Business travel writer David Grossman likes Incheon Airport (USA Today):
It’s not often I praise an airport. Most U.S. airports are inadequate, overcrowded, outdated facilities, ill equipped for processing passengers and providing creature comforts in the post-9/11 era. But Incheon is setting standards for all others. The spacious facility, opened in 2001, processes 30 million passengers each year and is still underutilized, according to Michelle Mi Sung Wee, an airport official at Incheon. Each time I passed through the airport on my recent trip it was peaceful, tranquil and never appeared crowded.
Give the whole thing a read if you are Korean and want to feel a surge of pride. I kept looking for the sponsorship disclaimer.
He is not the only one who likes Incheon airport. It has been voted the best airport in the world in a survey of airline passengers.
Needless to say, no American airports made the top ten.
I really do not expect too much from airports; a somewhat comfy bench, free Internet access, a place to get some grub at a reasonable price and clean restrooms are about all. By my admittedly low standards, most airports I have been in while waiting for my sky bus have passed muster.
Expect of course for the slow, inefficient, rude banality that is Newark Liberty Airport. That is the devil’s layover.
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I went to the airport at Honolulu and I was shocked. Certainly wasn’t the America that I was expecting. It was a third world airport along the lines of that of Denpasar in Bali.
I liked Honolulu airport. It was small and comfy, and was in and out in a jiffy.
I remember just before Incheon opened. A lot of expat blogs and expat sites didn’t think Incheon would live up to expectations. Lot of people scoffed at Korea’s plans for a first rate airport to draw traffic. Many predicted the airport would fail and Korea will look very foolish in the eyes of the world, just in time for the World Cup. All in all, the expectations were pessimistic.
Look how it turned out in the end.
Incheon was great! It’s probably got my vote. I also like Kansai (KIX) in Osaka. It’s a little more confusing than Incheon, but still not hard to get around in. Honolulu is great if you get a close terminal. Last time I flew in, the terminal was excellent! A lot of plants and comfy looking things, very Hawaiian. When I flew out – different story! The terminal was far, not marked, security locations were terrible and I accidentally crossed security lines several times. Very confusing terminal!
Seattle is impossible to navigate. Everyone tells you different directions to go, causing you to go through security 4 or 5 times before you arrive at your correct terminal. LAX – don’t get me started! San Diego scares all passengers on landing. Salt Lake is not much fun, especially at about 3am. Dallas has my vote for the worst, but I haven’t been everywhere. Pusan and Ube were quite nice.
They didn’t point out three major problems: 1) Lack of a rail link which puts HK, KL and Singapore ahead of ICN, yeah the bus is ok but that is so badly needed. 2) The fact that you still have to go to Kimpo for a domestic flight, something he griped about concerning Shanghai. 3) The lack of decent western food especially airside.
It is a HUGE improvement over Kimpo but #1??? I’m not so sure.
If you want a great though small US domestic airport, Austin is the best, great food airside lots of Austin rests have outlets there, live music and an easy terminal to get around in. Also a great example of how to convert a former air base into something productive and the land where the old airport was is being really well developed.
Aside from its great location, I definitely don’t miss the rundown bus station that was Kimpo International. Incheon Airport is very good. I could get picky and bitch about the lack of Irish whiskey in duty free, mediocre food, or the poor selection of English books and magazines, but most everything else has surpassed my initial expectations.
I was one of those who predicted more serious problems – traffic jams, for example – that never really materialized. I never felt it would be a total disaster, but just that there would be more glitches than there were. I’m glad I was mistaken.
As far as shitty “international” airports are concerned, I’d nominate the following: Taiwan Taoyuan (formerly Chiang Kai Shek), Yangon, Danang, and Saipan. And as nice as Hong Kong International is, it isn’t nearly as fun to land at and take off from Kai Tak Airport.
I thought Incheon would be a disaster. Admit, I do miss being able to grab a cab from Itaewon to Kimpo for 18,000 won, but Kimpo just wasn’t going to take us into the 21st C. Incheon is alright, and I am among the pleasantly surprised.
Expect of course for the slow, inefficient, rude banality that is Newark Liberty Airport. That is the devil’s layover.
It took me nearly five hours to get to NWK using public transportation from Ft Lee.
Free internet access? pshaw…that’s one of the things that makes Incheon great – every other airport is still charging you out the ass for it.
This is fantastic.
A Stop-Motion Tilt-Shift Miniature Photography Tour of Tokyo disguised as a Calendar.
http://www.uniqlo.com/calendar/?cID=JP&aID=13113
Tom Friedman has written plenty in the NYT about how third-word-crappy America’s airports have become compared to Asia’s best 21st-Cen portals, and the obvious reasons for why it happened.
Definitely a first class air terminal, however, “never crowded”?
Overall maybe not, but frequently frustrated by the crowding to get through the x-rays just before passport control.
Coming out though, never a problem.
Free at HKIA. Free at CDG. Supposedly free at SIA, but never managed to get it to work.
As for transportation, we’re still waiting for a fast train downtown. Despite many promises, it’s still not there yet, 8 years after the terminal opened.
As for not crowded, and under-utilized, pshaw. Last Wednesday afternoon immigration took 45 minutes (half the immigration booths were closed, although there was two plane-loads of passengers waiting). Last Thursday morning it was plenty crowded too, leaving the country, from check-in to passport control also took 45 minutes. As for under-utilized, please explain the new, remote, terminal. And the mess it is to go there, too…
You wanna see efficient handling of passengers in- and out-bound, let me show you HKIA. Fast transportation downtown? Check.
But fear not, CDG is still a huge mess that IIA can proudly compare itself with…
I still use GMP/김포 as an international airport, when going to Japan or China from Korea. The place is conveniently close to downtown, they have fast handling of passengers, and the KAL lounge is adequate. Shanghai’s counterpart, Hongqiao, is a nightmare in comparison. However you DON’T have to go to Hongqiao for domestic connections, as Pudong has a lot of domestic flights. Whereas IIA has like 2 flights to Pusan a day, or something similarly ridiculous.
While IIA is an ok airport, the worst part is arrival. Long queues at immigration, and the arrival hall is a very crowded and messy place. And the illegal cabbies don’t help either.
Everything dda just said about ICN and HKG.
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