Airports of the World

Is it always good to have the flashiest and largest airports? Wouldn't there be more air traffic, hence more noise?
We, in Adelaide, have a little over a 150 flights a day coming into and departing Adelaide, and the people who live near the airport are complaining about the noise.
 
Just do like we do and stick the airport in the middle of nowhere. :p

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18000 commercial flights (not including cargo) a month and no one complains.
 
Is it always good to have the flashiest and largest airports? Wouldn't there be more air traffic, hence more noise?
We, in Adelaide, have a little over a 150 flights a day coming into and departing Adelaide, and the people who live near the airport are complaining about the noise.

Yes. It's about image and nothing else. First impression to the tourists... it is important. People are gonna bitch and moan about everything they do not like. Relocate the drug addicts that live under the runway and be happi. :)
 
^Speaking of noise, this is what Hong Kong's airport used to be like

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the top of the buildings in that area had guiding lights for the runway the planes were really low when they flew past those buildings, those of you who visited Hong Kong before 97 would have seen that airport)

Now it is about 60km away from the city center so no one complains anymore.

Speaking of monorails, the KL Airport also has monorails to get to the main terminal, quite cool but not so much when you're in a hurry.

The Hong Kong airport also has a monorail, it just helps people to get to gates 40 or greater quicker, ps. Hong Kong International Airport has 70+ gates IIRC.
 
O'Hare International Airport, "World's Busiest Airport":
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Nothing beats Dubai Internation Airport's Duty Free...
HUGE shopping arcade,Mercs,Harleys,BMWs,Porsches,Lamborghinis,Ferraris,Bentleys,Rolls Royces up for grabs on a purchase of a raffle ticket,and cars change every now and then.
A million dollars cash draw too!For each Millennium Millionaire Series, 5000 tickets are sold at Dhs 1,000 (US$ 278) each and with no restrictions on the number of tickets that each individual can purchase.


The prize for each Series is US$ 1,000,000.

For each Finest Surprise Car Series, 1000 tickets are sold at Dhs.500 (US$ 139) each. However, each Special Finest Surprise Car Series, 2000 tickets are sold at Dhs.500 (US$139) each.
For each Finest Surprise Motorbike Series, 1000 tickets are sold at Dhs.100 (US$27.80) each.

http://img84.imageshack.**/img84/720/22008dutyfreepeg5.jpg

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http://img367.imageshack.**/img367/4101/dxb20dubai20internationrc2.jpg

Actually every time i've been to Dubai airport i've found it pretty horrid, there isn't enough seating near the gates, there isn't enough seating in the buisness class lounge (and barely enough in the first) (though the drinks selection is excellent) the shops are all hard-core over priced (even more so than other airports) It lacks a quick a way to get from one end to the other as well, the travellators move far too slowely.
 
What about Perth International airport? It has to be one of the shittiest airports I've frequented. It has 5 gates. Flights to Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia and that's about it.
 
My local airport(Singapore) is rather nice, facilities and pleasant staff. Excellent security. Bad thing is high airport tax. Anyone been to China airports? god, they are badddd
 
I think I beat you in the worlds shittiest airport visted, Eket, Nigeria. A regional airport that is so crap the tarmac is full of pot holes and the service is so slow that it takes them 2 hours to check in a plane for 15 people...

Their largest city lagos also has a pretty poor airport, another fairly bad airport (but I beleive is in the process of being refurbished) is Kuching, Malaysia.

Nicest domestic terminal in australia would have to be Canberra, internationally it's much of a muchness between Melbourne and Sydney (both are acceptable but nothing special)

Singapore airport, everytime i've passed through it's always nice and clean however the arrivals area is a bit poor (once you clear customs) bagage collection is a bit well... rubbish, it's labelled extremely poorly I found.

CDG, old terminals are a run down dump new terminal is quite nice.

LHR, confusing run down dump that somehow works.

KL, nice enough, shops are a total and utter rip off and it has confusing maps on boards.

That's about all the airports I've been to that I can think of stuff for right now.
 
Nothing beats Dubai Internation Airport's Duty Free...
HUGE shopping

Pfft, we have no sales tax here in Oregon. That beats duty free at the airport! :p
 
Are you kidding me?There's no tax so its one of the cheapest prices you'll find..:|

There's no tax, but they jack up the prices because it's last-minute shopping, and you can't leave the airport to get a better deal.

