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| Port-Harcourt International Airport before renovation works commenced |
Traveling through Nigeria's
Port Harcourt International Airport any time soon?
Sorry for your luck.
The African terminal received
the unfortunate distinction of being named "world's worst airport" in
2015 by travel website The Guide to Sleeping in Airports.
This year's survey, which
asked fliers to identify the world's worst and best aviation terminals,
attracted 26,297 qualifying responses.
Despite the site's name,
airports weren't just rated according to how easy it is to take a nap while
inside them.
Sleeping in Airports' readers
were asked to judge facilities in four categories: comfort, conveniences,
cleanliness and customer service.
What landed Port Harcourt at
the top of the pile?
Respondents reportedly
complained about unpleasant and unhelpful staff, alleged corruption, a severe
lack of seating, broken air-conditioning and the fact that the arrivals hall
was inside a tent.
"The good news is that
some areas of the terminal have been recently renovated, meaning you can expect
actual walls, floors and windows," says the website.
"Though it is a far cry
from reasonable, improvements are being made."
Consistently bad: Saudi
Arabia's King Abdulaziz International Airport
CNN has asked for a comment
from aviation authorities in Nigeria, but so far no response.
(See the top 10 worst list after the break)
Remarkably, Port Harcourt
didn't even appear on last year's worst airports list.
There were quite a few repeat
offenders on this year's list though, as well as some notable omissions.
Filipinos will be pleased to
hear their long maligned Ninoy Aquino International Airport Manila Airport,
crowned worst airport three years in a row before slipping to fourth place last
year, didn't even make this year's top 10.
Saudi Arabia's Jeddah King
Abdulaziz International Airport held onto its position as world's second worst
airport.
Voters were annoyed by the
chaotic, crowded, unclean airport -- particularly within the Hajj terminal.
"From smoking in
non-smoking areas to the bathroom odor wafting out into the lounges, few people
sang praises after spending time here," said Sleeping in Airports.
"Multi-hour immigration
queues with distracted and absent officers further aggravated travelers."
Fortunately, the site said
Jeddah's days on the list are likely numbered -- the new Jeddah Airport is
scheduled to open mid-2016.
Nepal's Kathmandu Tribhuvan
International Airport held onto the same spot as last year -- third.
Last year's worst airport,
Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad, Pakistan, slipped to ninth
place, while Tashkent International Airport in Uzbekistan rose a spot to move
from fifth to fourth place.
Not a single United States
airport appeared in this year's top 10, though Europe can't say the same.
France's Beauvais-Tille
Airport slipped in to land the number 10 spot.
"Grievances from voters
are detailed and far-reaching, but generally revolve around the absence of
chairs, kind staff, sufficient toilets and hygienic standards," says
Sleeping in Airports of the Paris facility.
Worst airports of 2015
1. Port Harcourt International
Airport (Nigeria)
2. King Abdulaziz
International Airport (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia)
3. Tribhuvan International
Airport (Kathmandu, Nepal)
4. Tashkent International
Airport (Uzbekistan)
5. Simon Bolivar International
Airport (Caracas, Venezuela)
6. Toussaint Louverture
International Airport (Port au Prince, Haiti)
7. Hamid Karzai International
Airport (Kabul, Afghanistan)
8. Tan Son Nhat International
Airport (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam)
9. Benazir Bhutto
International Airport (Islamabad, Pakistan)
10. Beauvais-Tille
International Airport (Paris)
Source: CNN
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