After many decades of flying, I’ve now passed through 300 airports. It’s a slightly ridiculous milestone, but it does give me a bit of authority when I say what makes a great airport and what makes a terrible one. There are seven things that win me over with airports:
- Effortless passenger movement
- Clear, confidence‑giving signage
- Warm, visible humans
- Seamless transport links
- Few delays
- Beautiful Building
- Fair, useful services
1. Effortless passenger movement
I have a visceral reaction to moving through Terminal 3 at Heathrow. Hell, for me, would be walking its long, narrow corridors, passing under its yellow signs and climbing the same stairs to security again and again. The whole terminal makes me feel herded and constrained.
Manila’s NAIA goes further again. Trying to move from one terminal to another there is an extraordinary little nightmare, because walking is basically impossible. There is a free airport bus that is sporadic and disinterested. Manila airport feels like it has been designed to test the patience of anyone foolish enough to fly through. I really rate Philippine Airlines, which is a good carrier let down by its home base.
A good airport, however, lets you enter and exit easily and move between terminals, then naturally between check‑in, security, immigration and gates, with sensible choke points and enough seating where people actually need it. My ratings
- Best: Doha Hamad (DOH), Abu Dhabi Zayed (AUH)
- Excellent: Adelaide (ADL), Denver (DEN), Tokyo Haneda (HND), Zurich (ZRH), Istanbul (IST)
- Worst: Manila (MNL), Colombo (CMB)
- Bad: London Heathrow T3 & T4 (LHR), Newark (EWR), Paris (CDG)
2.Clear, confidence‑giving signage
It always amazes me when I can be in an airport where I can’t read the native language but can still find my way to train stations, toilets, gates and security without guessing, because there is big, clear way-finding signage with consistent colours and symbols doing the heavy lifting. Frustration is having to retrace my steps because a sign is missing or unreadable and suddenly I am not sure whether I am meant to be going up and right or down and right. Some airports are amazing at this; others make it feel like a test of memory and luck.
- Best: Zurich (ZRH).
- Excellent: Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS), Copenhagen (CPH), Helsinki (HEL) Istanbul (IST), Tokyo (HAN)
- Worst: Los Angeles (LAX),
- Bad: Frankfurt (FRA), Jakarta Soekarno–Hatta (CGK), Paris Orly (ORY), Paris CDG
3. Warm, visible humans
Los Angeles is the pits here. After about 70 international flights through there, it feels the same. Staff that are clearly stressed, busy, and unhappy. They scream! When I once asked for assistance at a LAX information counter, they were so unhelpful. It feels like the whole place exists to process us, not help us. Contrast that with the Japanese security agent last month who calmly asked permission of me to inspect my bag, with a slight bow.
The people factor is how the airport treats you as a human being. The staff need to be polite. They need to be visible. They need to be supported to do their jobs.
- Best: Singapore (SIN), Tokyo Haneda (HAN)
- Excellent: Auckland (AKL), Helsinki (HEL), Johannesburg (JNB), Melbourne (MEL) Osaka (KIX), Portland (PDX), Fukoka (FUK)
- Worst: Los Angeles (LAX),
- Bad: New York (JFK), Miami (MIA), Orlando (MCO),
4. Seamless transport links
The plane lands, I make it through the terminal and within minutes I have access to a range of fairly priced transport services that connect straight into the rest of the city or region. I am talking buses, trams, trains, taxis and ride shares that are easy to find, clearly signed and priced in a way that feels fair, not opportunistic. For someone who flies as much as I do, I want to fly through the airport
A brilliant airport has direct heavy rail or metro, or light rail connections to city centers or regional networks with platforms integrated under or beside the terminal. These links must be frequent.
I discovered in September, that São Paulo has a train only once an hour from the airport, which is almost useless if you arrive just after one departs. Melbourne has parked its local transport at the end of a car park and has been promising a proper airport train for about 50 years. Singapore, by contrast, organises its taxis, ride shares and metro so that getting into town is fast, simple and does not feel like a separate endurance event. Geneva gives me train, buses and trolley buses and a walk /bike path into a mini forest.
