Heathrow bottom of worldwide poll
London Heathrow airport has been voted the worst airport in the world by a poll of 14,500 frequent travelers.
The survey, which was carried out among members of Priority Pass, the world’s leading independent airport lounge programme, included responses from travelers in 160 countries. It’s a repeat of last year’s result in the same survey, when Heathrow was still reeling from the debacle of the T5 opening, and it appears that the airport has failed to shrug off its global reputation as the one to avoid.
Closing in on Heathrow in second place as the world’s worst is Paris Charles de Gaulle. A result that suggests that anyone wanting a romantic break in Paris should avoid the Heathrow – Charles de Gaulle route if they don’t want to kill the mood.
The remaining airports in the “bottom five” were Los Angeles (LAX), Frankfurt International and Miami International.
For a contrasting experience, Priority Pass members voted for Singapore Changi as their favorite airport in the world, followed closely by Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok. The favorite airport in Europe was Amsterdam Schiphol.
The respondents to the survey are frequent travelers, having taken, on average, 17 flights in the last 12 months – so their opinion carries a lot of weight.
One of the few major countries in the world where the travelers do not put Heathrow at or near the bottom of the list is the USA, where they have their own poor airports to complain about. American members of Priority Pass rate Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York JFK as the worst.
The poll took place in September 2009 and was carried out online, with 14,526 Priority Pass members completing the survey.
Favorite Airports:
| 1. Singapore Changi |
| 2. Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok |
| 3. Amsterdam Schiphol |
Worst Airports:
| 1. London Heathrow |
| 2. Paris CDG |
| 3. Los Angeles LAX |
Commenting on the results, Jonathan French, Head of Brand for Priority Pass said, “The travelers who took part in this survey took almost 250,000 flights between them over the last year, and that means they know a thing or two about airports. Sadly, Heathrow remains firmly entrenched as the airport the world loves to hate.”
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