20 enero 2012
Posted by Airport International's Global Correspondent
on 20/01/2012 - 12:20:00
Long-established travel guidebook publishers Frommer's has issued data
on what it considers the world's 10 best airport terminals. On the flipside, it
also names the 10 worst and, as per US national USA Today, the ratings take
into account 'cleanliness, services, on-time departures, navigation and the
ease of getting to and from a city's center'.
On this basis, Saudi Arabia's Hajj Terminal, at King Abdulaziz
International Airport, is judged the cleanest, slickest-running and most
accessible airport terminal on Earth.
Constructed specifically for use by pilgrims flocking to the country to
participate in Hajj - the Mecca pilgrimage - it features an iconic tent-shaped
roof and can accommodate up to 80,000 passengers at any one time.
Best Airport Terminals
The full Frommer's list of the best airport terminals is as follows:
- Jeddah
Hajj Terminal - Saudi Arabia
- Leifur
Eriksson Air Terminal - Iceland
- Seoul
Incheon Airport - South Korea
- Wellington
"Rock" Terminal - New Zealand
- JFK
Airport Terminal 5 - New York
- Singapore Changi International Airport Terminal 3
- Marrakech
Menara Airport Terminal 1 - Morocco
- Madrid
Barajas Terminal 4 - Spain
- Carrasco
International Airport - Uruguay
- Bilbao
Airport Main Terminal - Spain
Worst
Airport Terminals
At the other end of the scale, Terminal 3 at New York's JFK is
considered the world's worst and it's one of no less than four US airports
represented in the worst airport terminals list. The same airport's Terminal 5
does make the top ten, but it's the only US airport facility in this position.
Now over 50 years old, JFK Airport's Terminal 3 is set to be knocked
down in three years time within a programme that's seeing Terminal 4 being
expanded. Originally constructed for the sole use of Pan American, it presently
supports Delta Air Lines operations.
In the words of Frommer's, this terminal presents scenes of ‘endless
immigration lines in a dank basement, an utter lack of food and shopping
options, three crowded and confusing entry points, and hallways that could have
been designed by M.C Escher for vomiting international travellers out onto an
underground sidewalk with no cabs available'.
Frommer's ranks the world's 10 worst airport terminals as:
- JFK
Airport Terminal 3 - New York
- Manila
Airport Terminal 1 - Philippines
- Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport Terminal B/C
- Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport - Kenya
- Paris'
Charles de Gaulle Airport Terminal 3
- Queen
Alia Airport - Jordan
- LaGuardia
Airport Terminal 5 - New York
- Newark Liberty International Airport - Terminal B
- Beauvais
Airport - Paris
- Chicago
Midway Airport
http://www.airport-int.com/news/best-and-worst-global-airport-terminals.html
