CDG can switch places. Like when the pilot comes on the intercom and says that the flight is #25 for departure....

Most in need of expansion: Lisbon, with exactly 8 individual restroom stalls -- 4 male, 4 female -- for 8 gates. No, it wasn't 4 stalls grouped together with common facilities, it was 4 individual stalls spread out, each with one toilet and one sink. [In fairness, over in the Portugal forum, a Lisboeta reported that the Portuguese government in the past week has picked a site for a new LIS airport, so this problem will allegedly be solved in 10 years or so.]

What irritates me more than the claim bags - clear customs - recheck bags thing here in the US is having to go back through the Totally Stupid A$$holes in airport security. Hello, I've been in a secure area for 10+ hours, either in the departure airport, on a plane (where it's really hard to smuggle in a gun at 35,000 feet), or in US Customs, so why in the hell do I need to go back through airport security? At least in ATL you have your own dedicated security checkpoint in Concourse E, but damn if EWR Terminal C-3 isn't completely idiotic: you have to go back through the security line with EVERYBODY. Woe unto thee if you are arriving on a holiday weekend and you have a tight connection.

We understand Heathrow's British Air situation will improve with the opening of their combined new terminal this spring. It can't happen soon enough.

Last fall, flying from Chicago to Rome via London, we went through the exasperating transfer proceedure from one BA terminal to another via bus, long lines, and frisking. On paper, it looked as if we had plenty of time. We made our London/Rome connection by the skin of our teeth. Aaaaargh!!!

My vote goes to Frankfurt for all the reasons mentioned by PJK - NOTHING to look at, NOTHING to do and NOWHERE to sit. Yikes.

Still, as long as the flight is on time and is safe and successful - I'm not too picky.

MollyB

Vienna. Twenty gates, one round concourse, 4 seats.

Another vote for CDG. Two non-EU passport control booths serving thousands of early morning passengers. However, they do have a well-staffed desk for people who have missed their connecting flights.

I was told when we made our Paris reservations that we need to be at CDG min of 3 hrs before fligt time. This is in effect for Rome, Paris and Heathrow.

Schipol is the best and most efficiently designed airport I've ever been thru. Brussels is ok if you are on United...Heathrow is my number one nemesis and I always try to avoid it......CDG is...well....Paris! Try and bone up a little before hand.

No one has mentioned the weirdest runway of them all...Gibraltar!!

In an auto, you MUST actually drive across the runways to get into town. I know, I've done it...not without severe trepidation and a wife whose eyes remained tightly closed for ten minutes!

Stu T.

I hate Heathrow for one reason - their incomprehensible need to display gate numbers mere minutes before boarding, requiring a person to run to their gate. Has anyone else noticed this? Have been through Heathrow twice, and same thing each time.

Oh it's all too weird and too depressing, especially as I have to use some of these maligned airports for several flights in March.

Yes, I would expect Fiumicino to be inefficient, because it's staffed by ITALIANS -- people I adore but on whom I would fain rely.

However, I've not yet (touch wood) had a bad experience at FCO and -- as long as your luggage arrives -- it is a dream of an airport for arrivals.

As in: 20 minutes from deplaning to luggage retrieval, immigration clearance and ticket purchase for the train to Rome Termini...

Contrast that with my usual 30-45 minutes to get a hearing with the immigration Nazis of my own beloved Canada, whenever I return from abroad.

Now, CDG: Who ever expected France to be simple or convenient? But the architecture -- those arching scallop-shell glass roofs in Terminal whatsis -- well, it's pretty chic isn't it?

I've never tried to learn my way around CDG, in 30 years of travelling through it. I just follow the signs or the non-signs and somehow I always get where I need to be.....

And if I get lost, I amuse myself watching the crowds assembling for their flight to Ouagadougou. Really, CDG has the MOST heterogeneous assortment of travellers!

Frankfurt? Never a bad experience but I've been there only 4 times or so. Only failing is their propensity to change gates for flights AFTER they have issued your boarding pass. Kinda unsettling, to put it mildly!!

