Marc
29th December 2007, 09:56 AM
From the IHT (http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/28/business/wbairport.php?page=1) ...outing the worst airports may be more useful than praising the best.
In that spirit, and as a frequent flier around Europe, I have polled my fellow road warriors over the past two months - on airplanes, in security lines and at taxi ranks - to come up with an entirely unscientific survey of Europe's worst.
And though I am no statistician, I think it must be significant that nearly everyone gives the same response: London Heathrow is, hands down, the worst, cited by 100 percent of respondents, as the scientists say.
Charles de Gaulle outside Paris came in a close second. Leonardo da Vinci at Fiumicino, near Rome, and the Frankfurt airport won honorable, or should I say dishonorable, mentions.
"Heathrow is horrible," said Howard Brennan, a businessman from the United States. "You wouldn't believe the waits. It's too congested, and you have to sprint to get between gates. If you fly first class they are sometimes helpful, but only sometimes, even then."
Jeffrey Pappin, a business consultant in London, said it was "always amusing to look at the signs that inform you that it takes 25 minutes to walk to a particular gate." As for Heathrow's amenities, Pappin said, "One only knows through experience and secret knowledge where the restrooms and business lounges are tucked away."
To be fair, London, as a target of terrorism, has particularly pressing security issues. Nevertheless, the lines for passport control for non-EU citizens can take hours, even at odd times of the day. I recently had the misfortune to arrive at Heathrow from Rome late at night, around the same time as jumbos from Moscow; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Islamabad; Lagos; and other far-flung locations.
Read more (http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/28/business/wbairport.php?page=1)...
In that spirit, and as a frequent flier around Europe, I have polled my fellow road warriors over the past two months - on airplanes, in security lines and at taxi ranks - to come up with an entirely unscientific survey of Europe's worst.
And though I am no statistician, I think it must be significant that nearly everyone gives the same response: London Heathrow is, hands down, the worst, cited by 100 percent of respondents, as the scientists say.
Charles de Gaulle outside Paris came in a close second. Leonardo da Vinci at Fiumicino, near Rome, and the Frankfurt airport won honorable, or should I say dishonorable, mentions.
"Heathrow is horrible," said Howard Brennan, a businessman from the United States. "You wouldn't believe the waits. It's too congested, and you have to sprint to get between gates. If you fly first class they are sometimes helpful, but only sometimes, even then."
Jeffrey Pappin, a business consultant in London, said it was "always amusing to look at the signs that inform you that it takes 25 minutes to walk to a particular gate." As for Heathrow's amenities, Pappin said, "One only knows through experience and secret knowledge where the restrooms and business lounges are tucked away."
To be fair, London, as a target of terrorism, has particularly pressing security issues. Nevertheless, the lines for passport control for non-EU citizens can take hours, even at odd times of the day. I recently had the misfortune to arrive at Heathrow from Rome late at night, around the same time as jumbos from Moscow; Almaty, Kazakhstan; Islamabad; Lagos; and other far-flung locations.
Read more (http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/28/business/wbairport.php?page=1)...
