[GivingupBA]

Excellent rant, canucklad. And I like “infestation of retail outlets” – and could not agree more. I must have spent about 2 months of my life in total, or 145 miles distance, being forced through these infestations [PS amount spent by me to date in them – zero/ none/ nil pounds – on principle]. I like your bulldozer comment too.

My top two airports for rebuild, 1. LHR, 2. CDG. But they have different histories – LHR grew piecemeal since WW2, and so can be understood/forgiven – whereas CDG was planned and built and opened in the mid-1970s.

[AlanOrton1]

I must be the odd one out as I connected through CDG earlier this month. (Having not been to the airport in about 17 years).
Flying with AF and had to transfer 2E to 2F, found the terminals, the signage all absolutely fine. 2E, at least the area we used, was spacious and plenty of room.
Back around the turn of the millennium I used T1 a lot (BMI, CDG-LHR) and it was pretty dire even then.
No complaints re T2 though.

CGK, on the other hand…..

[PeterCoultas]

It won’t be demolished (what a shame) but it looks as if LHR (the world’s least friendly airport) will have a new runway….why are our politicians so slow to realize this will be a disaster…the place is chaos now with useless road connections and a decent rail route to Paddington …a place only fit for bears….why for heaven’s (sorry the religious) sake can we not have a proper new airport somewhere north of London and maybe some decent connectors from places like Manston…Bexit may be bad or good but LHR expansion is totally BAD…

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FDOS_UK, capetonianm

[capetonianm]

You can always trust and rely on politicians for one thing, that being to make the worst possible decision for everyone except themselves.

With expanding Heathrow, they have excelled themselves!

[Andrew Sinclair]

I would definitely demolish Manchester T3 – its a real mess, corridors and bottle necks, small corridor off main security being a good example, no real shopping core, and the link to the Station – all very poor. Stansted is just too busy now, nowhere to sit down whether general seating or to have a coffee. It needs that new terminal or a serious extension

Agree on IAD – all very puzzling

I like LHR a lot. Considering how many people use it, its very efficient. T5 is great and others have been refurbd / rebuilt

[GivingupBA]

[quote quote=872002]I like LHR a lot. Considering how many people use it, its very efficient. T5 is great and others have been refurbd / rebuilt[/quote]

At LHR, good point that T2 has been rebuilt, T5 is relatively new, and (in my opinion) T4 is really OK. But T3 is not OK in my opinion, and T3/T2, T5, and T4 are too far apart from each other and not so well connected (with no chance of e.g. walking between them). At least at MAN you can walk between T1, T2, and T3.

[openfly]

Gatwick South Terminal is grim….a nasty shopping mall with a runway attached, somewhere! Airside jammed full of bodies, nowhere to sit, no space, nothing but overpowering, expensive rip-off shops. Let’s hope things improve in 2025 when the new terminal and runway open!
The other Gatwick problem is lack of accessibility….unreliability on the trains and the traffic jams on the M23 for the next two years. One of the worst airports, and terminal, in Europe?

[Andrew Sinclair]

I agree with that last comment on Gatwick. I try and avoid it as live in NW London, but when I do go it is also mobbed with no where to sit and the trains have been terrible and in disarray the last 3 times I have been

[capetonianm]

Gatwick for me is the least bad of the London airports, but I agree to an extent with the comments above, particular those about lack of seating and the awful bloody shops and having to walk through the maze and avoid people dawdling and blocking your path. As a matter of principle, I refuse to buy anything at the airport shops and if more people did this and they went out of business I would rejoice.

I normally travel to and from Weybridge, and the M23 and M25 can be avoided, and although it makes a more difficult drive, you do at least keep moving by staying off the motorways and can find an alternative route if traffic backs up. If I’m not driving myself I use a local minicab company and their drivers are brilliant and know the bottlenecks and shortcuts. The trains have been dire but I’ve found that by allowing plenty of time and choosing a time where there is a Plan B and a Plan C in case of delay, I get to the airport on time and relaxed. I usually go via Woking, then Guildford, and take the Great Western service to/from the airport. It’s a pleasant route, far more so than via Crapham Junction and only marginally slower, although the trains are often packed and rarely have First class. The connection at Woking is usually on the same platform and at Guildford it usually means a walk through the underpass to change platforms.

If I rent a car, I can pickup/dropoff at the terminal, which I prefer to the LHR shuttle arrangement.

[Flightlevel]

Shopping centers are good they help cover airport costs in the ticket price and you don’t have to buy anything. Some people love shopping!
HAL has agreed the LHR 3rd RWY will add charges to tickets to pay for 1000(?) houses bought above market prices, the bridge over the M25, more tunnels next to the old one, re-locating, re-building the major west London incinerator – and the BA HQ, and noise protection for another 100,000 houses.
All in your ticket price!

[gatlish]

Totally rebuild Dublin Terminal 1- a disgrace.

Start again with Aberdeen airport. Another failed upgrade during 2017-18..

[gatlish]

Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong are models for modern airports.

Heathrow T5 is also good.

[capetonianm]

Totally rebuild Dublin Terminal 1- a disgrace.

Never used it, but considering the main airline, and others, that use it, no surprise.

T2 is, apart from being very busy at certain times, a pleasure.

[Flightlevel]

[quote quote=874972]Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong are models for modern airports.

Heathrow T5 is also good.[/quote]

First three yes,T5 when the clocks show the same time and the lifts work,maybe?

[Bath_VIP]

Reading through these old posts brought back memories of travelling through EDI twice this year. What a disaster that is now! Definitely knock it down and rebuild.

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tomwjsimpson

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