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» Ship of Fools   »   » Oblivion   » Airports: best, worst and why? (Page 2)

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Source: (consider it) Thread: Airports: best, worst and why?
Firenze

Ordinary decent pagan
# 619

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quote:
Originally posted by MrsBeaky:
On reflection, I have friends who travel business/ first class/ are frequent flyers and so get to access the special lounges which I think might transform any airport experience

Oh they do. Comfy armchairs, free food, free wine, free wifi. Of course, you then get picky about those. Cape Town had some nice wines, including sparklers. But Lisbon was a bit pokey, with nothing more than fridges of canned drinks.
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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081

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quote:
Originally posted by Jack the Lass:
The worst thing about Bucharest airport now is the rip-off charges for a small bottle of water.

Free wifi though [Big Grin]

Firenze: you were lucky. We had to walk to the plane through the elements at Cape Town (this was a while back). It's a long way up to the door of a 747...

[ 28. June 2013, 20:38: Message edited by: Eutychus ]

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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58

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quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
Many years ago I used Bubaque Airport on the Bijago Islands in West Africa.

The runway was a grass strip; the pilot had to make a low pass overhead first to make sure it was free of cows. Once a man walked out of the long grass and sauntered across the runway directly in front of a landing plane. The pilot managed to "go round" but was not amused, and refused to return till the grass was cut down.

At Kano airport in northern Nigeria it used to be the custom that if a plane approached, a man would blow one of those extremely long, loud horns to let people in the vicinity know to get out of the way. I seem to remember that he wore long robes, and that there were camels in the vicinity. (ETA wasn't the horn-blowing a feature of some airport in Nepal or thereabouts, too?)

Worst airport - there was one notorious airport which I won't name, but which used to have armed guards lining the walls, wearing sub-machine guns. It was as hot as an oven and humid with it, the air conditioning didn't always work and there were frequent power cuts. Your luggage would be searched and items confiscated for any reason at all - sometimes simply because the official fancied a new shirt or something. Possibly even a suitcase. There wasn't anything to be done about this, nobody was going to argue with armed men, although sometimes they could be bought off if you had sufficient funds. They had to be sufficient otherwise the man inspecting your luggage would be insulted. Banknotes could be slipped in between the pages of a passport which the official would check.

Anyway. Best airport, London City. Small, neat, clean, quick. No hanging about, and cute little planes that get you to the Continent. Arriving into City, you're in the heart of London pretty quickly.

[ 28. June 2013, 20:38: Message edited by: Ariel ]

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Carex
Shipmate
# 9643

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Before the new airport was built, commercial flights in and out of Ketchikan, Alaska landed at the Coast Guard station, where passengers transferred to a Grunman Goose which used the same runway. There was no runway at the other end, however: it wasn't uncommon for passengers unfamiliar with the aircraft to panic as the plane landed on the waterfront and taxied to a boat dock

I think it was a stop in Green Bay, Wisconsin where our carry-on luggage was taken off the plane and left on the tarmac before the flight continued on to the U.P.

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Moo

Ship's tough old bird
# 107

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I remember flying in and out of the airport in Lynchburg Virginia in the 1980s.

They had Gates 1, 2, and 3, but you walked out the same door for all three. It was very interesting to see how they de-iced the wings when there was freezing rain. They had those very tall steps on wheels that are commonly used for changing light bulbs, etc. at shopping malls. They wheeled it up to one wing, climbed up and sprayed it, and then did the same for the other.

Moo

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Og, King of Bashan

Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562

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I'm also starting to realize that my airport hardship stories don't stand up to stories you might get from other parts of the world.

My worst, now that I have had a bit to think about it, was in Cork, Ireland. We were flying out after a weeks stay, and had seen something on TV about the airport caterers being on strike. No big deal, we ate before we left. Unfortunately, the bus drivers union was in solidarity with the caterers union, so they were not driving inside of the airport grounds. The dropped us off at the front gate, and we had to take a mile long hike with all of our bags to the terminal.

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Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

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quote:
Originally posted by Jack the Lass:
quote:
Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
Bucharest [BBU, I think] was fairly scary back in 1994 but may well have changed by now.

You'll be glad to know that it has changed beyond recognition, you wouldn't recognise it now. Not least they have *finally* (but only in the last couple of years) regulated the taxi services from the airport, so you're no longer harangued by rip-off merchants from the second you step off the plane.

