10 Best
1. Zurich Airport
(ZRH) 10 min.
2. Salt Lake City International (SLC) 11 min.
3. Tampa International (TPA) 12 min.
4. Orlando International (MCO) 15 min.
5. Charlotte
Douglas International (CLT) 16 min.
6. Denver International (DEN) 18 min.
7. London Stansted (STN) 19 min.
8. Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood
International (FLL) 20 min.
9. Dubai International (DXB) 21 min.
10. Hong
Kong International (HKG) 22 min.
The Best airports have
better than 70 percent on-time departure and arrival records, logical layouts,
efficient security and passport control checkpoints, connected airsides, and
gates that are no more than a half an hour apart.
10 Worst
1. Beijing Capital International (PEK) 1 hr. 27
min.
2. London Heathrow (LHR) 1 hr. 25 min.
3. Paris Charles de Gaulle
(CDG) 1 hr. 23 min.
4. Shanghai Pudong International (PVG) 1 hr. 18
min.
5. Los Angeles International (LAX) 1 hr. 10 min.
6. Sydney Kingsford Smith
(SYD) 1 hr. 9 min.
7. Tokyo Narita International (NRT) 1 hr. 3 min.
8. Boston
Logan International
(BOS) 1 hr. 2 min.
9. Frankfurt
International (FRA) 1 hr. 1 min.
10. Chicago O'Hare International (ORD) 59 min.
The Worst airports are the
polar opposite of the Best. Beijing
Capital tops the list with a dismal 30 percent on-time record and stressed-out
passengers constantly struggling to reach their connecting gates on time.
Plan Ahead
So while considering which
connecting flight to book, allot at least an hour between flights to account
for unexpected delays and wait times at the Best airports, and three hours at
the Worst. "Give yourself the gifts of time and peace of mind,"
suggests Chen, "because no one else will."