Thoughts from the well traveled? The only airport on the list that I’ve been it is Frankfurt, and that was almost 30 years ago, so I can’t really comment myself.
Surprised Mumbai didn’t make the list - large crowds, unruly behavior, corrupt customs officers, lack of helpful signs… OTOH, airports in Kerala and Goa are pretty relaxed and less crowded. Can’t speak to customs officials’ behavior, probably still corrupt. On the plus side, once you’re inside the airport wating for your plane, the seats are very comfy, unlike American airports.
Singapore Airport (Changi) has one of the best concepts - a nap room. And for parents’ sanity, Seoul has a kids’ playing area where the little boogers can run around and spend the excess energy built up during the long boring flights. Sadly, no “gentlemen’s club” for Dads to do the same.
In general the Asian airports seem to be improving all the time while American ones are declining.
Beauvais is awful. Book your Ryanair ticket thinking you got a great deal, but remember you’re going to get slapped with a 40e transit shuttle fare to get to middle of nowhere to fly out of “Paris”.
I might just be sour because my flight out of Beauvais was delayed (Ryanair), and spent basically half the day wandering around the most bare airport I’ve ever seen. Also the workers I remember were super rude, but hey, it’s “Paris”.
The only one I’ve ever been to on that list is LGA, which I don’t hate unlike most people. I’d rather use LGA than Newark, better lounge options, cheaper transit into the city, though the terminals are kind of confusing.
Worst airport overall I’ve ever been in would probably be Kuwait City. Lots of US airports suck for a specific reason, but overall aren’t that bad. ie, I don’t like ORD because its just too crowded. Try to get food or get a chair on a Thursday afternoon, good luck.
I didn’t even realize that they weren’t talking about Frankfurt’s main international airport, so I have actually not been inside any airport on the list.
Many US (or other developed country) airports are just old and constructed at a time where passenger volume and air travel in general were not comparable to today’s needs. Laguardia Airport, for instance, was designed in the 1930s. Back then, you would probably travel to London by boat or somewhere in the US by train. While the airports can be renovated and upgraded, a totally new airport will still be better suited for modern air travel. Furthermore, airport security procedures have changed dramatically since 2001, and therefore, we have all these poorly conceived security checkpoints jammed into spaces that are not designed for this purpose.
So, it is not surprising that the “Worst” list contains airports in some of the world’s preeminent cities.
On the other hand, operational efficiency also probably matters a lot. Changi airport is the best because, well face it… Singapore government is better than us and just does everything better.
My favorite airport is Bangkok airport. It’s basically a huge shopping mall. I got massages there while waiting for flights.
LGA was awful when they were doing all that renovation. Now that the renovations are complete, I really don’t mind it, and whatever inconvenience there is compensates for not having to go all the way out to Newark or JFK.
Aside from LGA, I’ve been in Tegel and the Manila airport. Both were strangely laid out for me but nothing terrible. Mostly I remember having to walk for miles and miles and miles to get to my plane in Manila and being stopped for a search every few minutes. But perhaps the main Manila airport isn’t the one that’s on the list.
The most inconvenient in my memory was New Delhi’s airport. I forget the name, but it was a mess to navigate
Most major cities now have a different airport than they had 50 or 60 years ago because traffic has increased and planes have gotten larger. JFK (or Idylwild) became NYs principal airport in part because 747s could not land at LGA because the runways were too short. Most airports built in the 1930s and before just can’t handle the large planes that fly long distances. So most major cities now have main airports that are far away from city center: JFK, Dulles, Heathrow, Guarulhos/Galeao, Tegel.
Oftentimes the smaller older airports still handle more local flights and can be charming. Laguardia’s Marine Air Terminal is gorgeous, DC’s National Airport, Berlin’s Templehoff, and my favorite airport of all: Santos Dumont in Rio (though the expanded annex takes away from its Casablanca-esque charm.