World's best airport named

[jetlagger]

Gotta love the Tiger terminal in MEL, must be the most miserable depressing airport structure in Australia.. Rather fly in/out of Khartoum..

 

[docjames]

You can never overestimate a good bus ride

All transit passengers get a free behind the scenes tour. :shock:


+1 on not rating SIN anywhere near the top (esp compared to HKG).

 

[docjames]

Again I don't get why MEL is better - T3 is a coughhole and I find T2 a dated 70's style - I also didn't prefer the F lounge over the SYD lounge. Is it just because of the inter-terminal transfers are difficult?

Yep, that and QF making EVERYONE transit the hell hole.

Any SYD terminal without transfer and SYD is perfectly fine (T2 needs upgrading - which is largely unwer way). The transit rates up there with LAX for pain-inducing. At least at LAX you can walk.....

 

[harvyk]

Yep, that and QF making EVERYONE transit the hell hole.

Any SYD terminal without transfer and SYD is perfectly fine (T2 needs upgrading - which is largely unwer way). The transit rates up there with LAX for pain-inducing. At least at LAX you can walk.....

I've never found the transit between T3 and T1 to be that bad. I've used both the free bus and the train, and in both cases never found it to be a problem, certainly not the pain inducing thing which some people make it out to be.

Sure it's no MEL T1 to T2 transfer experience, but I wouldn't call it the bane of my existence either.

 

[jetlagger]

Guess one consolation about SYD is that what's left of the legacy engineering hub in existence, so when the 'old rattler" 763 springs a leak of sorts, it could possibly be fixed earlier than other ports..:mrgreen:

 

[docjames]

I've never found the transit between T3 and T1 to be that bad. I've used both the free bus and the train, and in both cases never found it to be a problem, certainly not the pain inducing thing which some people make it out to be.

Sure it's no MEL T1 to T2 transfer experience, but I wouldn't call it the bane of my existence either.

Its the other direction T1 --> T3 that is the painful one particularly.

 

[Fantic125]

Its the other direction T1 --> T3 that is the painful one particularly.

You haven't lived until you've had the pleasure of landing in BOM int airport at 02:30, waiting for the transfer bus in the mosquito infested transfer area for an hour before experiencing a 20 minute tour of the fartherest boundaries of the airport, only to arrive at the dom terminal where checkin doesn't open for another 45 mins.......

 

[harvyk]

Its the other direction T1 --> T3 that is the painful one particularly.

Well I find the whole T1 -> T3 -> CBR experience a little annoying full stop. But that's not really SYD's fault as I always dislike the (International Port of Entry) to CBR flights. By that stage I am just ready for the trip to be over.

 

[jetlagger]

You haven't lived until you've had the pleasure of landing in BOM int airport at 02:30, waiting for the transfer bus in the mosquito infested transfer area for an hour before experiencing a 20 minute tour of the fartherest boundaries of the airport, only to arrive at the dom terminal where checkin doesn't open for another 45 mins.......

How ironic! I spoke to a pilot some time ago & asked him which is your least preferred airport? He mentioned BOM, for countless reasons which he didn't want to elaborate on.. I got the picture!

 

[rechoboam]

The food at Kansai is spectacular and loved taking off from a little island!

 

[kamchatsky]

I actually like ADL and still think it is probably the best airport in Australia. Not too big but well designed for medium city requirements.

 

[danielc]

5 out of 10 for me: AMS, MUC, SIN, KUL, HKG

 

[Jacques Vert]

You need to travel more.

There are so many airports out there worse than SYD......

Maybe so; I'm working on it! Been to 4/10!

SYD is not really that bad, there are far worse out there.

I was thinking of a RTW in 2010 where I visited 14. Arriving back in SYD was CHAOS. Queue for an hour +; only to be abused by the rudest immigration person I have ever met (still don't know why); queue for another hour for the bus; told I had too many bags for the domestic leg, etc., etc.

The one that surprised was MEX; clean, efficient, great lounge, ...

 

[JessicaTam]

3/10 namely HKG, SIN & MUC.

I much prefer MUC over FRA for getting through immigration in anything resembling a reasonable time. Unfortunately FRA is where german efficiency falls down for me. And don't get me started on LHR transit procedures.

 

[Mike79]

I really don't the anti-SYD sentiment here. DOM flights on QF are fine - straight to the lounge from kerb in 2 mins generally. INT flights similarly I can be in the lounge within 10 - 15 mins max.

Although I would agree with your statement re kerb to lounge at T3, (T2 VA is even better) but how long does it take to get to drop-off, especially on Monday morning? The road infrastructure is so inadequate for a city like Sydney. Melbourne is also not much better.

 

[docjames]

You haven't lived until you've had the pleasure of landing in BOM int airport at 02:30, waiting for the transfer bus in the mosquito infested transfer area for an hour before experiencing a 20 minute tour of the fartherest boundaries of the airport, only to arrive at the dom terminal where checkin doesn't open for another 45 mins.......

You've not lived until having to deal with Cubana in the midst of a cyclone passing through HAV and you stuck in CUN with zero assistance or any indication of when you might fly!



I know SYD isnt the worst airport in the world, but for (the largst city in) a 1st world country, it's pretty rank the way the terminal transfer works. LHR is not really any better to be honest. I cant wait to see if they finally build alliance-based terminals across either side of SYD as it would dramatically improve the transfer process for the vast majority.

 

[Saji]

You've not lived until having to deal with Cubana in the midst of a cyclone passing through HAV and you stuck in CUN with zero assistance or any indication of when you might fly!



I know SYD isnt the worst airport in the world, but for (the largst city in) a 1st world country, it's pretty rank the way the terminal transfer works. LHR is not really any better to be honest. I cant wait to see if they finally build alliance-based terminals across either side of SYD as it would dramatically improve the transfer process for the vast majority.

You cant compare Sydney or any Australian airports here as most of the top 10 are built as hubs not destination airports. The hubs need the extra facilities. One could argue that Sydney could be hub as well but I dont think Sydney will ever handle the number of transit passengers like SIN/HKG etc...

 

[Awesom Andy]

You cant compare Sydney or any Australian airports here as most of the top 10 are built as hubs not destination airports. The hubs need the extra facilities. One could argue that Sydney could be hub as well but I dont think Sydney will ever handle the number of transit passengers like SIN/HKG etc...

SYD is simply too far away from the rest of the world to be a hub (with the exception of travelling to NZ or some small pacific islands).

I suppose DRW is the only geographical location that would make sense as a "hub", not that it would ever happen. It suits LCCs quite well though. Going south, the A320s well capable of reaching virtually all cities in AU. Going north, the useful range of these narrow-bodies would get you into plenty of cities in south-east Asia, including SIN, KUL, SGN, MNL, CGK, DPS, and perhaps even HKT and HKG at a stretch (although I probably wouldn't take an A320 going 2600 miles non-stop). Once adequate capacities are built-up, there are many opportunities for expansion into secondary cities in the region as well.

Of course, this idea would never happen given what DRW really is...

 

[docjames]

You cant compare Sydney or any Australian airports here as most of the top 10 are built as hubs not destination airports. The hubs need the extra facilities. One could argue that Sydney could be hub as well but I dont think Sydney will ever handle the number of transit passengers like SIN/HKG etc...

Rubbish, of course you can compare. Look at ADL (as others have pointed out). Far from a hub but works really well.

 

[harvyk]

Of course, this idea would never happen given what DRW really is...

Why not? There are several cities around the world which have airports much larger than the local population could ever support simply because it's geographic location makes it a good central transit point. In those cases a large majority of pax do not ever leave the airport, but simply transfer to other flights.