Antalya airport - One of the worst in the world?
Discussion
First ever visit to Turkey, got back sunday morning
I've travelled through some pretty vile airports but this is, by far, the worst airport experience ever.
Arrivals: nothing much to say except for the chaos outside to find the pre-arranged transport
Departures: Hell on earth. FAR too small for the number fo flights/passengers nowhere near enough seating, horrible and massively overpriced, aircon is feeble. Staff clueless.
Such a horrible experience we will never be visiting that part of Turkey again purely on the airport experience.
Anyone with any other airport horror stories?
I've travelled through some pretty vile airports but this is, by far, the worst airport experience ever.
Arrivals: nothing much to say except for the chaos outside to find the pre-arranged transport
Departures: Hell on earth. FAR too small for the number fo flights/passengers nowhere near enough seating, horrible and massively overpriced, aircon is feeble. Staff clueless.
Such a horrible experience we will never be visiting that part of Turkey again purely on the airport experience.
Anyone with any other airport horror stories?
It's not great, but I didn't find it that bad for a holiday airport.
As you enter the airport everything needs to go through a security scanner just to get to checkin desks - ok a bit of a pain. And flying back to the UK, there are extra gate security checks but these are mandated by the UK gov and not the airport /Turkey as far as I'm aware. - Again, a bit of a pain, but can't be avoided.
Food wise, there are options, bottled water is a standard price, there are plenty of seats (as long as you don't go to the gate too soon). We tend to sit in the little cafe on the rhs of security with comfy chairs in it and not the gate area.
Wi-Fi is rubbish.
But I've had many worse holiday airport experiences than Antalya International - Try Greece !
As you enter the airport everything needs to go through a security scanner just to get to checkin desks - ok a bit of a pain. And flying back to the UK, there are extra gate security checks but these are mandated by the UK gov and not the airport /Turkey as far as I'm aware. - Again, a bit of a pain, but can't be avoided.
Food wise, there are options, bottled water is a standard price, there are plenty of seats (as long as you don't go to the gate too soon). We tend to sit in the little cafe on the rhs of security with comfy chairs in it and not the gate area.
Wi-Fi is rubbish.
But I've had many worse holiday airport experiences than Antalya International - Try Greece !
Every day a journey said:
Jimjimhim said:
I found the pre arranged transport area on arrival to be really good, loads of space and desks. I'm not sure what else you would want really?
Maybe the operator for ours didn't have any desk display or give us a desk number on the booking confirmation. 
Might be because there were lots and lots and LOTS of delayed flights so was just not coping with the sheer quantity of pax
re bottled water being 'standard' price, 5.5E for a 50cl bottle is 'standard'?
11 E for 50cl beer?
20 E for a Burger King burger?
To make matters worse we had a four hour delay
re bottled water being 'standard' price, 5.5E for a 50cl bottle is 'standard'?
11 E for 50cl beer?
20 E for a Burger King burger?
To make matters worse we had a four hour delay
Every day a journey said:
re bottled water being 'standard' price, 5.5E for a 50cl bottle is 'standard'?
That's odd - We were there last month and it was 2.5E for a bottle of water at every concession stand - i.e. 4 for 10E, which for an airport I thought was not that bad! We didn't have a BK, but the kids did have baguettes and croissants, and I don't recall feeling ripped off by those either?
We came back from our holiday in Turkey via Antalya a few months ago, the whole experience was pretty crap starting with there not being a check-in desk till way past the time we had to check in, staff milling around had no clue, aircon at departures was crap and the final call was called only for everyone to left standing for around 30minutes before boarding, the worst was the Lounge, I have lounge access via my HSBC Premier Credit Card and the service was just s
t, a nice selection of nothing, a very crusty warmed-over chicken something, soup that was so thick you could stand the ladle upright in it, the rolls were rock hard, there was no butter and zero alcohol, the soft drinks were left out and warm. Quite a rubbish experience. Only slightly better than the Lounge at Sardinia Airport, the smoking area is bigger than the lounge and the food selection was woeful, at least alcohol was available and the cold drinks were cold.
t, a nice selection of nothing, a very crusty warmed-over chicken something, soup that was so thick you could stand the ladle upright in it, the rolls were rock hard, there was no butter and zero alcohol, the soft drinks were left out and warm. Quite a rubbish experience. Only slightly better than the Lounge at Sardinia Airport, the smoking area is bigger than the lounge and the food selection was woeful, at least alcohol was available and the cold drinks were cold. Arrivals i have no issue with & use the same private transfer co.
Departures - yes are not good, does feel pretty 3rd world when you’ve stepped out of a nice all inclusive resort!
ETA - definitely not the worst airport in the world, I’ve seen a few worse!
Departures - yes are not good, does feel pretty 3rd world when you’ve stepped out of a nice all inclusive resort!
ETA - definitely not the worst airport in the world, I’ve seen a few worse!
Edited by AndyAudi on Tuesday 9th July 00:08
fat80b said:
But I've had many worse holiday airport experiences than Antalya International - Try Greece !
We went to Kos last month and it was on a par with Antalya. Both very expensive for food, but water at BK in Kos was only €1 so that was a bonus. The fear came from hearing other holidaymakers discussing the flight to Bristol being delayed until the next morning as the plane was still stuck in Bristol.. it turned out that was a Jet2 due to leave 10 minutes after our flight, ours was fine.
Every day a journey said:
To make matters worse we had a four hour delay
I suspect that's the main reason for your rant.There's plenty of places around the world where the airport doesn't live up to the 5* all inclusive resort you've just come out of, don't think Antalya is an exception in that regard.
Every day a journey said:
Snap! These were taken at Dalaman Airport around 3 weeks ago:
£14.35 for Whopper Meal
£16.89 for a Double Whopper Meal
£3.80 for a diet coke or similar soft drink
We had to buy a bottle of water which was around 5euro (£4.22).
...
The airport is hugely dominated by tourists as you'd expect. As a demonstration of this, two years in a row now, we arrive to an empty departure area, with around 300 tables and about 10 other passengers. But after about an hour, it's full, with people not able to sit down and queues for the toilets.
There are good food options, it's just insanely expensive.
Downward said:
wyson said:
First world problems. Try flying into Lukla airport in Nepal. I genuinely feared for my life on landing. One end of the runway is a mountainside. The other end a sheer drop.
And the willy waving begins.Edited by wyson on Monday 8th July 23:24
I'm sure Antalya s not a good airport but to confidently proclaim it as "the worst airport in the world" shows that he OP has clearly never travelled to many airports.
I'd rate Miami as the worst for the amount of time you spend on immigration alone. Once spent over 3 hours in that line, would have killed for a £17 whopper meal instead.
I'm certain Miami isn't the worst in the world either.
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