Thursday, August 23,
2007
Airports are terminal misery, the slowest common denominator in air travel for most people these days. Airports distill all that is frustrating, and infuriating, in modern life, and present it to us relentlessly. Airports may be gateways to hell, but some serve it up better (or worse) than others.
The 2007 Airport of the Year survey by Skytrax Research, hard on the heels of its 2007 Airline of the Year survey (reported on Aug. 10), names Hong Kong International "best airport in the world," followed by both Incheon International in Seoul and Singapore Changi in second place, then Munich, Kuala Lumpur International, Zurich, Amsterdam Schiphol, Vancouver International, Kansai International and Madrid Barajas.
The survey is based on more than 7.8 million interviews with respondents throughout the world and covers 170 airports. Judging covers more than 40 categories of product and service quality - such as cleanliness, staff efficiency and courtesy, signage and walking distances, as well as shopping, dining options, security processing and immigration waiting times. "Top of passenger priorities are ease of airport usage and waiting times," said Edward Plaisted, chief executive of Skytrax. "Travelers expect security processing to incur some delays, but are disappointed, often annoyed, if security facilities are inadequate. Waiting in line for 30 minutes to find only half the available security scanners open, is a frequent complaint.
The best airports in each region are: Asia: Hong Kong, Singapore, Seoul; Australia/Pacific: Sydney, Auckland, Brisbane; Middle East: Dubai, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi; South America: Buenos Aires, Santiago, Sao Paulo; Southern Europe: Madrid, Athens, Istanbul; Africa: Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban; Europe: Munich, Zurich, Amsterdam; North America: Vancouver, Denver, Atlanta; Central/Eastern Europe: Prague, Budapest, Moscow Domodedovo.
Singapore was voted "best duty free shopping" and "leisure amenities"; Hong Kong, "best airport dining" and "best security processing"; Abu Dhabi, "best baggage delivery"; Seoul Incheon, "best international transit" and "cleanest washrooms"; Zurich, "best immigration service"; and Auckland, friendliest staff.
Finding somebody with something good to say about Heathrow Airport in London is about as likely as having your bags appear on the carousel.
This is the consensus among hapless travelers fed up with delays and indignities at the busiest international airport, which handles more than 67 million passengers a year - 60,000 people a day more than its four terminals were designed to - and which has been thrown into chaos by the perverse government rule that restricts passengers to one carry-on bag, with predictable knock-on effects for hold baggage. I know long-haul business travelers who will avoid Heathrow in favor of Continental European hubs.
According to an experiment commissioned by Silverjet, which operates all-business class flights between London Luton and New York Newark, and conducted by the neuropsychologist David Lewis, the stress that passengers endure when traveling through Heathrow is higher than that of a Formula 1 driver during a race, a free-fall parachutist during a descent, or riot police confronting a stone-throwing mob.
"Heart rates and physiological stress levels of the travelers peaked at four times their normal resting levels during the trial," Lewis said.
So you may share my surprise to learn that Heathrow rates only third place, behind London Gatwick and Stansted in a league table of "British Airports of Shame," compiled by the travel agency Travel Counsellors. Travel Counsellors is "calling for travelers to voice the facts about badly managed UK airports so that the results can be gathered to pressure airports and political authorities to make changes."
According to 7,000 "unique" visitors to the Web site who had recorded airport delays, the five "worst-ranking" British airports (as of Aug. 13) are Gatwick, Stansted, Heathrow, Manchester and Leeds Bradford, based on average waiting times in check-in, security and immigration.