The worst thing about Bucharest airport now is the rip-off charges for a small bottle of water.

Happily we were being met and travelling in Official Cars complete with red lights and armed drivers! No taxis involved just a long drive out to Constanta.

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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433

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Wellington, NZ, into which I have to fly quite often, terrifies me. A short runway with ocean at each end (with sub-par run-off distances) and diabolical winds does much to improve my prayer life. Rumour has it that Virgin in particular always take a kiwi pilot alongside their Australian one in case the Australian one can't get the plane down. I had one terrifying landing here we bobbed around like a cork (beneath us the inter-island ferry was battling 12 metre swells. The cabin crew announced that "there is nothing to worry about" which terrified me, we took two goes to get it down, and all on board applauded when we made it. Later I heard the pilot describe the landing as "pretty bloody hairy" - but a pilot friend tells me that's the moment these sadistic bastards live for (everything else about their job is utterly dull. Except the pay cheque).

The (limited) facilities are pleasant enough, I guess. Sort of.

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Evangeline
Shipmate
# 7002

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quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
quote:
Originally posted by MrsBeaky:
On reflection, I have friends who travel business/ first class/ are frequent flyers and so get to access the special lounges which I think might transform any airport experience

Oh they do. Comfy armchairs, free food, free wine, free wifi. Of course, you then get picky about those. Cape Town had some nice wines, including sparklers. But Lisbon was a bit pokey, with nothing more than fridges of canned drinks.
Oooh yes, without the lounges waiting around at airports is dire. I once had the privilege of accessing the Qantas int'l first class lounge in Sydney-Bliss. As much French champagne as one could drink, a proper restaurant who cooked to order and you can book for massages and facials and things. I've been in the Singapore 1st class lounge and it was really ordinary by comparison. The business class lounges are pretty good though. The only really terrible example is in Rome-the crappy food and beverage facilities outside the lounge are much nicer than inside the lounge which was dirty and cramped and just horrible.
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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58

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quote:
Originally posted by Zappa:
Wellington, NZ, into which I have to fly quite often, terrifies me.

It is on some lists as one of the world's most challenging airports to fly into.

Some other challenging airports to fly into

Freak yourself out reliving some landings

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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081

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quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Some other challenging airports to fly into

Madeira, eh? Quite painless in my experience, but I have a friend who just went and whose aircraft made six attempts to land there in a crosswind.

[ 29. June 2013, 07:46: Message edited by: Eutychus ]

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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58

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I've done Gib. It was all right, actually, but it adds a whole new dimension to the idea of a level crossing.

There are quite a lot of these kinds of lists online, but Courceval, St Maarten and Antarctica do keep coming up consistently. You don't quite have to duck on the beach at St Maarten, but it doesn't look far off it - must be a bit like sunbathing on a runway and every bit as noisy and diesel-filled.

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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713

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quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
I've done Gib. It was all right, actually, but it adds a whole new dimension to the idea of a level crossing.

There are quite a lot of these kinds of lists online, but Courceval, St Maarten and Antarctica do keep coming up consistently. You don't quite have to duck on the beach at St Maarten, but it doesn't look far off it - must be a bit like sunbathing on a runway and every bit as noisy and diesel-filled.

At St Maarten there's beach, road and airport, with a fence keeping people from walking onto the airfield. There are signs on the fence warning boozed-up young men that climbing the fence is a bad idea, espeially when planes are taking off because the jet blast will can push you into the road.

I used to live at RAF Colerne, up on a hill between Bath and Chippenham. A nice spot if occasionally foggy but there were traffic lights to prevent vehicles, which included double-decker buses, getting too close to the threshold, which was probably 300 feet away. Now and again someone didn't see why there should be traffic lights on a country road until they heard a C-130 Hercules roaring overhead.

Have to agree with favourable comments about Bristol. A decent coach service from Temple Meads railway station too.

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Jack the Lass

Ship's airhead
# 3415

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quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
You don't quite have to duck on the beach at St Maarten, but it doesn't look far off it - must be a bit like sunbathing on a runway and every bit as noisy and diesel-filled.

The beach near the airport in Zakynthos is similar (although I don't remember the planes looking quite that low - but they weren't that far off).