Schiphol? No complaints there either. Love the link to downtown, too (just as in Frankfurt).

Well I guess I am screwed! We are flying to CDG this summer, our first family european vacation and out of CDG at the end, AND we don't speak French!
Well at least we will be in Europe!

girlonthego--

Don't let the comments about CDG scare you off. We've flown in and out of there numerous times and never had a problem. Yes, it is ugly, depressing, strangely laidout and lacking amenities compared to other airports. But, we have never gotten lost or had a problem there. Just be sure to arrive 3 hours early if you are flying home to the US from there.

Yes, julies. I think we should also caveat all of this with some perspective. CDG stinks. LHR is no picnic. FRA yadda yadda.

All of them serve over 50 million passengers each year. They are big and crowded and impersonal, but large numbers of those 50 million people manage these airports with minimal disruption, and the horror stories that we hear about should be considered in the context of just how many people actually fly through them.

Going home through CDG, we are flying Air Berlin from Vienna and are planning to spend the night before at a CDG airport hotel. So, we will be there in the morning!
Does anyone know off hand if the small inter country flights allow for carry on baggage? We are on Luftansa to Munich and then Air Berlin on return.

It was just funny that everyone here slammed CDG and that is our main entry and exit point to Europe. Also, not speaking French does not help I am sure. But we can deal with it. I will make my kids ask questions in Spanish and German. What is the worst that can happen, we wind up somewhere else in Europe instead of a flight back to the US...:) hmmmm... maybe I can work on that!

Both Lufthansa and Air Berlin have carry-on weight restrictions of less than 10kg. I do not know how strictly these will be enforced, but I have seen reports that Lufthansa is one of the stricter carriers about these weights.

While CDG is a huge airport, my most nerve shredding experience was in Feb when they took apart my bags...its was a slow day in security. While this was happening my hubby and I waited patiently as a truly ugly American came stomping up to the security area demanding to be be allowed thru at once as she had a flight to catch. I myself was there only for the entertainmment. No wonder people have such disdain for American travlers when we have such an attitude of entitlement. My husband and I truly hoped she missed her flight. But be warned: the EU is not fooling around when it comes to liquids (even Rx) in carryons.This includes items purchased at duty free.

Both Lufthansa and Air Berlin are very relaxed. They never weigh. I very often take a 18kg-suitcase on the plane, never had a problem. They are also very relaxed regarding the number of carry-ons. The general rule is: As many pieces as you can carry.

Thanks for the info! I bought everyone a rick steves 7lb suitcase. I purposely did that because of weight restrictions. Ijust hope we can fit two weeks in there :) I told DH and the kids we will pack lots of underwear and shirts!

I am surprised that no one has mentioned Florence. That is a hideous airport. Quite remarkable being that it is Florentine.

CDG is bad but it is far more palatable if you fly with Air France. That terminal is actually convenient. Also, it is unfortunate that San Francisco's new international terminal isn't mentioned. I think it is one of the best in the US

I disagree with the earlier disparaging remarks about DFW. I fly from and to Dallas-Fort Worth frequently and find it far superior to most American and European airports. There is easy parking, decent food, and places to sit where you can breathe and have several seats to yourself. The airport is clean and the new international terminal is very nice.

For me, Heathrow still is at the top of my European airport avoidance list.

In the US, sorry packed, but DFW and I do not work. In the last 2 years, all 7 of my flights through there have been delayed or cancelled. And so I walk out of the secured area to find out what is going on. Why there was no weather condition that would keep my last plane from landing but yet clear blue skies are keeping my connecting flight from departing.

What's outside of the secured area? Nothing! Absolutely nothing but a narrow walkway between the windows onto the street and the ticket counters full of stressed out AA employees.

&quot;Hottest without Aircon - Limassol 48oC nearly died that day&quot; There's an airport in Limassol?


Moscow Sheremetyevo I and II are very grim indeed

FRA confusing if you have to connect with long distances between gates

ZRH and MAD do not have the same no of passengers passing thru as CDG/LHR and are much smaller.

DFW terminal D(??) is very nice although duty free shops have very little in them.