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THE WORLD'S BEST/WORST AIRPORTS

As our enchanting trip from Honolulu to Bangkok on Asiana, to Dubai via Air Emirates, then to Singapore on the Regent Seven Seas Explorer, is exactly three weeks away, I continue to have travel on my mind.  
About credit cards, there is a rumor that more and more countries are not accepting your Master Card.  Not true!

One advice I can provide to those who are embarking on an international trip: you might wonder if you need to alert your credit card companies.  The answer is....it depends:

  • For the past decade and more, there was a general sense that you did not have to do this.
  • However, when I checked with my Master Card through First Hawaiian Bank, the bank indicated yes, it was important to let them know exactly where I would be and when.
  • After taking care of that, I called the number on one of my VISA cards, this one from the University of Hawaii Credit Union, and, first, I had to make at least five calls to finally get to an individual who told me, yes, I needed to do this...but not through them.  I had to call the local UHFCU office and let them know.  Which is what I did.  They wanted all the details, with dates.
  • Then I contacted my Mileage Plus VISA number, and they said, this was not necessary with them.  Their system accommodates international travel.  I apparently had a long history of foreign travel with them, and they're comfortable with where I go.
I lost count of how many airports I've gone through, but I am particularly anxious about my next trip, for I haven't traveled for 2 years and 9 months.  For two decades at least I went on monthly trips, on my way to approaching 3 million miles on United Mileage Plus.  For the 35th year, Condé Nast Traveler has had an annual Readers' Choice Awards:  hotels, airlines, islands, cruises and airport.  Later I'll summarize the other categories, and toss in Travel+Leisure's efforts at these surveys.

Here are Condé Nast's top ten airports.  I've passed through eight of them.
  • #10  Helsinki Airport, first built 70 years ago for the 1952 Olympics.
  • #9   Hong Kong International Airport is not as close as the previous version, but you can still get into town in 24 minutes.  As you might know, the plane barely cleared the top of city buildings when you landed in the old airport.
  • #8    Dubai International Airport is so large that its Terminal 3 alone covers 18.4 million square reed at the second-largest building in the world by floor space.  The largest is the New Century Global Center in Chengdu, China (right).
  • #7  Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar looks more like a resort hotel than a transportation hub.  Five star Oryx Hotel is in the terminal for $350/night.
  • #6   Abu Dhabi is posh.
  • #5 Tokyo Haneda Airport (has officially been known as Tokyo International Airport since 1952--Narita is New Tokyo International Airport) for the longest while was merely a domestic airport, and expanded for world travel in 2010.  It is right in town, rather than a $200 cab ride to Narita.  Clean, comfortable and convenient.  My best Mount Fuji photo was taken just after the plane cleared the runway.
  • #4   Zurich Airport has a fabulous Swiss Air first-class lounge with champagne and whiskey bars.
  • #3  Seoul Incheon International Airport is 30 miles away, and the high-speed rail link reaches city center in 43 minutes.  This costs around $6.50, but the limousine bus for the same price is more convenient if you have luggage and want to be dropped off at a major hotel.
  • #2   Singapore Changi Airport was long #1, and is still a glorious experience.  From waterfalls to a butterfly park.   I'm spending a night in their airport hotel on my next trip to look around.
  • #1   Istanbul Airport.
    • Opened in 2018, has a fleet of robots to guide travelers.
    • Can handle 90 flights/hour.
    • Seeks to become the largest.

SkyTrax has a more complete listing, showing the following:

  • #1  Hamad International Airport, Doha, Qatar.  Ranked #7 in the above evaluation.
  • #2  Tokyo Haneda.
  • #3  Singapore Changi.
  • #4  Narita.
  • #5  Seoul Incheon.
  • #6 Paris Charles de Gaulle.
  • #7  Munich.
  • #8  Istanbul (note that this is #1 in the above rating)
  • #9  Zurich.
  • #10 Kansai, Osaka.
Note that Japan has three of the top ten.  

Here is a list of the most improved airports:

  • #1 King Khalid, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
  • #2  Laguardia, New York.
  • #3  King Fahd, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
  • #4  Seattle-Tacoma.
  • #5  Casablanca.

There are numerous lists for the world's worst airport, and they are all so different.  A study by Bounce has five of the worst airports in the USA:

  • #1 (meaning the absolute worst)  Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Manila, Philippines (right).
  • #2  Gatwick Airport, London, UK.
  • #3  Newark Liberty International Airport, New York.
  • Can't find the rest of the list.
SkyHelp:
  • #1  Kuwait Airport.
  • #2  London Stansted Airport.
  • #3  Lyon-Saint Exupery Airport.
  • #4  Paris Orly Airport.
  • #11  Newark Liberty International Airport.
  • #12  Moscow Domodedovo Airport.
  • #14  Pris Charles de Gaulle Airport.
  • #19  London Gatwick Airport.
  • #21  Lisbon Portela Airport.
  • #29  Hong Kong International Airport.
  • #30  Frankfurt International Airport.

PureEvasion has as #10 Laguardia International Airport, #4  Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport and #1 is Islamabad Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Pakistan.  All the airports are different from AirHelp.  Flights from Honolulu to the Orient are much cheaper if the plane transfer is at Manila's Ninoy Aquino, but who wants to take that chance?

How is the Daniel Inouye International Airport doing in these rankings?  As terrible as U.S. airports are compared to the world, in the 2021 JD Power survey, this Honolulu airport was next to Laguardia at the bottom and Maui was at the bottom of medium airports.  These results came even though Honolulu completed a $270 million terminal expansion, and is continuing a $3 billion expansion effort.  We are terribly mediocre, but I did not expect us to do this badly.

JD Power also provided the following:

Yikes, Hurricane Roslyn strengthened from a Category 2 to a Category 4 in just twelve hours:

For the record, expected weather for the USA:

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