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Friday, May 25, 2007 12:00 AM

Ask the Pilot

A filthy lobby, sullen-faced employees, no place to sit, and a vague sense of danger all add up to the World's Worst Airport.

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  • Friday, June 1, 2007 10:51 PM

    FZAA - Kinshasa Ndjili, DR Congo

    Compared to FZAA, DKR is a wonderland. At Ndjili, the moment you exit your vehicle, you are accosted by a "protocol" officer, who snatches your documents and expects a bribe in return for his "service" of moving you through the airport. It's nearly impossible to navigate check-in, customs, and immigration without paying a bribe, and once you part with several pristine, post 2001-series $20 bills, you wait in a hellaciously hot room with 200 others who are waiting for different flights because despite the fact that this is airport serves a city of 8 million, there's only one gate apiece for domestic and international flights.

    In the only indication that your flight is leaving, an attendant walks towards the tarmac yelling a flight number, freeing you to jostle for an unassigned seat on the flight. All Congolese airlines are forbidden to land in the EU (save one plane) because of FZAA's lax security. Luggage isn't searched (unless officials want a bribe).

    Arrival at Ndjili is a nightmare: luggage used to be passed through a hole in the wall, taxi drivers try to charge passengers $100 for the 45-minute ride into the city, and bribes aplenty are requested.

    I do hear that Lagos is worse.

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