Luton Airport, why do we tolerate being treated like.....

[TUK020]

I wonder at the airport luggage shops.

I mean, how did travellers get their stuff to the airport if they need to buy a suitcase when they get there!

Watis

They are there to help passengers cope with the aftermath of the delicate attentions of the baggage handlers

[DiamondEcho]

Is there anywhere quite as bad as Luton airport? Steve

Have you been through Istanbul airport? Especially doing an international <> domestic transfer? That to me is one of the most miserable and stressful airports in the world. It's not just the run-down premises, but how a majority of travellors act so stressed, like they've never been on a plane before.

The fastest/smallest/simplest airport experience I ever had was on a flight over from Asia, (connecting at Amsterdam), for a flight to Norwich. The plane landed and we were out front with bags n' all in under ten minutes, amazing! Equal second probably goes jointly to London - City, and Berlin - Tegel. Both organised, small-scale, simple and very fast.

[Lootman]

Have you been through Istanbul airport? Especially doing an international <> domestic transfer? That to me is one of the most miserable and stressful airports in the world. It's not just the run-down premises, but how a majority of travellors act so stressed, like they've never been on a plane before.

Istanbul is about to open a brand new airport this autumn although it has been plagued by teething problems. Turkish Airlines is trying to add itself to the ME3 airlines and it does have a lot of routes. But yes, that airport is bad.

Fun fact for you. The four busiest single runway airports in the world:

Gatwick
Bombay
Istanbul
Fukuoka

[DiamondEcho]

Fun fact for you. The four busiest single runway airports in the world:
Gatwick
Bombay
Istanbul
Fukuoka

Is IST single runway, well I never. Well it feels like a damned vast/busy airport for that.
Fukuoka - surprised by that, I would have guessed a Tokto or Osaka airport. Maybe lots of transit on long-haul <> China?

If the new Berlin airport can over-run by years, I'd not be watching-this-space for a new IST airport....

[Lootman]

Fun fact for you. The four busiest single runway airports in the world:
Gatwick
Bombay
Istanbul
Fukuoka

Is IST single runway, well I never. Well it feels like a damned vast/busy airport for that.

Fukuoka - surprised by that, I would have guessed a Tokto or Osaka airport. Maybe lots of transit on long-haul <> China?

If the new Berlin airport can over-run by years, I'd not be watching-this-space for a new IST airport....

More on the new airport, which will eventually be the largest in the world. Its code is ISL:

https://onemileatatime.com/istanbul-new ... t-flights/

Re Tokyo and Osaka, HND, NRT and KIX all have multiple runways. Nagoya too, I believe.

[OLTB]

The OLTB tribe went through Chania airport this Summer and after a lovely holiday were very surprised to be barked at by an overly stern female border guard who just shouted, "boarding pass" at us with a suspicious glare. We then had to endure queuing in an airport café while the workers were chatting amongst themselves, not giving a tinker's cuss about their customers and the growing queue. Left rather a bad taste in the mouth after a lovely break.

Cheers, OLTB.

[DiamondEcho]

More on the new airport, which will eventually be the largest in the world. Its code is ISL:

'Initially the airport was supposed to be fully operational at the end of this month. At the end of October they were supposed to make the switch, with all flights transferring from one airport to the other overnight.'

Thanks for the genuine LOL moment Only in Turkey could they even fleetingly imagine they could hard-close/switch/hard-open mega airports overnight rather than a soft-launch and phased migration Some politician and/or corporate big-wig would have made the likely [VERY] top-down decision to go that route, and no one in the wider industry or world could make them see sense. I wouldn't plan on routing travel via that new airport until it's open and proven to be reliable.

[Lootman]

Only in Turkey could they even fleetingly imagine they could hard-close/switch/hard-open mega airports overnight rather than a soft-launch and phased migration

The two airports are on opposite sides of the city and it is notorious difficult to get across Istanbul. So landing at one airport and taking off from the other would be difficult. Or at least it would be on Turkish Airlines and the new airport is really a vehicle to try and turn Turkish Airlines into Emirates, with a huge interchange happening every night. And it does have a perfect location between Europe, Asia and Africa.

So I think the foreign airlines could all move to the new airport without too much problem. But Turkish Airlines would be a mess if the move were phased, as connections won't work and their planes will often be in the wrong place. I'd guess they'd be shuttling planes between the two airports 24 hours a day.

I had actually been thinking of going to Dalaman next month but cancelled my plans because I don't want to connect in Istanbul, nor do I want to take EasyJet from Luton!