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Moo

Ship's tough old bird
# 107

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Roanoke airport is not dire, but it does present problems because it is surrounded by mountains. The pilots who fly Air Force One have to have regular practice in landing under somewhat difficult circumstances. They routinely fly in and out of Roanoke, because it is closer to Washington than any other airport which poses these problems.

Moo

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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492

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I like LAX, my hometown airport, as long as someone else drops me off or I am just changing planes there. It is big and airy and well laid-out.

Heathrow is good too. I think we went to Terminal 4 the last time I was in London and just walked to the Underground which dropped us off steps away from the flat where we were staying near Russell Square!

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ArachnidinElmet
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# 17346

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My absolute favourite thing in an airport are the giant sculptures of desert creatures at Las Vegas rising up from the floor. Amazingly subtle considering where they are

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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433

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quote:
Originally posted by Sir Kevin:
I like LAX, my hometown airport, as long as someone else drops me off or I am just changing planes there. It is big and airy and well laid-out.

My only experience of LAX was that, against all expectation, the border security staff were warm and friendly as we came in through customs, but the transfer to domestic was appalling: about three thousand people attempting to pass through just three scanners, with no public service announcements beyond a bunch of dudes running up and down the lines yelling "shoes off, take your shoes off".

There were many people crying because the hold-up was so appallingly long they were not going to catch their flights out.

It took about two hours to get through. Fortunately we had allowed three and had time to re-establish our sanity (read: eat Maccas) before flying on to Minneapolis St Paul which was fantastic (though I think we walked a marathon from the incoming terminal to our next outbound flight), clean, well signposted, well equipped ....

[ 29. June 2013, 21:11: Message edited by: Zappa ]

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Leorning Cniht
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# 17564

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quote:
Originally posted by Zappa:
before flying on to Minneapolis St Paul which was fantastic (though I think we walked a marathon from the incoming terminal to our next outbound flight), clean, well signposted, well equipped ....

The downside of MSP, though, is that most of its flights are operated by Northwest.
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ArachnidinElmet
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# 17346

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quote:
Originally posted by Zappa:
My only experience of LAX was that, against all expectation, the border security staff were warm and friendly as we came in through customs, but the transfer to domestic was appalling: about three thousand people attempting to pass through just three scanners, with no public service announcements beyond a bunch of dudes running up and down the lines yelling "shoes off, take your shoes off".

This, but without the warm and friendly staff. Travelling to LAX to stay in LA was fine and fairly efficient. A different holiday transferring to Las Vegas in one direction and returning to Heathrow were hellish. We were all originally in queues through the scanners and were moved into one big herd by the security staff [Ultra confused] You can imagine how distressed a bunch of English women were being forced not to queue.

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Piglet
Islander
# 11803

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quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
... what's the problem with Edinburgh? It's expanded a lot in the last decade, but it's still a small airport, with only one fairly compact terminal ...

It doesn't feel quite so compact if, like my dad, you're 80-something and trying to get to the baggage hall from the Orkney arrivals area, which I think is actually in Glasgow ... [Big Grin]

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Firenze

Ordinary decent pagan
# 619

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Ah yes, that'll be the Quarantine Wing where the flights to Belfast tend to go from.

Which bring me, literally, to George Best airport - or The Dacks* as it's known locally. I see the last time I was there they were upgrading to the memorial duty-free.

*nothing but seawater under the wheels until within seconds of landing.

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Gee D
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# 13815

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Sydney certainly has the very expensive parking to which Pete C refers, and also difficult transfers to/from domestic and international terminals. Train transport is also expensive, as in addition to the usual train fare there is an airport surcharge. As the train line is part of the suburban network, the carriages are not et up for luggage and trying to board in peak hours cane be difficult. Never bought any duty free there, so we can't comment on those prices. The food is the usual airport abysmal. OTOH, the Qantas first class lounge for international and business class lounges for both domestic and international are excellent.

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chive

Ship's nude
# 208

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I think Barra airport has to be about the coolest going but flight times are dependant on the tides.

I remember flying from Campbeltown airport once when my bags were checked in and security checked. They were then put on a trolley with everyone elses and left outside unguarded until the plane came.

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moron
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# 206

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DFW is low on my list not that I've been to all that many: the terminals are spread apart and it's the only place I missed a flight after running a long way. On the plus side I ended up on a plane headed to Denver (Stapleton at the time) loaded with exceedingly excited South Americans headed to see 'el Papa', which was memorable.

