Having been a travel bug for nearly 40 years, here are my top 10 airport rankings (I love airports). This ranking is completely based on my own travel experience (Europe, Middle East, Asia, N. America, Latin America; no Africa) and is by no means exhaustive. It's based on my subjective take of an airport's design, layout, ambiance, esthetic, service, technology, efficiency in moving masses of people around, signage, cleanliness, food, shops, parking, sense of hospitality and more. So here goes!
1. Singapore. My goodness, this airport is so nice, it's almost too much. It's borderline oppulent. It's like a 5 star hotel and detailed perfectly to the max. Great use of space, greenery, glass, shops and more. It's a site to behold, besides just getting on your plane.
2. Hong Kong. Almost like Singapore's airport but without the over the top luxury feel, but close. The shops in this airport are like a high-end mall. Very airy, and you can't help but love the buzz of this airport.
3. Zurich. A beautiful full-service airport befitting Switzerland's status as the #1 destination in Europe. Clean, modern, upscale, visually pleasing, and full of luxury shops catering to the wealthy clientele that flow through the city. Interestingly, this airport is as nice as Geneva's isn't!
4. Vancouver. I love Canada's sense of architecture - modern, sublime, clean. The walk to the international processing area is fabulous (however recent changes in the exit areas took away the vaulted ceiling feel; strange change). Not the mega size airports of some cities, but great sense of proportion for his international city.
5. Minneapolis. Maybe it's the feeling of home, but I love the Minneapolis airport. The front ticketing areas could be improved, but once you cross the security check areas, it opens up nicely, with a friendly and modern feel. You don't get tired thinking about transiting through this airport; you look forward to it.
6. Amersterdam. This airport would rank higher than Vancouver or Minneapolis' except they way they check luggage is weird. You get everything scanned at the boarding gate. This is very cumbersome, tiring and inefficient to me. Otherwise, it has the big airport feel of Hong Kong, bright, airy, lots of nice shops and open space. A great first impression for people landing in Europe for the first time.
7. Seattle. Very comparable to Minneapolis, with great inter-airport transit system. Some of the wings which service the local carriers, however, are older and a bit cramped.
8. Beijing Terminal 3 (built for the Olympics; picture above). Awesome and huge facility befitting the largest country in the world. It's new, spacious, well lit and designed, and is ready to move lotsa people for the 2008 Summer Games. I rank it lower than the others because it's part of an older system, and the airport hasn't been time tested. But in term of brick for brick esthetic and design, it's up there with Hong Kong and Singapore.
9. Columbia, South Carolina. This is just a little airport, not even close in size to the above ones, but it's an amazing little airport - clean, modern, new, and really nice. Its feel is warm, pleasant and inviting.
10. Dubai. Actually, I haven't been to this airport, but I can't wait to go there some day. I suspect it'll be up in the top five after I actually visit it.
Which airports are your favorites? Thoughts on this list?