Our countdown of airports that represent the worst in the airline industry shifts to the former USSR. Indeed, a country in transition - flux if you will - such as Russia, since the decline of communist rule, deserves a certain level of empathy from travelers. Maybe give Putin and company a chance to catch up. No? Not in a charitable mood? Well neither are we. Your first experience in Moscow will shed some light on why that is. Read on.
Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow
You almost want to give airports in former communist republics a free pass. Almost. True, Soviet-era architecture - solemn square and rectangular monuments to concrete and steel - will persist on Russia’s landscape for some time as gray reminders of grim days. But the Iron Curtain fell people, so get with the program we say.
Why not start with Moscow’s airports? There were three at last count. Sheremetyevo is the first place most new visitors to Russia, let alone Moscow, see. As far as first impressions go, it ranks right up there with the German Army when it broke the Eastern Front (look it up).
Where to begin? Sheremtyevo is a drab, tired place. The renaissance so widely publicized in relation to Moscow over the past decade has not reached here apparently. Yes, renovations are underway. But the bane of all constuction projects with the best of intentions - delays - has of course, slowed improvements considerably. Hopefully, one of the changes on tap will be to shift the entire airport closer to Moscow. Believe it or not, it can take three hours to get to Red Square from the terminal exit. Some flights are shorter than that. Worse, given the air of corruption that permeates modern Moscow, you never quite know what to expect in passport control, customs or even the restaurants, taxis and shuttles into town. One thing you can count on? Cigarette smoke everywhere. In Moscow, that train is never late.
Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi
Your first thought is probably, do we expect more from airports in India? Well we admit, the level of expectation is nowhere near London or Moscow. But still, India is on the rise. The economy has been white hot over the past few years. The country has a chance, perhaps, to become a real world superpower. So the airports should follow suit, no?
No, India is not a haven of first-class airline travel. A wonderful country to visit to be sure, but for countless other reasons. The airports are hives of human activity and you have to wonder how the transportation system works and runs on time, if at all. Despite a general lack of organization on first appearance, people do get around. However, from Mumbai to Chennai, Bangalore to Kolkata, the airports are simply inferior, chaotic and sadly out of date.
Indira Gandhi would weep at the state of her airport in Delhi, which could very well be the worst in India, if not the world. While tough to quantify the level of indigence and overall state of destitution, suffice to say that the airport is a mess. Esthetically the place is enough to send you into a deep depression. Worse, the odds that you will have enough time to notice and get to know every pitiful intricacy of the airport’s “design” are high. The pace at Indira Gandhi is painful and sloth-like. As you wait, there are few if any amenity comforts to occupy your time. Well, not entirely correct. You can count the paan spit stains on the carpet, race broken baggage carts or play Russian roulette with the ancient x-ray scan machines. Just stay away from the duty free shops.
America will not get a free pass here. The state of airline travel in the United States is poor, to say the least. Paranoid security has run amok and fuel prices have sent airline executives into a panic. As a result, flight times in many cases are being extended to save a few dollars. Screw the passengers, seems to be the mantra. But the Mile High Club this is decidedly not.
Chicago O’Hare, the hub of all hubs, is another example of too big, too much, too fast - with no discernible plan in tow. Delays are incessant and inevitable, even in non-inclement weather. One in six flight cancellations in the United States is at O’Hare, which is bound to occur when you have more air traffic than any other airport, with the possible exception of Atlanta International. Still, forget that Business Traveler Magazine loves the place (Best Airport in North America for a decade straight? Did the editors enter into some macabre pact with Satan?) O’Hare is a landfill. If some intrepid investigative journalist uncovered a swath of asbestos or airborne fungus here, we would react with mild nonchalance. The place is a cold, comfortless warehouse with a penchant for AC, wet carpet stink and sterile fluorescent lights.
The Windy City of Chicago is one of the best destinations in North America. Just try to forget about O’Hare.
Thus concludes our list. Lest you think we forgot about your favourite worst airport - yes, we know about Dakar, Jakarta and JFK - fear not. There will be future installments. Just leave poor Mogadishu and Baghdad alone. Do you expect airports in wartorn Somalia and Iraq not to suck?
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August 2nd, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Sheremet’evo is definitely number one in this list.