- Best: Tokyo Haneda (HND), Singapore Changi (SIN), Fukuoka (FUK)
- Excellent: Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Munich (MUC), Hong Kong (HKG), Doha Hamad (DOH), Kaohsiung (KHH), Copenhagen (CPH), Geneva (GVA), Lisbon (LIS)
- Worst: Lagos (LOS), Manila NAIA (MNL).
- Bad: Abu Dhabi (AUH), Dallas Love (DAL), Jacksonville (JAX) São Paulo Guarulhos (GRU), LAX
5. Few delays
When researching a flight, I spend as much time looking at an airport’s delay record as I do at fares or schedules. If an airport is known for morning fogs, I avoid early arrivals and departures there. If it suffers from delays that snowball through the day, I will almost always choose a morning flight instead.
A reliable airport is one where on‑time performance is boringly consistent rather than occasionally brilliant and how it handles those bad days. Take a bow, Japan.
- Best: Tokyo Haneda (HND), Singapore Changi (SIN), Munich (MUC), Osaka Itami (ITM)
- Excellent: Fukuoka (FUK), Sapporo New Chitose (CTS), Salt Lake City (SLC), Helsinki (HEL), Doha Hamad (DOH)
- Worst: Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW), Denver (DEN), Reagan National (DCA), Lisbon Portela (LIS), Montreal Trudeau (YUL)
- Bad: Toronto Pearson (YYZ), Newark (EWR), Chicago O’Hare (ORD), Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Manila NAIA (MNL), São Paulo Guarulhos (GRU)
6. Beautiful Buildings-the emotional/aesthetic layer
Does this place lift you at all, or is it pure infrastructure? A beautiful airport has views, materials, proportions, art, gardens and how daylight and height are used. Changi’s gardens, DOH’s huge central art, HEL’s timber and quiet Scandinavian calm. HKG’s views give you that “I could actually enjoy being here for a bit”
- Best: Singapore Changi (SIN), Doha Hamad (DOH), Abu Dhabi Zayed International (AUH)
- Excellent:, Marrakesh Menara (RAK), Oslo Gardermoen (OSL), Copenhagen (CPH), Koh Samui (USM), Kruger Mpumalanga (MQP), Portland (PDX)
- Worst:, London Stansted (STN), Manila (MNL)
- Bad: New York JFK (JFK), Newark Liberty (EWR), London Gatwick (LGW), London Luton (LTN)
7. Fair, useful services
I truly hate having to pay for Wi-Fi, luggage trolleys, and water at the airport. Fair and useful services are the most important part of a successful airport experience because they keep me from feeling taken advantage of as a captive market. It should not be a bonus to have good seating, quiet areas, working air conditioning and access to showers.
- Best: Singapore Changi (SIN), Seoul Incheon (ICN)
- Excellent: Helsinki (HEL), Vancouver (YVR), Taipei Taoyuan (TPE), Kuala Lumpur (KUL), Bergen (BGO)
- Worst: London Heathrow (LHR), London Gatwick (LGW), Manchester (MAN)
- Bad: Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK), Melbourne (MEL)
The Verdict is
Manila, Los Angeles, London Heathrow and JFK consistently let the side down. I have studiously avoided LAX and LHR for years now. I have no choice with Manila and so get to experience its delights at least annually. JFK is also hard to avoid for me.
At the other end, it is no surprise that Singapore, Doha and Hong Kong do well. And Abu Dhabi’s new Zayed International airport is a fabulous contendor (my image below). If they build the new 350kmph between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, then the Airport will be connected to two downtowns as well as stop at Dubai’s Al Maktoum International Airport. Game changer.
Over to you
What is important to you? What makes and breaks an airport for you? What criteria would you use to create the most perfect airport you can imagine? I would love the people who design, build and run our airports to use those answers to make our journeys as seamless, easy and humane as they can be.
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