World's 10 Most Beautiful Airport Terminals

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course, and one person's perfect terminal is another's endless walkway of sorrows. Luckily, these ten airport terminals combine personality, functionality, and uniqueness to offer a great travel experience that starts the moment you get off the plane.


Jeddah Hajj Terminal, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia




The Jeddah Hajj Terminal is unique: it's only active during the "hajj." During that six-week period, it's one of the busiest airport terminals in the world.


Leif Eriksson Air Terminal, Keflavik, Iceland




Iceland's cozy little international airport looks like it arrived in a flat pack from IKEA. It's all blond wood and volcanic-looking stone with big windows looking out on the dramatic Icelandic landscape
As a greeting to Iceland, it's perfect.


Seoul Incheon Airport, Incheon, South Korea



Never mind how it looks from the outside: Seoul's airport regularly gets awards for how well-organized, efficient and relaxing it is on the inside.
Seoul's secret is to make sure that you're never more than a few steps away from an entertaining, enlightening, or amusing bit of Korean culture.


Wellington Airport "Rock" Terminal, Wellington, New Zealand



Many people have called this the world's ugliest airport terminal. But there's a reason the new international terminal in Wellington has won enough awards to fill a jumbo jet. Like the Keflavik terminal above, it's an intelligent response to New Zealand's identity and landscape and not just another swooping glass box evoking "flight."


JFK Terminal 5, New York, NY



Airport terminals don't usually age well. JFK's Terminal 5 is the exception. One of the greatest icons of the mid-20th Century Jet Age, Eero Saarinen's TWA terminal has been intelligently swallowed by the grasping tendrils of JetBlue's modern new terminal, which has by far the best airport food court in New York.


Singapore Changi International Airport Terminal 3



This is the airport as amusement park.
Singapore's three terminals are widely considered to be the most fun you can have in an airport, and each one has its attractions
Terminal 3 is home to Changi's butterfly garden, an 18-foot waterfall, a huge indoor playground, a movie theater, TV lounges and the "Slide@T3," a four-story spiral slide that's a lot more fun than taking the elevator. The other terminals join in the theme of combining indoor and outdoor spaces, with more gardens and even an outdoor swimming pool available to the public.


Marrakech Menara Airport Terminal 1, Marrakech, Morocco



This one is another great example of culturally aware terminal design. The new Terminal 1 at Marrakech's airport looks like a Moroccan palace twenty-first-century style, with classic Islamic geometric and nature motifs inscribed into a giant network of concrete diamonds. You could make a strong argument that the whole thing is one giant artwork.
At night, colored lights dance along the front face of the building, illuminating the desert plantings along the arrivals roadway


Madrid Barajas Terminal 4



Madrid's huge Terminal 4 tries to break free of typical box-style construction by using a roof line of undulating ribs, which helped it win the 2006 Stirling Prize for architecture.


Carrasco International Airport, Montevideo, Uruguay



Yes, someone's still building airports that evoke sweeping 1960s-era glamour. That someone is Rafael Viñoly, and his airport is in the quiet, pleasant and well-off South American country of Uruguay. Montevideo's airport terminal is a smooth dome, looking from the front a bit like a whale's mouth; inside, lines are smooth, clean and calm, with grand terraces overlooking the runways and arrival areas.
This isn't a busy airport, but it's designed as if it was one: the terminal is designed to handle 4.5 million passengers a year, according to one of the companies which built it but its traffic has been stable for years at a bit over a million.


Bilbao Airport Main Terminal



Bilbao's terminal is known as "the dove," and it has Calatrava's signatures: sharply-canted curves and lots of light streaming through, and bisected by, ribs which resemble cables. A grand viewing gallery lets the families of arriving passengers see their loved ones as they pick up their bags.
Architect Santiago Calatrava has an obsession with cable bridges, ships' sails and birds' wings; his designs often look like they're the skeletons of some ancient whale or the prow of a spaceship about to head to Alpha Centauri. Those references, it turns out, are as perfect for an airport terminal.


Source:-
http://www.frommers.com

I think a lot of these airport/airport terminals must be quite new.

Out of that bunch above I've only been to JFK and Singapore.

I was very intrigued by the wrting on Uruguay's Montevideo's airport. I've never been to Uruguay or Paraguay.

I love airports as well. In all the years I was travelling and for all the hours I spent at airports I never once tired of being at the airport. I would always check in as early as possible to get a 'maximum dose' Ha ha.

Dubai Airport was a eye opener for me...!

Nice photo Oss...! yes when you have a 8 hour stop there it can be pretty boring...!

While Singers and Dubai have been my most visited in the last 10 years, and remain firm favourites, I feel the most important factor is the amenities and attitude of the terminal staff.
In that light Dubai & Singers remain 1 & 2.
Schiphol I have liked since the 60's.
Shanghai I like and Beijing and Rome.
Dublin is a disaster.
Least friendly was KL for me.
I avoid ThiefRow and NAIA = as often as possible

My favourite is Munich. Great food and a working brewery, Airbrau, in the basement for long stop-overs. http://www.munich-airport.de/en/micro/airbraeu/restaurant-raeume/airbraeu/index.jsp

A dark horse is BHX = old Brum. Used more than 200 times in the last 10 years and never a "crisis" and always efficient.

Tacloban IS TACKY, "walesrob", and flight information is treated as "TOP SECRET" = under no circumstances inform PAX. a

Knock Airport, West of Ireland, is a Gem as is Shannon.

20 times in and out of OZ Taz, QLD, SA, WA, Vic,:vhappy: & Sydney..... Forgettable IMO ASAP.
Marochy and Adelaide were OK though.

Tom

Cool photos!

Those were "the BAD ol' day's" 60/70's.

I was stationed at Northolt and got the "gen" on the schemes used at "thief-Row" from our Civvie drivers. Amazing.!

Never lost to Taxes at LHR as my flying was free & "Fee & Tax-Free".

Tom

I feel like the odd one out. The only air travel I have done has been since the age of 54 - so I cannot really remember what the airports are like!

Agree about Tacloban, I don't think its improved much. The model of the proposed airport was still in the cattle pen last time we went through. The point Tom makes about the passenger information is correct as well. It'll be interesting to see if / when they go ahead with the new new proposal.

Favorites for me are always brum and KLM, never really had any probs at either. Least favorites, in no particular order are (apart from Tacloban) Manila (wish they'd mordernise it), Frankfurt (mainly because I fly home through there now and the last few time its been complete chaos due to strikes and I'm damned if I can see any german effciency in a crisis. Plus there is very little to do there as well), Damman, Saudi. (horrible), Cairo (see Damman), Aberdeen (way too small for the traffic that goes through it), Paris (Its just full of high end shops and little else, hard pushed to find anywhere just to sit and have a reasonable priced beer!)

Thats about all I can think of for now.

* Not So in BHX = clean and tidy = Up Brum With good grum and "real Ale" also. Wetherspoons is Good value.! as are the others. IME
http://www.birminghamairport.co.uk/at-the-airport/bars-and-restaurants/wetherspoon.aspx but then BHX was owned and run by Birmingham City Council.

Changhi is a treat to visit.

Tacloban is acceptable when it is the last stop and not the first stop for me so either :vhappy: Hurray I'm home
or
:vhappy: off on our travels again...:wave: BUT WHEN....


Tom

There are such people as "Train spotters" & 'Plane spotters" but I like to SPOT the Airport EXIT sign....

Tom

NAIA
I fear "cracks" are showing.???


Tom