What's the best airport you've been to?

[WeAreTheHeroes]

I thought I'd start a thread on best airports as the flip side of the thread about the worst ones.

I'll start: Alicante. Rebuilt since I was last there thirty years ago. Very light and spacious. We were very quickly through bag drop and security. Lots of coffee and food places, including once you're through to the actual gates. Lots of staff for those passengers needing assistance. Very clean everywhere. Good aircon.

The new Istanbul airport is pretty nice - very airy, tight but well-organised security, and I liked the pop-up lounge close to the departure gates. Really nice women's toilets too, with lots of room for sorting babies and kids out.

One I liked, but it's not really a best one, is Fiumicino in Rome - it's so of the time it was built, with smoked glass, etc. and Italian design of course.

Bournemouth, small, low key and able to walk onto plane from departure lounge.

Copenhagen
1 - they have a Yo Sushi!
2 - the security guy looked at our dc aged 8 and 5 and waved us through the fast queue saying "mine are the same age".

I'm sure others are nicer, but I'll always remember that lovely security guard on that busy Friday evening. I like Nice. I hate Charles de Gaulle. Schipol is not bad.

The former Doncaster airport was good in that respect. Not dissimilar to a bus station.

Years ago and it has probably all changed now, but Mombasa airport. It was a large tin hut, and baggage claim was a roped-off area outside on the tarmac. Flocks of sparrows (of all things!) everywhere, and the air was that hot earthy smell of Africa. If you've ever been, you'll know what I mean.

Singapore Changi was by far the best I’ve been to.

Newcastle is a great airport

Changi by a huge margin.

I liked Hong Kong International. Well designed with good facilities.

I seem to recall Bangkok airport being nice too but we were only transferring there so didn’t experience the whole airport in the way you normally would.

Bankgkok, Singapore, HK all vg. I lived in mainland China for 12 years and transited through HK five or six times per year and loved shopping in Shanghai Tang.
Tokyo Narita also great as they moved me and dcs to the front of the queue when I was travelling on my own.

Loved Dubai, it was like a posh shopping centre. Singapore amazing too!

Gibraltar’s

Blackpool before they closed it down!

Ibiza. Arrivals has the iconic Evissa sign (and you've just arrived IN IBIZA!!). Departures is clean and bright, with a lovely view of the salt flats. Nice food and coffee options, really great shops, good seating, small enough that there's no last minute dash to the gate. Shame I always feel like the living dead by that point 😂

I find big airports like Changi, Dubai and Doha overwhelming and confusing. I like London City (small, just need to reach airport 45 minutes before departure) and Zurich (very airy) and Istanbul (proper shopping and food).

Turin. Just a beautiful airport, and it's not crowded.

Brisbane. Light, airy and efficient.

City Airport or Southend, both small, efficient, no faffing about. I don’t go to airports for architectural wonder or culinary treats, I just want to go through as fat as possible and not have them lose my luggage.

Think I'm a fourth vote for Singapore

There are the massive ones which are impressive, Rome, Dubai etc and I do like the fact they have kids buggies waiting at Dubai but... they are all so busy and stressful.
I'd much rather be in the little shed at Antigua where a pregnant cat waddled in and started eating a doner kebab that was on the floor before giving birth!

As fat as possible? I might have meant as fast as possible!

Heraklion - dangerously overcrowded, filthy dirty, unbearably hot and disorganised too. A disgrace to Greece and the island of Crete.

Gatwick also up there, especially the North Terminal and sky bridge. Some gates are miles away and involve endless stairs. Not good before or after a red eye flight.

Sorry - wrong thread!

Augusta.
probably cos they mainly serve 2 populations. The large army base, whose service personnel are treated like gods and hero’s by the airlines for some reason. And very wealthy golfers.
its small for starters so that always helps. Has art exhibitions. And while you wait you can get a glass of ice tea, sit on the “ gone with the wind” veranda, in white rocking chairs and watch the humming birds flutter over the bubbling stream making relaxing noises, in the shady heat.
staff very polite , typical southern state charm, and service orientation. Always addressed me same as the queen, mam to rhyme with jam.

knock and Dublin are generally good . Knock is an “experience”: paying the nuns 🤷🏼‍♀️🤣, and staff not rocking up till an hour before the 2 or 3 flights leaving per day 🤣🤣🤣 , then the race to see which of 2 flights ( terminal can only cope with 2 planes) out can onboard fastest and depart vaguely based on timetable, so staff can piss off back home again for the day . 🤣🤣🤣.

Hong kong was good , but then I was always business and sometimes first class and therefore in special lounges…but those were always lovely with lovely staff