Best and worst airports in SE Asia

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that genius
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Best and worst airports in SE Asia

Post by that genius »

My personal favourite is Pochentong, I will be very sad to see it go, very simply laid out, very quick in and out, immigration not too imperious, seldom crowded, close to the city.

My least favourite is Suvanarbhumi, so much money spent on creating a traffic jam that takes hours to get in/out of.

Preferred Don Muang back in the day.

Last trip via Singapore was ages ago, don't really remember.

Ho Chi Minh was OK, iirc.

Yangon was OK, but 170 Chinese in front of had to go through one immigration official with a printer that was playing up. 3 hours to get out.

Perhaps those more frequently-traveled could make a poll?
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armchairlawyer
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Re: Best and worst airports in SE Asia

Post by armchairlawyer »

I think they are all good compared to those in the West. The main problem can be the immigration queues, notably BKK and DMK (in and out), the Premium lane card is hugely beneficial at BKK. The only way to beat the lines at DMK is to be over 70, a monk, or disabled. The airasia flights DMK-PNH usually use the bus gates which are not good. Also had a long wait at PVG to get my transit visa exemption, even though the queue was short. SIN is efficient but they have Western-style delays for aircraft landing and take-offs due to runway constraints. Also I find SIN not a pleasant place to be in, it has a dated feel with that horrible carpet everywhere. The old KLIA LCT was truly terrible but I understand that has been replaced now. SGN is good. HKG is very good. Macau is great and I like the way you can enter HKG by boat from Macau, they even give you 120 HKD tax refund when you arrive! In the Philippines, MNL T3 is good, I hear the other terminals not so. Clark is good. Cebu is dated but functions OK. The airport tax on international departures in the Philippines is a pain. The regional Thai airports are OK, nothing fancy. REP is very nice, as is SHV.
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Borum-Ex frm TOForum
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Re: Best and worst airports in SE Asia

Post by Borum-Ex frm TOForum »

Dhaka hands down, if it’s still as shitty as a Brussels underground station these days, haven’t got the luck to be there for at least 10+ years, so it might have changed a bit since then... if you like psychedelic then google Biman Banglsdesh airlines interior! :thumb:
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bolueeleh
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Re: Best and worst airports in SE Asia

Post by bolueeleh »

agreed pochentong is good now cause it is not crowded and everything is a breeze (almost) but once it is crowded who knows,

suvabumi, is the worst of the lot after new upgrades, they make unnecessary checks, e.g. 1 girl checking ur boarding pass before u go up the escalator, immediately on top of escalator another girl behind the counter checking ur boarding pass again? WTH?

HKG is ok for most aspects except for arrival thy funnel non frequent visitors all the way the other end of the hall, and for departure there is too few food stalls, it is crowded almost all the time

SGN is what pochentong will looked like when crowded, the arrival queue was only 3 or 4 man deep 5 years ago, now it is always 15man deep

cant comment on SIN as it would be biased from me, as i breeze thru SIN immigration with the electronic clearance system, and if i am not mistaken any country with bio metric enabled passport and have agreement with SIN cld breeze thru as well, i.e. UK passport

P.s. all americans airports sucks, after 9/11
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phuketrichard
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Re: Best and worst airports in SE Asia

Post by phuketrichard »

Pochentong??? and absolutely nothing to do while u wait...
I much prefer Mandalay airport as u can arrive 1 hour before ur flight as its always empty
Changi airport in Singapore wins hands down
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timmydownawell
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Re: Best and worst airports in SE Asia

Post by timmydownawell »

phuketrichard wrote: Sat Mar 10, 2018 9:01 am Pochentong??? and absolutely nothing to do while u wait...
I much prefer Mandalay airport as u can arrive 1 hour before ur flight as its always empty
Changi airport in Singapore wins hands down
The beauty with Pochentong is it's very quick to get in and through. You only have to arrive an hour before your flight there too, so there's not much time to actually need anything to do...

KLIA2 is a bit weird. When you are in transit and you get off your flight you go through security scanning, then go up to the next level where you then have to repeat the procedure again. But not as bad as Manila were I think I went through three sets of scans before getting to the gate.

Changi's long been regarded the best airport. Not sure any other airport has a swimming pool. Pity I never fly through there.
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Kammekor
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Re: Best and worst airports in SE Asia

Post by Kammekor »

timmydownawell wrote: Sat Mar 10, 2018 9:48 am
phuketrichard wrote: Sat Mar 10, 2018 9:01 am Pochentong??? and absolutely nothing to do while u wait...
I much prefer Mandalay airport as u can arrive 1 hour before ur flight as its always empty
Changi airport in Singapore wins hands down
The beauty with Pochentong is it's very quick to get in and through. You only have to arrive an hour before your flight there too, so there's not much time to actually need anything to do...

KLIA2 is a bit weird. When you are in transit and you get off your flight you go through security scanning, then go up to the next level where you then have to repeat the procedure again. But not as bad as Manila were I think I went through three sets of scans before getting to the gate.

Changi's long been regarded the best airport. Not sure any other airport has a swimming pool. Pity I never fly through there.
Pochentong is the only international airport I know where the time from airplane seat to tuktuk seat can be under 15 minutes, even after an international flight, even with checked luggage. Last time in Europe the same took me 2,5 hours.

There's a lot wrong with Cambodian facilities, but when it comes to speed Pochentong is hard to beat.
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Re: Best and worst airports in SE Asia

Post by Gardiguy »

#1 is Haneda, barely anyone there with brand new world class facilities, entire wings empty of people except workers. I like Pochentong for the ease that you get from road to seat. Easily the worst airport I've been in was Mexico City airport, just horrendous conditions especially considering how many passengers they must put through in a year, no air conditioning, 3 hour plus transit queues as everyone has to go through immigration to exit and re enter grabbing your checked luggage on the way, once inside it looks gloomy and old and dated as t2 at Manilla airport with soviet style architecture.
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John Bingham
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Re: Best and worst airports in SE Asia

Post by John Bingham »

Pochentong was renamed Phnom Penh International Airport about a decade ago. Last time I passed through it it took less than 10 minutes to exit the plane, pick up luggage, go through immigration (had a visa already) and customs and get picked up by a friend outside.
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Duncan
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Re: Best and worst airports in SE Asia

Post by Duncan »

I travel to the Australian Gold Coast twice a year and have lost count of the times it's out of the plane, into the rain and having to walk down those steep alloy steps then a walk to the shelter of the airport. But the worst thing is , of the 320 Asian { Chinese ] passengers I am ALWAYS the only one pulled out of the line by Border Control and searched, even when I have just a small carry on bag with nothing in it but a spare shirt and underpants. Once I had no carry on or luggage bags but they still held me for about one hour in case I had given my baggage to someone else to carry through. Nothing but a bunch of power crazy assholes.

As mentioned by others, PP airport must be one of the best.
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