In Santiago I forgot I had an orange in my bag and was busted by the Produce Police although I apparently walked on a technicality; I have no real idea what happened as they couldn't understand me, either.

And in an effort to utterly bore you I walked by Johnny Cochrane in Atlanta once: he was just a little guy.

If it's worthwhile I'll report on YYT in a few weeks. [Biased]

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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492

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Architecturally, Denver is my favourite. The roof reminds me of tall ships and the Sydney Opera House. The train between terminals is clean and efficient.

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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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balaam

Making an ass of myself
# 4543

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Favourite - landing at Manchester, it means I'm coming home.

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jedijudy

Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333

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Newark Liberty is really, really my least favorite airport. In fact, I do everything possible to avoid transferring there. Twice I almost missed flights because it is so difficult to get there from here anywhere near the time I'm supposed to arrive.

The worst was sitting in Atlanta because Newark was so backed up that we couldn't take off. Our connection there was for a flight that only happens once a week. The nice man at the counter saw our problem and diverted us to a (more expensive) flight that got us to our destination on time. No thanks to that New Jersey airport!

My favorite airport is our home one! It's an international airport, but small enough that getting to the right gate is easy. (And yes, coming home, and landing twenty minutes from home is such a relief.)

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Yangtze
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# 4965

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Best: HK and Singapore, both large with hundreds of flights but light and efficient and decent spaces to be in. Do miss the old HK airport though, coming in right through the mountains and past the tower blocks. Also have a soft spot for London City, though mainly because I actually get to experience very little of the actual airport as it's so efficient I can go from landing to beng home in 30 mins.

Worst: Aden in Yemen, (back in the early 90s, it may have changed now): bullet holes in the glass, and the worst toilets ever. The kind that would be bad to find in a rural outpost somewhere, thus made even more horrific by them being in an 'international' airport. Think hole in ground, overflowing, crowded, no paper or water.....

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Uncle Pete

Loyaute me lie
# 10422

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I quite forgot HK - I used it for two years running in 1999 and 2000. Just as described above (and in the hours I waited for my next flight, empty and echoing) But for 50 USD, I could go to a lounge (travelling economy)have a shower, snack, and a lay down.

[ 01. July 2013, 00:31: Message edited by: PeteC ]

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LeRoc

Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216

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(I regularly land on 'airports' that are just bumpy fields, and we first fly a circle to chase the cows away.)

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Piglet
Islander
# 11803

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quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
... George Best airport ... upgrading to the memorial duty-free ...

[Killing me]

LeRoc, I know where you're coming from - the airfields on the outer islands in Orkney are just that - fields - and yes, pre-landing sheep-scattering is sometimes required. They use little 8-seater Islander planes, and I remember my mum being more than somewhat put out when she was asked to accommodate a crate of newly-hatched chickens on her lap ... [Big Grin]

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Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492

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Another one of my favourites is Lindbergh Field in San Diego. I remember visiting my downtown stockbroker in a skyscraper when I was at university and seeing a jetliner right out the window, a few yards away on its final approach.

Pilots hate it, but I find it exciting! It is also easily accessible by train and bus.

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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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monkeylizard

Ship's scurvy
# 952

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quote:
Originally posted by ArachnidinElmet:
My absolute favourite thing in an airport are the giant sculptures of desert creatures at Las Vegas rising up from the floor. Amazingly subtle considering where they are

I though the only things in the Vegas airport were slot machines with really bad payout rates.

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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. ~ Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903)

Posts: 2201 | From: Music City, USA | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
LeRoc

Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216

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I like Nampula Airport in Northern Mozambique. Not so much for the airport itself, but for the surroundings. The landscape is really flat, with some weird-looking rocks sticking out. You get I nice view of that when you're landing (unless the wind keeps gushing the plain many yards to the left and the right, something that also has happened to me).

Once on Brasília Airport, my previous flight had delayed, so I had a really short connection time. I had to get to Gate 18 so here I was, running through the corridor: Gate 15, Gate 16, Gate 17, Gate 19... WTF?!

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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081

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quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
Ah yes, that'll be the Quarantine Wing where the flights to Belfast tend to go from.

Ah yes: Miami has one of those for flights to South America.

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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy

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LeRoc

Famous Dutch pirate
# 3216

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quote:
Eutychus: Ah yes: Miami has one of those for flights to South America.
Don't get me started...

