Britain shamed by Heathrow’s terminal misery
By Philip Stephens
To fly from Istanbul to London is to travel from the first to the third world. Ataturk international airport sparkles with steel and glass modernity – a monument to Turkey’s status as a rising power. Heathrow’s Terminal 3, scarred by broken travelators, exposed ceiling voids and filthy carpeting has become an emblem of national decline.
No one should have been surprised by the latest snow-induced standstill at one of the world’s busiest airports. Heathrow is not quite so dreadful as it was three or four years ago. It is still a disgrace – a two-fingered jeer at any notion that London’s future is as a global economic hub.
I don't remember Heathrow as described in the article, and much of the air traffic has been diverted to Gatwick anyways. Nevertheless, I completely disagree with the statements above.
ReplyDeleteAtaturk airport, besides being old, relatively small and somewhat dirty (being its domestic flights terminal a shame), doesn't have a particularly impressive architecture and it is not very well organized and not very well connected to the city (not to mention that the prices of food and drinks inside are outrageous!). Ankara's airport, on the other hand, it's more beautiful, cleaner and better organized... also way emptier. I am looking forward to see Sabiha Gokcen airport as I have heard wonders of it.