Worst airport you have been in

[disappointed101]

Travelling through BHX this evening. Looks like a building site, no staff to be seen at check in, then a poor guy turns up apologising for lack of staff. Security an absolute mess, lots of staff having a lovely chat whilst the queue moves at a snails pace, nobody taking control. Awful. It’s got to be up with the worst experience I’ve had. Luckily our flight is delayed due to fog, else we wouldn’t have made it. What’s your worst experience in an airport?

Worst is Schiphol with mice running around the gates. Would not eat from a restaurant there again after seeing g that and would not rest a bag on the floor.

Best is Cork. Lovely friendly airport. And to those that say Dublin needs another airport, Cork is underused, built to handle more than it caters for now. Also, whenever Cork loses flights, people say, Dublin is only up the road.
But when Cork is suggested as an alternative to overbusy Dublin having another airport, the same sort say, Cork, three hours away!! Which is it? 😆

I adore Greece, been to various islands and cities around 40 times but the airports are definitely the worst part of the holiday.

Though they’ve improved massively since I started going to Greece in the 80’s when most were pretty much shacks with room for 3/4 planes.

Cardiff - there are literally more impressive bus stations in the UK. Dreadful on every level. Orly airport reminds me of it quite a lot actually.

Agree with a pp regarding Naples. The levels of chaos there is actually quite alarming.

I’m joining in with Antalya. Nowhere to sit, rammed, and at least one of the gates is right next to the smoking deck so you get wafted with fag smoke whilst penned in. The post-holiday blues start right there…

Houston during building works. I've never been so confused in my life as my terminal was closed. I ended up walking up to random staff and pleading with them to tell me where to go. No one seemed to know.

San Francisco is lovely. It has a museum and library.

Miami
JFK
LAX
Orlando
Male

Manchester going through security ds was fine going through when he was little. DS and DD both have severe autism even with the priority boarding going through security took forever. DS got really stressed and pulled my hair. Which isn't like him at all. The minuite we got through and out of there he calmed down like switching off a light switch.

The best one I've flown from with young DC was Nok in Ireland. We did have to pay to use the airport. But flying to that airport instead of by car as we had previously saved us a lot of travelling.

There was a small children's play area there it wasn't busy. We didn't feel rushed and it wasn't noisy. DS was 5 coming up 6 and DD was 2 coming up 3. But if we do go abroad again I would definitely look at smaller airports and seeing if he manages better.

Worst is probably REUS. If there’s anything more than one plane volume in the departure area then it’s rammed. The flight before ours was delayed and so was ours. We were all rammed into a tiny tin shed with the tiniest shop and a cafe 😞

Singapore they don’t make it clear that there is no food or drink available after the security check for the gate. They made me throw my bottle of water if just bought from the machine. Would have emptied it amd filled in the gate had I known that’s how it worked or not gone through so fast .

Has all my things swiped for drugs flying from Newquay. Pretty sure I would have just drove and not risked flying if I was carrying drugs as it actually took longer than driving everything considered!

Copenhagen Airport is terrible. Its just a massive shopping mall without a seat in sight until you get to the gate. You just have to stand there for a hour until your gate is announced. Awful.
I've been to airports where you've got to load your own luggage onto the plane before (literally carry your bags across the runway and put it in the plane hold yourself) that I've liked better.

Apparently Heathrow was voted the most stressful airport in Europe in 2024
34,700 lost luggage enquiries in one year as well

Any Greek island airport between mid may and October is painful. Also agree with previous posters about Taba - gun toting security barking at you, no loo roll unless you pay up, no chairs, tiny kiosk selling warm water.
I also really hate Barcelona - it's never been excessively busy or anything gone wrong but for some reason the combination of the lighting, the noise and the heat always gives me a headache.
Conversely I was really impressed with Delhi this year - clean, efficient, great facilities etc.

Mumbai, it's not remotely close.

BHX - it's been a building site for at least 2 years and shows no signs of getting better. Even the staff are utterly sick of it. Queues outside in marquees in all weathers. Dire

So I've been told, @MontyNojangles, but when last there in May I'm certain the notices said it would be completed "in time for summer" ... though with the way practically everything's run in the UK I should have known better

Otherwise I agree about Luton; it pains me to think this complete sh1thole will be some folks' introduction to the UK, but so it is

Dammam airport.
I also have issues with Al Maktoum.

I'd avoid Charles de Gaulle given the option.

Birmingham, by contrast, is delightful!

Turin in ski season. Chaos !! There was a fight in the middle of the 3 random queues that had formed to go through security.

We flew to Reus in 1985 - it was literally a tin shack with non existent security

It's very swish isn't it?

It depends a bit on the terminal. T2 (with all its subdivisions) is hell on earth, and T1 is showing its age, but T3 is a bijou terminal-ette that you can only get to by walking 300m or so from the shuttle. It's like a small regional airport within CDG. Of course you have to be flying with an airline that uses it (mostly low-cost).

Haven’t rttft, but Sharm. Hot, really shit food, thieving security guards, filthy. Then Marrakesh. Beautiful building, but omg the queues, (I know security) queue to get in, no online check in, so paper check in with a huge queue, then the slalom queue filling the whole hall.

Kos - far too small for the amount of people using it. It's no longer fit for purpose.

I really like Southend airport and I’m pleased EasyJet starting more flights again. It’s very small but it’s really well organised and easy.

Another vote for Heraklion, utterly grim and it’s put me off booking another holiday there.

MrsTerryPratchett
Definately do it.. there’s a wee business idea for you… you make a fortune

The worst airport I have been to is Manchester.. fly to uk from Southern Hemisphere every yr.
Narrow corridors. The boarding area is overcrowded with not enough seating and no water.. you can wait for hrs.
The first time I landed you had to pay a pound coin for a blooming trolley for luggage on arrival.. who the hell has a pound coin i]when they flew from the other side world!
Somehow I feel like a trolley -streaming international criminal whenever I go there.

the scariest airport in Lukla in Nepal .. I believe runway is tarmac now but it was just stones. Rickety plain. In the middle of the mountains. Surly Russian staff.
i made my peace with God before I got in that plane (and I am not particularly religious!

Used to be a never ending building site and far too small inside for the number of passengers flying form there.

Paris CDG
New York JFK
Zagreb