Also, I've said this before, but Heathrow, it seems, still doesn't get the point of articulated gates. Every other airport I've been to in recent years has you board the plane directly from the gate, without having to go outside. At Heathrow, they have the same long, enclosed gates as other airports (although which gate you'll be using isn't announced until 30 minutes before boarding :roll:), but instead of boarding the plane, you're brought down to ground level, plopped on a bus, and transported back to 1985 as you climb the outdoor staircase to get on the plane. <_<
 
Food and other produce are always very expensive at airports. Like "chaos386" said they jack up the prices because its last-minute shopping.

In Adelaide, before they built the new airport, it was the same story as in Heathrow, passengers had to go outside before boarding the plane. But i remember once when i was in Frankfurt the same happened. They placed us on a bus and transported us over to a plane half a kilometer away.
 
Are you kidding me?There's no tax so its one of the cheapest prices you'll find..:|



I still contend that it's one of the most dissapointing airports i've been too, everyone makes it out to be great and well it just wasn't, it's not that it's bad it's just not what I thought it would be like.

Getting from one end of the airport to the other is where the fun begins, flights to Europe are at one end then flights to australia are a bajillion miles away.
 
Their largest city lagos also has a pretty poor airport, another fairly bad airport (but I beleive is in the process of being refurbished) is Kuching, Malaysia.

Nicest domestic terminal in australia would have to be Canberra, internationally it's much of a muchness between Melbourne and Sydney (both are acceptable but nothing special)

Singapore airport, everytime i've passed through it's always nice and clean however the arrivals area is a bit poor (once you clear customs) bagage collection is a bit well... rubbish, it's labelled extremely poorly I found.

True... the Melbourne and Sydney airports are nothing special but does the job... I have never been the Kuching Airport though, but I can imagine how crap it is considering how bad Penang airport is.

The Singapore airport is actually a very very old airport, it just has good service and they just keep making the area in the terminal where you sit around comfortable (Which is doesn't appeal to me because I'm not even there anyway, I get airline lounge access). They keep forgetting to improve the customs, baggabe reclaim, arrival hall etc.... its so old and desperately needs some work.... which is why I have never agreed to SIN getting the best airport, the HKG airport is much better, more all rounded, arrival, terminal, departure, baggage reclaim... etc.
 
True... the Melbourne and Sydney airports are nothing special but does the job... I have never been the Kuching Airport though, but I can imagine how crap it is considering how bad Penang airport is.

The Singapore airport is actually a very very old airport, it just has good service and they just keep making the area in the terminal where you sit around comfortable (Which is doesn't appeal to me because I'm not even there anyway, I get airline lounge access). They keep forgetting to improve the customs, baggabe reclaim, arrival hall etc.... its so old and desperately needs some work.... which is why I have never agreed to SIN getting the best airport, the HKG airport is much better, more all rounded, arrival, terminal, departure, baggage reclaim... etc.

I've never been to Hong Kong so I don't know :p

The actual terminal at singapore airport is quite foul from the outside to look at.

Singapore is a great place though, I usually stay at the Fullerton hotel (extremely nice looking building from the outside, converted post master general building I beleive) Shopping in singapore is over-rated though, I didn't find it fantastically cheap nor the greatest range. Johor Baru is supposed to have good shopping but when I went their it was just a total dump. Any Australian should visit the Changi muesuem. Anyone in Singapore for a holiday should definately check out Foonan (I think that's the name) and SimLim both really large shopping centres that only sell tech stuff.
 
^Except that if you're caucasian, you'll get cheated by Simlim :p...

Shopping in Singapore is quite nice, I'm currently in Singapore now and there are many american brands that you won't see in any other asian country (AUS included), so I just usually buy from stores that carry those brands, that about it.

And the Fullerton is a great looking hotel, I've only stayed there once... its too far from Orchard Road for my liking... if you like old buildings that are converted to hotels, you should try staying at the original Raffles Hotel.

Johor Bahru on the other hand, I have to admit, being Malaysian I have never stepped foot into Johor, its simply a madhouse and if you don't know where to go... but the trick is, just look for malls or restaurants where there are loads of Singapore cars parked outside, those places are usually good :lol:.
 
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