I have a wife, Mrs B., who now has huge health problems; she needs assistance wherever we travel by air, and both the great and terrible experiences we have encountered during previous ”normal” flights pale into insignificance when dealing with her current situation.
The worst airports we have come across for failing to provide adequate service for those who have booked special assistance are numerous. Far too many fail to appreciate the needs of people who would so much like to fit in with everybody else, but whose body refuses to allow that to happen.
Copenhagen – you would have thought that this most enlightened Scandinavian country would look after those with disabilities; but no, the massive checking-in area did not supply a single seat within a mile of the desks. What are you supposed to do when you cannot stand for more than a few minutes?
But the worst – undoubtably London Heathrow Terminal 5. As you enter the Terminal 5 building, the area for special assistance is about a mile away to your right. You can’t even see the area with the naked eye, so far away it is. Yes, you can call assistance before the entrance to the terminal, but you are likely to be informed, as we have so many times, that they can’t help you for another 45 or 60 minutes. Outrageous.
On the contrary, the best airport we have ever used needing special assistance is Larnaka, situated in the south-east corner of Cyprus. Terminal 5 at Heathrow, take note. You enter Larnaka’s departure terminal, and the special assistance area is immediately to your right. Within five or six steps, you are there!! The airport then takes over, and you find yourself on the aircraft without any hassle or inconvenience. Is that rocket science?
So, well done Larnaka. But on a personal level, maybe my best personal experience was Gibraltar back in 1995.
My BBC colleague and I were covering the bi-annual Island Games on behalf of the Channel Islands. The last event was the football final, which involved the host island Gibraltar. Sadly, both Jersey and Guernsey failed to reach that final. We reckon the entire population of Gibraltar went to the match. We decided that during that match was a good time to leave and head home.
When we got to the airport, it was deserted. Totally. We were treated like royalty. When we boarded the plane, we were the only two passengers on an Airbus A320! Nobody, in any class, could ever have received better service than we did that day. (Later on that evening, we were both thrown out of a Gatwick Airport hotel foyer for being drunk and disorderly. But that’s another blog…)
My best and worst airport experience
I am choosing the bad-news-first approach for this topic.
In December 2017, I was returning from Alaska to Russia, having completed my Fulbright visiting scholar experience at Anchorage Museum. Well, I had only been a couple of days at the university because I was conducting my interviews out in the field, from Kodiak Island and Sitka on the Pacific coast to Eureka Lodge, a musher’s outpost at the edge of Alaskan taiga.
That day, I learned there was a big fire at Atlanta International Airport, Delta’s headquarters and biggest hub. The closing of Atlanta airport affected Delta’s global operations. So, when I landed in Amsterdam, I was told that my Delta flight to Moscow was rescheduled for the next day. Instead, Delta offered a free stay at the Ibis Hotel near the Schiphol airport. What a great idea! – I thought. I decided to spend an evening in Amsterdam, using this occasion. I only needed a special one-day entry permit from Dutch authorities because, as a Russian, I needed a Schengen visa. I didn’t have one, so the permit was the solution to get to the hotel outside the airport.
I spent five fucking hours waiting in line for my permit! The whole process was painfully slow, though I didn’t have that many people before me in the line. I had thought it would have taken no more than an hour to wait…
Before that, I had an 11-hour flight from Anchorage to Amsterdam. Add my jet lag to the bouquet to fully feel the situation. When I finally got the permit, I only wanted to get to bed. Also, it was 11 pm, too late anyway. This is how I missed my Amsterdam experience because of the slow European bureaucracy.
But there’s always another side of the coin.
April 2016. We just completed our mind-blowing and equally exhausting six-day trek to climb Gokyo-Ri peak, 5,360 meters high, in the Sagarmatha National Park in the Himalayas. Our team had an incredible helicopter transfer on the way back from our helipad just outside Gokyo village, 4,700 meters high, down to Lukla Airport, located at 2,600 meters above sea level. Lukla is a starting point for plenty of trekking routes in this part of the Himalayas.
We spent six days walking up from Lukla to Gokyo, gaining more than two kilometers vertically, experiencing all the high altitude positives, like constant sickness, shortness of breath, and bad sleep.
It took only 17 minutes to cover that distance among Himalaya’s majestic mountains, down two kilometers! In Nepal, the word ‘helicopter’ has a curious nickname among the adventure community: ‘The Magic Bird.’ Having spent only minutes instead of days on our return from the High Himalayas, I understand why.
Lukla Aiport was built by the efforts of Sir Edmund Hillary. It is located on the edge of a giant gorge. It always hits the Top Ten of the world’s most dangerous airports because its only runway has negative inclination. When landing, planes actually go up the runway till they stop. When taking off, planes go down and then take off above the bottomless gorge. It is a truly breathtaking show!
Our helicopter had to refuel at the airport. While waiting, we were watching planes landing and taking off. That was one of the most dramatic experiences in my life!
We boarded our Magic Bird an hour later and took off to Katmandu. At Gokyo Ri, it was just above zero Centigrade. When we landed at a helipad at Tribhuvan Airport, it was plus 26, a tropical paradise!
My best and worst airport experience
I love to travel. In fact, I’m like a five-year-old. I always ask for the window seat, bring my camera, turn on that channel with the little airplane and map, and watch. To me it’s all an adventure.
I always try to be respectful and I’m always conscious of being judged as an American. I know that anything that I do that can be even remotely judged as negative will be used as a smear on the entire United States. So, I try to behave and be understanding of others.
Of course, being kind to others will no longer count. I read that ALL classes to teach Americans how to speak with a Canadian accent are sold out. American travelers are now going out of their way to not be identified. I’m absolutely sure I will be in that group on my next trip. My people are now uniformly identified as hateful, Nazi wanna-be-swine. I get it.
US Airlines are protected from competition by law. The good airlines (all International plus Delta) are forbidden by law from operating domestic flights inside the US. Delta’s domestic flights excepted of course. So, the domestic carriers are protected and it shows. Their waiting areas, gate staff, and check-in counters suck. They don’t care and you have no choice; screw you. Every bag gets weighed to the ounce and measured to the millimeter. May God have mercy on your soul if you’re a half-ounce over. You may think of them as one step up from Ryan – except they charge full price. I flew Ryan, once.
US Airports are, in general, middling. Not world class but not an embarrassment either. The busiest airport in the world is Hartsfield, in Atlanta. It’s alright… they have some cool travelling sidewalks with tricked out lighting. The main terminal areas are standard shopping mall style atriums. Four floors, if I remember. Sorry, I’ll not nominate any of them as best and Skytrax agrees, not one American Airport made their top 20 this year.
I think the major airport I would nominate as the worst was the old Istanbul International. Let me quickly add I never had a bad experience there. The people were great but the airport itself, not so much. The Terminal areas were these long, plain white halls with low office-style drop ceilings. Standard, office florescent lighting was part of the deal. That airport has been replaced with a bigger new airport that is more appealing.