The perfect airport: Could this be it?
The perfect airport does exist; it's just spread around several different countries
With crotchety airline reps and excessive security searches, most airports cause more cursing than cruising.
But that’s not always the case. Some deliver such swanky perks that getting stuck in the terminal is a treat.
Amenities like golf courses, free cinemas and runway-view bars make layovers a pleasure. Some lay on full curbside-to-planeside service where they sort out check-in, baggage and security for you. If you’ve got the dough, that is.
Since no one has bothered to assemble these travel luxuries into one sweet bundle of airport perfection, here’s what a fantasy version -- the airport of your dreams -- might look like.
All items are based on existing facilities. It's just a shame they're not all in one airport.
1. Arriving: VIP check-in service
You may never need to breathe natural air again.
But you don’t have to be Kate Middleton to experience this deluxe coddling. The service allows customers to skip the chase for a parking space within only a mild sweat of the departure hall and enter the airport via a private entrance.
The host who greets you takes over all check-in procedures while you lounge in private luxury enjoying biscuits and tea. And just before takeoff, a limousine delivers you right to the airplane steps.
London Heathrow Airport, Heathrow by Invitation VIP service, US$2,378 plus tax for up to six passengers,www.heathrowbyinvitation.com
2. Check in: Smart baggage handling
These days your bag gets more legroom than you do.
When the inevitable annoying couple spends 20 minutes finding and removing their souvenir clogs to avoid the excess baggage fee, you’ll happily bypass them, print yourself a barcode tag and place your bag into the luggage-sorting machine that will make sure it get onto the aircraft before you do.
On the other side of the world, your luggage takes a cue from the zippy and efficient Beijing Capital International Airport’s Terminal 3 luggage system. It sorts 19,200 pieces of luggage per hour -- or 320 in the time it takes to unbuckle your seatbelt, remove your book from the seatback and make sure your hair looks passable.
With a boast of less than five minutes between aircraft unloading and luggage retrieval, your bag will be twiddling its thumbs waiting for you to claim it.
Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, www.schiphol.com and Beijing Capital International Airport, www.en.bcia.com.cn
3. Security pass: Swift and speedy
No queue? Not possible.
An efficient security-processing system with courteous staff like the one at Narita International Airport (winner of the 2012 Skytrax annual World Airport Award for Best Airport Security Processing) gets travelers thoroughly checked and off to their gates without feeling frazzled and frustrated.
Because each airline takes responsibility for its security screening, the same politeness exhibited in-flight is present in this pre-flight procedure.
Narita International Airport, www.narita-airport.jp/en
4. Pre-flight gorging: Good restaurants
"If I have seconds, will I have to pay excess luggage?"
You could sample Hong Kong-style street food like a crispy bun with condensed milk, get a takeaway roast goose from Maxim’s Food2 or opt for a French casse-croûte at Délifrance -- a taste tour of any capital’s culture exists for the eating.
Hong Kong International Airport, Dining, Terminals 1 and 2, www.hongkongairport.com
Great view. As long as your an aerophile.
Named Best Airport Bar in the 2011 Airport Food and Beverage Awards, Center Bar is known for its cozy atmosphere and excellent service. With fresh sushi and dim sum available to complement cocktails and a live pianist to set the ambience, a lounge like this erases all travel stresses.
Zurich Airport, Center Bar, www.zurich-airport.com
5. Done eating, now need entertaining
Shopping
Why shop in town when you can do it all on a transit visa?
Like the 80 or so shops across London’s Heathrow Airport, shopping offers more than just “I love fill-in-the-country” trinkets.
You could grab the Swarovski wedding bears gift you forgot to buy or the Burberry aviator shades you forgot to pack and arrive prepared.
London Heathrow Airport, Shopping, www.heathrowairport.com
Sport
Best part -- the jet stream of overhead planes adds 30 yards to your drive.
Located in the airport’s International Business Center, the Incheon Golf Club features 120 bays for practicing your swing with 330 yards of driving space and an 18-hole putting course.
Use idle time to work on your golf game with the swing analysis offering, or capitalize on the fitness center and sauna also available.
Seoul Incheon airport, Incheon Golf Club, www.airport.kr
Theater
Free movies. Can we come here every weekend?
Reduce the pain of a four-hour layover by watching "Tron: Legacy" or "Ice Age" at free movie theaters like those in Singapore Changi Airport.
Open and screening flicks all day and night, the theaters provide affordable boredom reduction.
Singapore Changi Airport, Movie Theater, Terminals 2 and 3, www.changiairport.com
6. Rest and refresh
For this price you get four water streams and no more.
Shower units like those at Munich Airport include a sink, a toilet, towels, body wash and shampoo and a place to stow your stuff, which are all included in the cost.
Munich Airport, Showers, US$20, Terminal 2, www.munich-airport.de
If I can bring my iPad and get McDonald's to deliver, I just might move in permanently.
You can recline on leather chairs complete with headrests and footrests and sleep away your travels and your layover time.
Singapore Changi Airport, Free Rest Areas, www.changiairport.com