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I know why God made the rhinoceros, it's because He couldn't see the rhinoceros, so He made the rhinoceros to be able to see it. (Clarice Lispector)

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Ariel
Shipmate
# 58

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By a strange coincidence, the Daily Mail has an article in today about the world's most dangerous airport. Their choice is Tenzing Hillary, in Nepal.

quote:

Tenzing-Hillary Airport doesn't have a control tower, radar or navigation. Pilots are forced to rely on the view from their cockpit to land and take off. The 460 metre long runway - a tenth of standard length - is also on a slope. If a pilot misjudges landing or takeoff, they face a 9,200ft fall off a cliff edge.


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Lord Jestocost
Shipmate
# 12909

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The departures lounge at San Jose airport has a perpetual marble run which you can watch for hours while waiting for your plane.
Posts: 761 | From: The Instrumentality of Man | Registered: Aug 2007  |  IP: Logged
Sir Kevin
Ship's Gaffer
# 3492

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Never been in the actual airport. When I was at Cal, I would often fly home to southern California out of Oakland or SFO: the planes had a bad habit of landing about ten minutes after takeoff to get more passengers there before proceeding to Hollywood/Burbank or Lindbergh Field!

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If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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balaam

Making an ass of myself
# 4543

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quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
By a strange coincidence, the Daily Mail has an article in today about the world's most dangerous airport. Their choice is Tenzing Hillary, in Nepal.

quote:

Tenzing-Hillary Airport doesn't have a control tower, radar or navigation. Pilots are forced to rely on the view from their cockpit to land and take off. The 460 metre long runway - a tenth of standard length - is also on a slope. If a pilot misjudges landing or takeoff, they face a 9,200ft fall off a cliff edge.


Sounds worse than Madeira (depending on wind direction) The plane banks left on take off when only a few feet off the ground to avoid the mountain that the runway points at.

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Posts: 9049 | From: Hen Ogledd | Registered: May 2003  |  IP: Logged
Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081

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quote:
Originally posted by LeRoc:
quote:
Eutychus: Ah yes: Miami has one of those for flights to South America.
Don't get me started...
Also at Miami (entering the US): immigration official faced with a bureaucratic immpossibility: a lady just ahead of us in the queue missing a finger - and thus unable to complete the biometric scan. A supervisor with a red folder appeared and escorted her and her travelling companions off, never to be seen again...

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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy

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Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081

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quote:
Originally posted by balaam:
Sounds worse than Madeira (depending on wind direction) The plane banks left on take off when only a few feet off the ground to avoid the mountain that the runway points at.

Geneva can be a bit like that. But much worse is using the French side of the airport, which is about as large as a large living room and from which the only escape once you've entered is by air. Not good when you find out, having entered this tiny corner of France, that your flight is three hours late (the police had to be called to quell the passengers on my flight. And I thought the Swiss were disciplined!).

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Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy

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Wesley J

Silly Shipmate
# 6075

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quote:
Originally posted by Eutychus:
Geneva can be a bit like that. But much worse is using the French side of the airport, which is about as large as a large living room and from which the only escape once you've entered is by air. Not good when you find out, having entered this tiny corner of France, that your flight is three hours late (the police had to be called to quell the passengers on my flight. And I thought the Swiss were disciplined!).

Not the Genevans, trust me! [Cool]

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Be it as it may: Wesley J will stay. --- Euthanasia, that sounds good. An alpine neutral neighbourhood. Then back to Britain, all dressed in wood. Things were gonna get worse. (John Cooper Clarke)

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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713

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quote:
Originally posted by Wesley J:
quote:
Originally posted by Eutychus:
Geneva can be a bit like that. But much worse is using the French side of the airport, which is about as large as a large living room and from which the only escape once you've entered is by air. Not good when you find out, having entered this tiny corner of France, that your flight is three hours late (the police had to be called to quell the passengers on my flight. And I thought the Swiss were disciplined!).

Not the Genevans, trust me! [Cool]
One factor may be that a lot of that airport's users are not Swiss, let alone Genevan. The whole place suffers from too many people in one place exercising diplomatic privilege.

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Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged
The Weeder
Shipmate
# 11321

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quote:
Originally posted by Heavenly Anarchist:
The only thing I remember about Kathmandu was the landing. We came in on a small propeller plane, having been on a flight round the Himalayas, and the pilot appeared to fly at the mountain at the end of the runway before turning 180 degrees to land. Very exhilarating.

