A question for the flyers: Worst airport you've operated to.?

Fuel can be quite expensive in the Greek islands, so many of them (ZTH included, the last time I operated there) are ‘tanker’ sectors i.e. we carry excess fuel to minimse fuel uplift, so landing weight is probably higher than normal. We also have tables giving landing distance with the various autobrake settings, so the normal thing is to set the autobrake to use the available runway, rather than hammer the brakes to have a short ground roll (and yes, use reverse thrust as well – as the reverse comes in, the brakes back off to maintain a constant deceleration)

cool, a fascinating tidbit.

Was there las Aug, nice approch over many of the greek islands and then over Zakinthos followed by 180 turn for approach over Laganas. Once on the deck full rev turst and my do you feel the brakes, I also heard them vibrating inside the cabin.
when we finaly stopped and you have to turn round at the other end lets say they was’nt much runway left. was superb.

PS

Where are you staying?.

From what I could see, Firenze airport also looks quite dangerous. Short runway, buildings at one side, and mountains at the other…

Was there las Aug, nice approch over many of the greek islands and then over Zakinthos followed by 180 turn for approach over Laganas. Once on the deck full rev turst and my do you feel the brakes, I also heard them vibrating inside the cabin.
when we finaly stopped and you have to turn round at the other end lets say they was’nt much runway left. was superb.

PS

Where are you staying?.

Zakinthos in the 753 (you have to hammer the brakes on landing)

Cool, I’m going there on a 752 with TCX… whats the breaking like then?

I’m gradually deleting them, I promise! The reply didn’t seem to be working…. So I kept pressing it! Sorry everyone 😮

LOL, LBARULES, seemed you clicked submit a few too many times! 😀

As you may or not know, I am doing my work experience in a travel agents at the moment, and notice on someone Thomas Cook (I’m not at Thomas Cook, Im at Travelcare,) It said they were flying to Zante on a TCX 753 next year as well, just like this year. Is there any reason they use a 753 to Zante, other than demand? You would think the likes of Palma,Alicante would be more popular.

How dare you! Then it’s probably a looooong time ago since you visited Brussels! And yes, If you depart in Terminal C , it’s bad, but have you been in the A terminal? If not, you shouldn’t talk! 😉 BTW Termianl C is closed now. I never had any problems in Brussels, and none should because it’s only running half it’s capacity!

That’s correct. I haven’t been in Brussels airport since AF stopped the service.

Heathrow must surely come close to the top of the list.

I cannot imagine the stress of the Pilots after a 12 hour trek from Bangkok, then having to circle around the crowded skies of London for almost an hour before successfully landing in London!

I’d Have to agree with Ian on the Gerona one… its one nasty airport, especially if theres a storm going on, which they do get alot of.

From a PAX point of view:

Worst : LHR , Brussels , Marakech, Oakland
Best : ATL, SFO , LAX, STN

How dare you! Then it’s probably a looooong time ago since you visited Brussels! And yes, If you depart in Terminal C , it’s bad, but have you been in the A terminal? If not, you shouldn’t talk! 😉 BTW Termianl C is closed now. I never had any problems in Brussels, and none should because it’s only running half it’s capacity!

What a cool discussion, nothing better than from the horse’s mouth,

Hey wysiwyg,

From passengers point of view I flew into Zakinthos last year with TCX on a 757-300 and my word were we braking like mad, and then on dept is was a gentle breeze and we were in the air.

Also I enjoyed the approach into Toulouse last Feb, got to see all the houses with there swimming pools in there gardens and the runway there was extremely long, even after we vacated with minimal braking there were acre’s of runway left.

Also I must say the TCX 753 was a fantastic plane! you miss fyling them?

Went to goa once, that was a pretty horrid airport.

Corfu isn’t my worst! Funchal and Samos are much worse!

Not particularly keen on:
Gerona (localised CB’s around the Pyranees and downslope on southerly runway)
Bodrum, Antalya or Dalaman at night (if there’s a CB stuck in the valley)
Zakinthos in the 753 (you have to hammer the brakes on landing)
Naples (too much traffic for the controllers to handle with all the local terrain)

Easy airports:
Mahon
Malta
Palma
Faro
Las Palmas
Lyon
Toulouse

Most satisfying:
visual self positioning at Kalamata, Preveza, Kefalinia, Kos, Chania, Kavala, Fuerteventura, Paphos, Hurghada, Sharm el Sheik, Banjul, etc

Places I flew into that look good enough to holiday in:
south west Turkey, any of the Greek islands, Majorca, La Palma, Madeira, Budapest, north west Spain

Places I flew into that I wouldn’t be so keen to holiday in:
Canaries, any of the Costas, Morocco, The Gambia, Egypt

Worst services – Greece
Best facilities – Turkey
smelliest cleaners = Turkey
prettiest female dispatchers – Turkey!
best ATC – Turkey
bumpiest runway – Banjul
worst baggage services – Athens or Faro
most irritating ATC – Spain and particularly the Canaries
best sounding ATC – the French ladies
least fun ATC – the Germans!

It is so great to get a pilots point of view like that, thanks Wys!

Banjul, Don’t go at night…You cant move without swallowing insects !!!!!

From a PAX point of view,
Worst: Funchal
Best: Sydney

From a PAX point of view:

Worst : LHR , Brussels , Marakech, Oakland
Best : ATL, SFO , LAX, STN

And while we’re at it are there any shining examples of top class fields you’d like to mention and why ?

From a passenger view…Fanning Field (IDA) Idaho Falls,
Idaho. It’s the most stress-free, friendliest airport I have
ever experienced. 😎

I agree Skycruiser, I thought that Jersey had a lovely approach and was not a bad airport at all. Certainly, nothing to determine it one-of-the-worst springs to mind.

I though Jersey was quite nice for a small airport.