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“The World’s Worst Airports,” from Foreign Policy, names “five airports around the world that make traveling hell.” They pick those in Dakar, Senegal; New Delhi, India; Mineralnye Vody, Russia; Baghdad; and Paris.
Last year A and I visited Indira Gandhi International Airport, in New Delhi. While the crowds massed outside can, indeed, seem chaotic, I must say the place didn’t seem quite this bad:
Visitors report aggressive panhandlers, filthy bathrooms where attendants charge for toilet paper, and used syringes on the terminal floor. The main terminal building was even closed to visitors for a few months in 1999 after a flight from Nepal was hijacked. Things have hopefully gotten a little safer since an Australian tourist was murdered by a taxi driver leaving IGIA in 2004, prompting the Indian government to form a special tourist police force. But there’s still a danger of things going slightly awry: In 2005, an act of sabotage in an ongoing feud between cable television providers led to a pornographic film appearing on the airport’s television monitors…
I do, however, remember that there were mosquitos inside the terminal. That wasn’t so great. And while our taxi driver certainly didn’t assault us, his ancient Ambassador taxi cab broke down less than five minutes after we left the airport. He fixed the engine with the assistance of nearby pedestrians. And what appeared to be a piece of string.
If you enjoy reading about bad airports, don’t miss this exceptional Economist article from December, 2006: “Kama Sutra and feral cats,” in which the author explains that “to understand contemporary Russia,” one must “consider its airports.”
(Foreign Policy link via World Hum.)
5 replies on “The World’s Worst Airports”
New Delhi isthe worst. I once was in line and this guy just pulled the plugout and saidhis computer went off and chased us to other counter and after he finished his tea he put the plug back on.
Hah! I remember mosquitoes in the New Delhi airport last year. I think it ranks as the worst one we visited. If anything, we were impressed by the quality of most airports. Even Columbo, Sri Lanka was quite nice – a plaque said it was partially built as a gift from Japan.
Both the domestic and international airports in Delhi were sold to a private firm about two years ago as were the airports in Mumbai. The Delhi airport has since undergone a staggering transformation. I had always wondering, though, how beggars found their way in to the main terminal. No more, though.
Good point, Matt. I’ve never been through CDG but I’ll take your word for it. I don’t find LHR to be that bad, I must admit, but I haven’t flown through there in years. I much prefer the major Asian hubs: Hong Kong, Singapore, etc. Some really great airports in this part of the world, if you ask me.
While the first four are understandable, listing Paris on here I thought was a bit weird. Yes, Paris is a horrible airport and I hate flying through CDG. But I think Heathrow is far worse. Its almost physically painful to get through LHR. Actually, its probably easier to come up with a list of the 5 airports that actually get it right than try to pick from all the mistakes out there.