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May 9, 2005

Airports' Worsts

Here's another article I originally read on Adventure. I have to keep telling myself that the fact that we're considering flying into Kampala, Uganda (which is where the Entebbe hijacking took place) is not terribly distressing. It's not like there haven't been hijackings in the United States, and England, and other places I've flown. Still, it kind of creeps me out a bit. But then that's why we're doing this trip before we have kids.

WORST ANTIQUATED AIRLINE: Afghanistan's Ariana Airlines. Called "Scariana" by many, it's the only airline with more planes crashed on the ground than flying in the air. Be prepared for ancient 727s with half the seats missing. Upside: legroom.

WORST AIRLINE, PERIOD: Pakistani International Airlines. A true Third World experience. Runaway snack carts; passengers eating spaghetti with their hands; and the crew gathering in back to smoke cigarettes as the plane comes in for landing.

WORST AIRPORT: Bamako Mali's central airport is a crowded, smelly shack next to a potholed runway; only slightly worse than Karachi International.

WORST STOPOVER DIVERSION: Kampala, Uganda. Grab a snack in dictator Idi Amin's old jet and then admire the site of the 1976 Entebbe hijacking.

WORST AIRLINE FOOD: Uzbekistan Airways. You know it's bad when the president of the country, Islam Karimov, complains about the food. I was sitting next to him.

WORST BAGGAGE HANDLERS: Conakry, Guinea. Baggage handlers throughout sub-Saharan Africa will rifle through your bags, but the guys in Conakry lifted a shoulder-mounted video camera right off the tarmac next to me.

More at: National Geographic Adventure Magazine: Robert Young Pelton's Worst-Of-The-Worst Awards

Posted by sorsha at May 9, 2005 9:39 PM