We did that flight too. Thr plane seemed too ssmall for us all, and my cousin was a bit alarmed. But it was wonderful. The 14 passegers were all invited up to the cockpit- one at a time, of course- and we did seem VERY close to the mountain range. But I would recommend it to anyone who has the chance.

I would recommend Nepal in general to everyone.

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Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

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Yes, if a flight can be called a spiritual experience then that was it! Possibly the only flight I have ever really enjoyed - stunning views! We bought the T-shirts and the VHS cassette [it was a long time ago] and have had the cassette converted to DVD and still play it from time to time.

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What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005  |  IP: Logged
Angel Wrestler
Ship's Hipster
# 13673

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Gosh, you guys have been all over!

My most hated airport has little to do with the airport itself. Actually, the airport is rather nice with the moving sidewalks that can help you hurry between flights on your layover. Why I hate it is that I've had so many layovers there turn into 12 - 15 hours (due to weather, overplanning flights which required us to sit on the tarmac AT the airport and miss our connection, having to spend the night on the floor with a potty training toddler in tow, having the flight redirecting people mess up and book us on an already booked flight).... Denver. The nightmare of air travel experience. What made them think they could put an airport in a mile-high city and expect it not to have weather delays

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(unknown)

Posts: 2767 | From: half-way up the ladder | Registered: May 2008  |  IP: Logged
churchgeek

Have candles, will pray
# 5557

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quote:
Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
The only time I have flown into and out of Detroit was via Wayne County and on the way in the queue for passport control was L-O-N-G and S-L-O-W but I got through in the end then straight through the tunnel and into Canada.

How long ago was that?

I'm trying to figure out which airport you mean. Detroit Metro isn't in Detroit (as LutheranChik's post makes it sound, somewhat) but about a 30-minute drive away. City Airport (which has been renamed "Coleman A. Young International Airport") is pretty small. I didn't know it was international until I googled it to find the new name! It would really be a hop, skip, & a jump to the tunnel to Canada. But no one would call that "Wayne County." Metro Airport is technically called "Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport," which I guess is why it's abbreviated DTW. So that's probably what you mean.

As for DTW, I like the relatively new Davey Terminal, which was built as a hub for Northwest, which, as we all know, was bought by Delta. I always flew Northwest, and still fly Delta, if only to be able to use that terminal. It's very user-friendly.

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, I prefer San Francisco (SFO), which is about as far outside San Francisco as DTW is outside Detroit. Currently, it's the only airport I can take BART (the commuter train) directly to, although the Oakland airport (OAK) has a shuttle to & from the nearest BART station. Oakland is closer to me, but it's a tiny, tiny airport and fewer airlines use it, I think. SFO is also tiny, at least compared to DTW, which is my reference point (being my hometown's airport). SFO is pretty easy-access and it's user-friendly, especially for getting there without a car; you just have to fly into SFO before midnight when the trains stop running. [Roll Eyes] A cab ride back to Oakland used to cost $60, but it's near $90 as of last fall when I splurged on a cab, expecting to be splurging $30 less than I actually did. (The fare from SF to Oakland is about $40 because of the bridge - they won't have a rider to take back the other way, so you basically have to pay for a round trip. Same with a ride from the airport, only more than twice as far.)

I haven't bothered to try the San Jose airport (the other major Bay Area airport) because that's just too far away, and there's not any good transit from there to my house. So I can't chime in on what that's like.

[ 05. July 2013, 00:44: Message edited by: churchgeek ]

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Posts: 7773 | From: Detroit | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged
Welease Woderwick

Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424

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quote:
Originally posted by churchgeek:
quote:
Originally posted by Welease Woderwick:
The only time I have flown into and out of Detroit was via Wayne County and on the way in the queue for passport control was L-O-N-G and S-L-O-W but I got through in the end then straight through the tunnel and into Canada.

How long ago was that?...
August 1998 on the first stage of my RTW on retirement.

As far as I can recall it was fine leaving there a week later for Chicago O'Hare and Seattle - happily my O'Hare experience was that the gate for my arriving flight was just around the corner from my departure gate. I had already been warned how confusing O'Hare could be so was very relieved to breeze it like that.

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I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details

What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?

Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005  |  IP: Logged



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