Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum

Flights, Airlines and Airports => Flights to Dalaman and Turkey, Airlines and Airports => Topic started by: Scunner on August 30, 2015, 21:00:08 PM

Title: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Scunner on August 30, 2015, 21:00:08 PM
(http://www.calis-beach.co.uk/worstairport.png)



"By Skytrax user reviews, Dalaman Airport (located in Dalaman, Turkey) comes out as the world’s worst major airport. Many users complain about the “outrageous” price of food, and one goes reviewer goes so far as to claim his experience of this airport ruined his holiday in Turkey."
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Scunner on August 30, 2015, 21:01:34 PM
I'd kick off by saying that Dalaman is fabulous in comparison with Rhodes Airport
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Highlander on August 30, 2015, 21:03:27 PM
Inverness Airport is very nice.
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Scunner on August 30, 2015, 21:04:36 PM
Luton & Stansted aren't bad either - but they are in the above 20 worst :(
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on August 30, 2015, 21:35:31 PM
Yes, have used Luton and never had a problem.
I think Aberdeen definitely should be there. The worst Airport ever. 
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Highlander on August 30, 2015, 21:49:56 PM
Had a very, very bad experience at Aberdeen Airport when going to pick up Mrs H after one of her solo visits to Calis.

Her flight was diverted because of fog and that somewhat routine event triggered total chaos with nobody at the airport providing an information whatsoever as to what was happening.

Mrs H was diverted to Glasgow and eventually bused back to Aberdeen arriving approximately 5 hours after she was due to land.

I had long since gone of course so God only knows how she got home from the Airport.

Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on August 30, 2015, 21:55:13 PM
If that happens again H, give us a buzz, we will always go over and pick up Brenda.  She would be very welcome to come to our place and stay if necessary.  No problem.
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Highlander on August 30, 2015, 22:05:34 PM
That's very kind of you Jacqui. Thanks

I should of course have put a   ;) after the last line of my post. I did wait for the bus to arrive.
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on August 30, 2015, 22:10:36 PM
I know you did H, no way would you leave Brenda,  but, remember we are always there if you have a problem. 
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Highlander on August 30, 2015, 22:14:40 PM
Thank you.  :)

That is very nice of you Jacqui.

I do apologise if I appeared ungrateful earlier.
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: KKOB on August 31, 2015, 00:34:44 AM
 :angel:
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: littlereddevil on August 31, 2015, 08:59:34 AM
I've been in a few of those airports and I certainly wouldn't say they are the worst I've been in. Dalaman yes.
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: JohnF on August 31, 2015, 09:14:51 AM
Ditto.

Other than Dalaman, out of the nine or ten I've used from the list only CDG deserves its place in my opinion.  Skytrax users must be a right fussy bunch, or maybe they like hanging around airports.

I approach any airport with the view that food and drink will be expensive and there are likely to be queues for check in, passport control and security.  If anything works out good, then its a bonus.

JF
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on August 31, 2015, 09:29:25 AM
You would approach Aberdeen Airport wondering if you could get food or even a seat.  Once through Customs. There is one small restaurant, most people who get food there overspill into the normal seating area. 
Last time we went into this place, we were lucky enough to find a seat, but my seat had a huge rip in it and all the foam (which was filthy) was hanging out.  When  Phil went up to get food, he was told there would be a 30 minute wait, so we could pay and get a number to take to our table.  As I recall it was £10.95 for a burger. 
We had no time to wait and bought a couple of salads from Boots.
The reason we were late was after queuing for the check-in  about 1hour 30 minutes.  We then had to get in a queue that started at the door of the Airport and went on through the shops eventually to reach the customs.
To say that Aberdeen is the Oil Captial of Europe is a joke when you see the Airport and I know many foreign visitors are stunned at this dreadful Airport.
I would put it right at the top of the list of the worst Airports we have visited.
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: JohnF on August 31, 2015, 10:03:32 AM
I used to catch the early Amsterdam or Paris flight from Aberdeen en route to Istanbul and found Aberdeen to OK.  Check in online, dump bag at bag drop, wander through security and and easy boarding was the order of the day.  If it was the CDG flight (5:30 or 5:55) then the coffee shop wasn't actually open but the guy would always do you a coffee and more than once just said "its on the house as the tills aren't working yet".

All easy peasy compared to Edinburgh.  Parking was a doddle there as well.

My only issue was the 217 speed cameras between Aberdeen and Dundee.

JF
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on August 31, 2015, 10:29:21 AM
We Have done the flight to Amsterdam many times, it is not a problem and cannot be compared to the package tours. Try a flight to Dalaman.  T.C. sub-contract with a Turkish Airline, so no online check-in, no booking seats, not even a word that there may be food onboard,   so no dumping bags.  Just waiting in a queue up to 2 hours just to get a seat together.
Also, if there is a conference on anywhere in Aberdeen, the Airport is mobbed and you cannot move anywhere and not much chance of getting a meal either.
Then if there is a flight delay, everyone is packed into the Airport like sardines, we know been there done that.   Phil has made many business flights from Aberdeen over 35 years and has always said it is the worst airport of all the ones he has visited.  His American colleagues were always amazed at how bad Aberdeen Airport is.
The private lounge is rubbish.  Just drinks a few bags of crisps and tiny prepacked cakes.
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: legless on August 31, 2015, 19:35:14 PM
Never had a problem flying into Aberdeen, we have our own check in and lounge
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Scunner on August 31, 2015, 20:13:29 PM
Why would you need a lounge if you are flying in  :)
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on August 31, 2015, 20:33:37 PM
He need somewhere to meet his Fan Club   :) 
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: WordBird on September 01, 2015, 11:11:45 AM
Agreed, have been to many airports far worse than some on that list - at least in my experience.
Leeds Bradford was our local airport when we lived in the UK and we always thought we were very lucky with it....the only problem was that it did tend to close at the first sign of fog in winter as it's on quite high ground.
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: strange on September 01, 2015, 14:45:55 PM
was there any explanation on how the scorings were calculated? For example, I've always found Luton ok, but I don't think I'd like a delay there.
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Scunner on September 01, 2015, 20:12:18 PM
I think it must ask which airports the people surveyed really hate. Which is different from rating airports against each other. Luton is a good example - it's no Disneyland but it isn't worse than some regional airport in Rwanda surely  :D

I think people also rate things very differently to each other. For example, two airports we were warned were chaotic/expensive or something else nightmarish - Venice Marco Polo & Cancun - we found to be excellent.

