Everyone is used to going to travel sites and seeing a list of the best things...the best places to dine, best cities to visit...but, what about a list of the worst things?
Below is a list of the top 5 worst airports in the world:
Starting from the top--there is no other airport worth the title of the "worst airport" then the two-time award winner.
Charles de Gaulle in Paris, France
It is a colossal airport that caters to mostly connection traffic who can't read or understand french, which is a big problem because CDG officials, on the intercoms and terminal employees never or rarely use english--the international second-language used throughout the world.
On the rare occasions that english is used to explan airplane terminal changes (which happens all the time) the intercom volume is so low that passengers easily ignore it because they can't hear it resulting in missing flights.
The security checkpoint is one of, if not the slowest in the world. Some get the feeling that they want passengers to miss their flights and for Americans, it could be true. Once the security knows they are dealing with an American, they go even slower checking and re-checking stamps and visas, while asking "where are you going?" Why are you going?" and other annoying questions.
LaGuardia Airport Terminal, New York City
It was recently rated the worst major airport in America by both JD Power and Associates and Zagat Survey and though two out three terminals have gotten upgrades, there is still no rail to anywhere: to head into New York or in between terminals, which for a airport in the middle of "The City That Never Sleeps" is unacceptable.
There is also nothing to do while waiting for a flight to board, which is usually delayed anyway. The only thing one can do is snack, but the options are few and far between.
The passenger traffic is overcrowded, which is bad because the airport itself is very small, making for congestion and aggravation.
The whole airport is dull and depressing, with the US Airways terminal being the saddest of them all.
JFK Airport Terminal 3, New York City
Frommers.com rates JFK's Terminal 3 "the worst single airport terminal in America" and they would be right.
Built in 1960, by Pan American Airlines, it hasn't been renovated or changed in the almost 50 years of operations.
Delta still uses this crumbling, cracking and decrepit piece of cement for international traffic.
Like LaGuardia, there is very limited shopping or food choices. The check-point lines are usually, never-ending long, with "three crowded and confusing entry points," according to Frommers.com.
On top of all that, once the international travelers are out of the airport, there are no cabs around to take where they want to go and getting to the subway is even more confusing for people, who in large part, are in New York for the first time.
Terminal 2 isn't that much better, where the security detail is very basically non-existent causes even longer never-ending entry lines.
Manila Airport Terminal 1, Philippines
It was rated the worst terminal last year by SleepingInAirports.net for many reasons, but the main one was the ceiling caving in last May resulting in two people getting injuried.
The terminal has been a frequent target of criticism with travelers and the business community complaining it is congested, run-down and filthy, with toilets that do not work," Agence France Presse commented According to SleepingInAirports.net, bribery and theft are also rampant in the terminal.
One good thing did come out of this however, frommers.com reports that due to the negative press attention this November the Philippine government said it would renovate the terminal starting in January.
Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport Terminal B/C, Russia
One of the two airports rated "two stars" by global consulting firm Skytrax (the other being Amman Queen Alia Airport in Jordan) the worst ranking of the list, due to nobody getting a "one star" rating, VO B/C did exceptionally bad when it came to "anything where you have to interact with airport staff: their attitude, their language skills, and the speed with which they process passengers.," according to frommers.com.
Like CGC in Paris, workers here don't work in english, which leads to confusion for non-russian speaking travelers.
Though it is a newer terminal than the aforementioned ones, it is still difficult to transfer to the other terminals, due to its distance from the rail station and like LaGuardia, delays are rapid, as two-hours or longer is the norm.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
