Arriving in Jordan

Is it geeky to write posts about airports?

Probably. But I travel a lot, so this stuff affects my life. There are airports so horrible I'll spend money and time to avoid them COUGH Charles de Gaulle Paris COUGH, and others that are so nice I almost look forward to spending time there.

Anyway, Amman's airport is one of the good ones.  It's small and old, but that's no big deal.  The main thing is, it works.  Let me list the ways.

• Easy immigration process.  You change some money, stand in a short line to buy a visa (no application to fill out, just hand over $15 and your passport), then stand in another short line to pass immigration.  (Contrast Armenia, where the immigration line is never less than 15 minutes, and let's not even talk about the visas.)
• Bags arrive quickly (Contrast lots of places)
• Airport is easily navigated, with a short walk to immigration, baggage claim and out.  True, this is partly because it's a small airport.  But it's a well designed small airport.
• You are not forced to walk through Duty Free. 
• Luggage carts are free.  -- I'm looking at you, America.  Luggage carts should be free.  This is not a profit center.  Forcing customers to decide between spending $3 or hauling our stuff around makes us cranky and hateful.  The rest of the world understands this.
• No mob of creepy taxi drivers assaulting you when you get out.  (Contrast lots of places, but especially Romania, which is now rich enough to do better.)
• Road from airport to town is broad and smooth.  Okay, this isn't really about the airport, but it's amazing how many places get this wrong.  Albania?  The road from the airport to Tirana is like driving on the Moon -- it's basically a string of potholes with bits of asphalt in between.  First impressions count, people.  Fix the damn airport road.

None of these things are a huge deal, but the cumulative effect is quite noticeable: I don't dread flying through Amman Airport.

This has been a geeky travel post.  I won't do this again for a little while.  Thank you.

Comments

[Andew]

I post regularly now at FlyerTalk. Those people make this look like nothing.

[Luke]

Amman is probably the best Airport I've been to in the Arab World.

Cairo's was crawling with storm troopers and qubadai, though the luggage carts were free, the mutaksis were...vicious. Oh, and immigration was more interested in tea and gossip than my passport. Getting back out, bribery everywhere. It was a relief to get into Frankfurt.

Beirut combines the worst of Charles de Gaulle with the worst of the Middle East.

Muskat and Sana'a are like Hartford, if run by Arabs, or Cabo San Lucas in Mexico. Small, hot, chaotic to the max.

The Gulf Airports are, or were, in the process of modernization. Hopefully, they'll get better.

Jordan is a great place in the Arab world. A very, very clean big town.

[Agnès]

CDG is pretty good as long as you fly in and out of terminal 2. Which means flying Air France...

Flying through terminal 1... not so good, the terminal shows its age and the long walk to the departure gates (where you have to abandon all hopes of material comfort) is not a picnic.

But transfers are as bad if not worse at Schipol (where switching from transatlantic to local/European flights takes 35 minutes of brisk walk, excluding security) or Frankfurt (ditto, plus buses because 3/4 of the time the planes are parked way out from the actual terminal).

I also have nightmarish memories of navigating Munich alone with an infant, a stroller, and a ton of baby gear, not easy when you have to go up and down at least 4 times and the escalators block access for baggage carts (and strollers).

Hmmm... Looking back I think enjoyable airports are an oxymoron.

[Luke]

Oh, I think not. I love O'Hare. With a demented passion. National in DC is on par wit h that.

I sort of like JFK.

Mind, flying into serious police states changes what you're up for. I've heard terrible things about Tehran that combine the wost of flight delays and crap organization, plus hot, plus police groping.

[Kim H]

Tirana has both a brand new airport and a lovely new road to it. Most people say it is one of their favorite airports now- it's bright, beautiful and well run. The road is straight, smooth and really quick.

I think you'd be surprised by the changes!

[Colin Alberts]

Being older, the Amman airport (AMM/OJAI) hasn't quite mastered the whole coffee shop right near the gate thing, which I hope will be near universal in few more years.

In 2004, Security at AMM confiscated my favorite Swiss Army knife. They promised to place it in storage for me to reclaim when I would be coming back through a few weeks later.

They lost track of it. I still want it back.

[Noel Maurer]

Am I the only one here who ranks airports by places to drink? Other side of security, as near to the gate as possible. Decent food a plus.

Yes, I recognize that Logan is terrible by pretty much any other measure. But other than ease of transfer and easy immigration, what else matters?

BTW, Heathrow's security checks, much improved. Amazing what a difference being able to keep your shoes on and your laptop in your bag can make.

[Fidel Pardussi]

Hi Doug, I didn't know you had a personal blog -- I always read you in 'a fistful of euros'.

Anyhow, the reason I'm writing is to ask when was the last time you flew to Tirana because last year (around June) a completely new terminal (the entire airport) was opened and there is now a new road linking Mother Teresa Airport with central Tirana. It's an amazing improvement from what it used to be, so I wanted to know whether you think the new one is not good. If that's the case I dread to think what you made of the previous road!

This page contains some photos while under construction:
http://www.tirana-airport.com/?RoseToken=169180229114147161160144183148154169229193083155156153160214184090168180231crc341

More photos are under 'Press' section and 'Picture gallery subsection'.

Cheers,

F.

[Julia]

Dear frequent airport sufferers:

The book Changing Planes, by Ursula K. Le Guin, is excellent. The introduction is funny and takes the horribleness of airports as a point of departure for some lovely flights of fancy. And she's the daughter of anthropologists, which shows in her writing and just is generally helpful when writing about ...people.

That was sort of random; I guess I just plug my favorite author whenever reasonably relevant.

Cheers,
Julia