Of course, I put much of that down to having used Dalaman seven squillion times.
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: marina on September 01, 2015, 21:18:39 PM
I must admit I was surprised to see Leeds/Bradford on that list.  It's not brilliant but it's ok, I've been through far worse. 

On our trip out to New Zealand earlier this year we passed through several different major airports and found by far and away the worst was Hong Kong!  Queues for everything, nowhere to sit, not enough signs to direct you to your gate!  I'm surprised that isn't on this list! But then in contrast Dubai, which I'd heard real horror stories about, was fine.  We had no problems negotiating such a huge airport as it was well signed.  We were lucky mind you that we only had 2 and a half hours in transit on the way out and 4 hours on the way home which was just enough to find your next gate, stretch your legs, look round the shops and get a coffee etc.  I do know people who've had to stay there for about 18/19 hours between flights though and I may not have looked on it quite so favorably if that had been us  :o
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Scunner on September 01, 2015, 21:24:40 PM
Yep and I guess more people surveyed had used Luton than Hong Kong. Which also makes Dalaman's no. 1 spot all the more remarkable :D
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Piscoe on September 03, 2015, 09:14:24 AM
Worse airport ever bar none!! Rio de Janeiro !!

* Queue for 35 mins to get into terminal after landing.
* Cannot transfer baggage on to final destination.
* Queue 1 hr 20 mins for immigration. must have been 20 booths manned by 4 officers.
* Queue another 30 mins for health screening. My flight was from Peru and coming from another South American country you must prove you have had certain jabs.
* Made to pay $50 for a yellow fever jab as I couldn't categorically  prove my was in date.
* Queued for 20 mins for check in to onward flight after finding baggage in a hall 200 yards away.
* Told I would have to come back to check in after I have paid airport tax.
* Queued 20 mins to pay airport tax. Cash only in US dollars. Lucky I had some.
* Endured lots of crossed looks as I pushed my way to the front of the check in the vain hope I might actually catch my flight.
* Queue 30 mins to get through security, missed flight.
* Searched for someone who may be able to help me that either speaks English or Spanish. Eventually someone manages to get me on to another flight without boarding pass (it wouldn't happen these days I might add, this was 1997)
* Eventually arrived in beautiful Curitiba, checked in hotel, unpacked to find all valuable stolen out of my case.
* Started to feel effects of yellow fever jab, went to bed feeling ill for the next 24 hours.

If anyone has had a worse experience than that then you have my sincerest sympathy. Oh by the way, it was the middle of summer in Brasil and Rio airport had no air conditioning.
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on September 03, 2015, 09:35:29 AM
Off subject a little, but always best to check on what jabs you need for destination and  get them from your Doctor for free then take the vaccination card the Nurse will give you, with you when you travel.
Even going to Turkey you should get jabs.  They are not compulsory, but if you become ill in Turkey  with any of the illnesses that you should have had vaccinations for, your insurance company will not pay out for any treatment.
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: sadler on September 03, 2015, 10:46:30 AM
That's an interesting point Jacqui, which I was totally unaware of. Which vaccinations are they?   :)
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: scorcher on September 03, 2015, 12:45:32 PM
An anti-RSI vaccination would be very welcome.
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on September 03, 2015, 14:16:26 PM
It is Hep and Tetanus as I recall, Frances.  The Doctor's Surgery will advise you.   I remember a few years ago there was a piece in the National Newspapers that Travel Insurance Companies had made this ruling that if you don't have the vaccinations advised for the country you are visiting, they will not pay out if you get something when on holiday that you should have had a jab for. 
There was a right rush to the Doctor''s Surgeries.  At the time, the nurse told  us she had updated her jabs as she had a place in Icmeler, she also told us the nurses had been rushed off their feet with holiday jabs.
The nurse gives you a card with the injections you have had and the dates.  We always keep ours with the passports. 
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: WordBird on September 04, 2015, 09:50:53 AM
Interesting that you say you get them for free, Jacqui. We always had to pay for jabs we had in the UK, whether compulsory or elective. :(
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: kevin3 on September 04, 2015, 10:46:01 AM


  Scotland may be different WordBird.
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Colwyn on September 04, 2015, 12:03:07 PM
The more airports I visit the more I like Bristol airport. I have even stopped sneering at as "Lulsgate Airport" (which it was once called) and am to call it Bristol International. It gets on the list but Edinburgh doesn't. Edinburgh Airport seems to have been designed by a drunken gorilla whilst blindfolded. Mobs of incoming passengers trailing wheelie cases have to exit via duty free and lounge where they come head on into mobs of departing travellers trailing wheelie cases. But the most appalling airport I have ever been is London Heathrow; it is an understaffed, chaotic pigsty.
Title: Re: Dalaman Airport is Number One!
Post by: Jacqui Harvey on September 04, 2015, 13:08:17 PM
Yes, jabs like prescriptions are free in Scotland.