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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Now so far-flung and disconnected I once arrived 1:30 before my flight and, after the queue at the UAL ticker counter and security, made it only because it departed an hour late. And, no, I was not singled out at the checkpoint. That would have been even worse.
I've also waited 55 minutes for baggage, and that was baggage that was on the flight! When it was misdirected, even worse.
Most favorite, for its quaintness and sheer simplicity: Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. It's a big bigger than the shed that is Bamako's, but a far cry from the chaos that is Dakar. OUA airport is great. It's 5 minutes to downtown, and full of characters. They hand write your ticket, as often the computers are down.
The best part of the OUA experience is that despite its tiny size, you still have to line up and take a bus to the plane. You could walk to the plane in the amount of time it takes to get on and off the bus, but no matter! take the bus. Oh, development gone horribly wrong.
The biggest disgrace of an airport is Charles De Gaulle, with its ridiculous bus system that takes you to the far reaches of nowhere to deliver you to a terminal, only to be met with unsmiling and impatient Air France workers.
In late 2003, I flew from Denpasar [DPS] on Bali to Ujung Pandang aka Makassar [UPG] on Sulawesi on a dive trip. I forgot to pack my folding knife in checked baggage. When I got to the final magnetic gate, I was prepared to lose it. Instead they sent me to a young lady nearby who took my info and my knife, packed it for the flight crew, and I had it back in my pocket on arrival well before anyone's baggage came onto the arrival belt. In the "land of the free", I'd still be in jail. This was almost a year after the Kuta bombing on Bali that killed over 200. Thumbs up for common sense in Denpasar in Indonesia.
-a Vietnam vet and old fart
a worst, Bucharest, no escalators & very surly security
a best, Prague small but beautiful
a most chaotic, Frankfurt
If you have a connection in Heathrow Terminal 3 DO NOT TAKE THE INTERNAL TRANSFER LINE.
The British are very suspicious of security from other Airports ever since the bomb that took down Pan Am 103 came in on a connection from Cyprus (in checked luggage) and so they make all the transfer passengers go through security even though they are on the supposedly secure side of the terminal.
Instead, just pass regular immigration -- in most cases it's faster and check in from the other side.
Oh, and if you go through Heathrow a lot -- do the Iris thing.
I'm the guy who said how bad the Delhi airport was, and have spent some time at various airports in India. Trivandrum is probably the best, so I'm not sure if you've been there recently. As far as service it might the best airport I've been to anywhere--we were blown away by how we were looked after from the moment we entered the door to the time we boarded our flight. I think it is actually pretty new, so maybe you are speaking of an old airport? I was there Dec 31st, 2006.
Recent zoos I have flown through
Marakech -- oh god, filthy, nasty, ripoff central (but not Dakar)
Kennedy -- not great (except for the Virgin Lounge) and New Yorkers make Parisians seem friendly and helpful
CDG-Paris -- sprawling, designed by an architect for whom the look of the terminal seemed to matter more than practicality, not helped by the surly Air France staff (only beaten by New Yorkers)
Dulles -- the security is hell
Dublin -- in principle a nice ariport, nice people, always getting enlarged to two sizes too small for the traffic, but since the reorganised security that is efficient, baggage delivery sucks, Ryanair are a bunch of gobshites and Aer Lingus wants to catch up
Shannon -- I hear that since compulsory trans-Atlantic stopovers ended, the Shannon shops now open when flight get in and taxis arive, rather than leaving one 2-hours at the Airport. In the bad old-days when Aeroflot hubbed there the duty free was full of broke Russian fishermen on leave (from Cuba mostly) wandering around looking at all the nice stuff they could not buy.
Heathrow -- oh god. The only good news is that the British Airports Authority is likely to be broken up as a result of the Ferroviare takeover, and their management at Heathrow and Gatwick seem to love the idea -- what else could explain the jaw-dropping incompetence -- the security lines not opened despite massive queus, the elevators and escalators broken for months, the dirt and dinge (and the birdshit covering the walls of one baggage hall, I think terminal 1.) Terminal 2 (andyone who thinks 1 or 3 are bad need to see 2) This is when you realise Britain is a third world country, this is when investment goes to Ireland.
Chicago O'Hare's United Terminal -- hey its run by United, which means it's going to be grim and it is, and United check-in is the worst, most half witted I have ever seen. But could they get some decent food -- not Chillis.
Bankok -- not bad actually
Tokyo -- not too bad, too far out, and remember if you are going to take the Nippon Express train, Tokyo stations do not have luggage carts, including about 100 meters of Narita station
Zurich - as dull as the Zurchers, do not find yourself in Zurich airport for hours.
Munich -- check in as late as possible, crap terminal (do not know about Lufthansa)
Marseilles Marielle -- dull place to be stuck for more than an hour.
Washington National Airport (no one with a brain calls it Reagan) -- pretty decent
San Francisco -- suffers from the United dominance -- so it can be grim
Rome -- nice country, good food, what happened at the Airport? yikes.
Brussels-Zaventem -- its been a while, so-so
Amsterdam -- clean, well laid out, dull place to eat, go into Amsterdam.
Alicante -- nice country, good food, what happened at the Airport? yikes BAAAAAD English food in the pub, burger king - why no Tapas
Barcelona -- security slow
Seoul - ok but the taxi drivers into the city!!
Lisbon - ok
Montpellier - ok
Rochester NY -- hmmm, btter than Rochester the city
Istambul -- ok
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Salon headlines in your mailbox
