Pilgrims line up upon their arrival at Jeddah airport in Saudi Arabia on November 10, 2009
Travelers to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdul Aziz International Airport may be onto something. According to a new report from Frommers.com, that airport terminal is the best in the world. While every air traveler has a favorite and least favorite airport, their rankings are usually dependent on whether their own flight has been delayed or canceled. To truly rank the best and the worst of air travel, it takes a professional. In an article in USA Today, Frommers has listed the ten best and worst airport terminals from around the world.
Hajj Terminal at King Abdul Aziz International Airport, received the highest ranking from Frommers, but not just for its American Institute of Architects-award winning design and 210 white fiberglass cooling tents. The travel guide publisher based their ratings on a terminal’s cleanliness, services, on-time departures, navigation and the ease of getting to and from a city’s center and Hajj Terminal reigned supreme. (It should be noted that the Hajj terminal does have far fewer flights to contend with than other terminals, at it is only open during the six-week pilgrimage to Mecca.) Other terminals making the top 10 include airports in Rekjavik, Iceland, Seoul, South Korea and Wellington, New Zealand. Not up for international travel? The only airport in the U.S. to make the top ten list is JetBlue Airways’ Terminal 5 at New York’s JFK airport.
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But as every traveler knows, not all air terminals are created equal. So what terminals are the worst in the world? Airports serving Manila, Moscow and Paris rank among the worst, along with four terminals in the U.S., including Chicago’s Midway airport.
Although the news hardly comes as a surprise to anyone who has passed through any of New York City’s terminals, the city’s airports made the worst list three times. Both Newark’s Terminal B and the US Airways terminal at New York’s LaGuardia ranked among the ten worst, while Delta Air Lines’ Terminal 3 at JFK Airport was given the ignominious title of worst airport in the world. According to the travel guide publisher as quoted in USA Today, “Terminal 3 is known for endless immigration lines in a dank basement, an utter lack of food and shopping options, three crowded and confusing entry points, and hallways that could have been designed by M.C Escher for vomiting international travelers out onto an underground sidewalk with no cabs available.” But wait, there’s more, “There’s also a sense that the cleaning crew gave up in despair a while ago,” says Frommers. While New Yorkers won’t be pleased about the news, they may appreciate adding some validity to their Facebook status updates and Twitter musings: They are indeed in The Worst Terminal in the World.