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See our slideshow of the best airports for a layover.
The airport hotel is naturally a big priority. According to Nigel Page, Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations at the Dubai-based airline Emirates, “hotels are a boon when you’re really tired.” And the airline’s Dubai hub, which is already lauded as one of the world’s best in terms of shopping, features a 100-room hotel with a gym and health spa.
And as upgraded amenities increasingly become standard fare, some airlines have decided to create entire terminals dedicated to their premium passengers.
Witness Lufthansa’s €30 million First Class Terminal, reserved exclusively for the airline’s first class passengers or elite frequent fliers. Passengers relax in a sleek space awash in creamy leather furnishings, dine on a Do & Co à la carte menu and refresh themselves with monsoon showers and marble baths.
In the Premium Terminal at Qatar’s Doha International Airport, meanwhile, passengers get the same sort of treatment but can also have a run at a state-of-the-art game room with PlayStations and other amusements.
“Transiting through an airport with state-of-the-art five-star facilities makes a world of difference on a long business trip,” said Anna Nash, Public Relations Executive for Orient-Express Trains & Cruises, who recently flew through Doha. “The exclusive, almost hotel-like feel of such facilities makes the layover more pleasurable, offering the choice of relaxation or time to catch up on business matters.”
See our slideshow of the best airports for a layover.
In Singapore, meanwhile, the country’s lauded flag carrier says that one of the main reasons for their unrivaled success is their base of operations at Changi, whose hushed environs, lily ponds and palm courts are welcome tonic for the millions of tired long-haul transcontinental passengers who travel through it each year.
“It’s clear that the benefits of the airport including the rooftop pool, the hotel and other amenities make this a preferred and repeated choice for our valued customers,” said John Cotton, a spokesman for Singapore Airlines.
The airport is connected to the city center by Mass Rapid Transit but with cabs so cheap, most travellers just hop one. Of course that's not true everywhere, which is why Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok, Zurich Airport at Kloten and Munich Airport International---all with streamlined rail links---figure highly on our list. Munich is located 45 minutes outside of the city center by S-Bahn or overland train, but there are plans for a high-speed magnetic levitation train that will make the 37 kilometer journey in just 10 minutes at speeds of up to 310 m.p.h.
It’s obvious that the world’s leading airports are out to create new standards of comfort and convenience and not merely content to sit idly by, said Bridge, the Daily Telegraph editor. “In that sense, more and more passengers will wherever possible seek to avoid airports where services are limited, outdated or below par.”
In addition to the contributors quoted above, we consulted a number of frequent business travelers and industry experts to generate a list of the best airports in which to spend a long layover. These airports are far more than just way stations”they’re destinations in their own right. And many of them feature surprises.
See our slideshow of the best airports for a layover.
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