1. PARIS CHARLES DE GAULLE

"what a shit hole!"

"full of homeless people who smelled bad, touched themselves in inappropriate places"

"let's hope that Paris will invest in building a beautiful and clean airport in the future"

"The worst major airport in the developed world!!! Period.  Bar none.  The facility like the people are rude arrogant, indifferent and more than a little spiteful.  Looking back on my experience though I've come to fully understand that CDG is an airport that Parisians actually deserve."

It should come as no surprise to many that Paris CDG's hold onto the top position of our "Worst Airports" List is still strong for 2009. Reading the reviews that have come in this year, a few things are apparent:

• you will likely share the terminal with homeless people. Andrew reports that " I'd say about 2/3 of the people spending the night seemed like poor/cheap travellers, while the rest were homeless with nowhere else to go. Despite that, it felt safe enough... the bums left everyone else alone. "
• the temperature never seems to be right. During the winter, it gets cold at night, while the summer is too hot. Dress accordingly.
• the bathroom situation appears to be improving. Over the years, CDG has received very poor scores for the bathroom cleanliness. Grae tells us "I do admit one good thing, a couple of the restrooms are clean and are beautifully painted. That hides what is really going on."
• reports of wait times between 2-3 hours if you need assistance changing your flight after missing a connection.

The biggest problem, however, seems to be with the unpleasant and unhelpful attitudes of airport personnel. Whether you are just passing through or staying the night, be prepared to experience some French hostility. From the time you arrive, you may encounter inefficient passport officers who, as iq tells us, "talk and laugh amongst themselves while passengers reach the boiling point. It always takes me an hour or more to pass this passport control. By then, of course, your connecting flight has left, and you have to face uninterested Air France staff who show little sympathy." After missing a connecting flight and needing assistance, agatek wrote in that "the guy at the counter said that he would not speak to us because we had wrong attitude and he would speak with the passengers with the right attitude only." Good luck finding your way around if you cannot understand the signs. Sophs wrote in that "it took forever to find a staff member that would actually give us directions (my friend speaks fluent French)."

For every five reviews there is usually one good report. James, spent 2 days and 1 night in CDG without problems. Lucky James! It seems that questionable facilities aside, the employees at Paris CDG are bringing this place down and it is time for customer service training!

Can Singapore Changi send over some trainers? Would Paris CDG even accept them?

Runners up in the Worst Airports List:

2. MOSCOW SHEREMETYEVO, Russia

Why? Moscow Sheremetyevo continues to be a dirty and chaotic mess of an airport. Non-smokers will not be happy when they show up at this airport to clouds of cigarette smoke. Reports of rude staff. J_ol writes "The thing that always annoys me is the rudeness of the staff. I try to be friendly but sometimes they even didn't tell me hello." You can sleep comfortably on some benches, but seating in general is limited. Past comments include:

• "the few staff that spoke English only knew how to insult visitors"
• "This was the most disgusting airport I've ever been to after 10 years of traveling."
• "scariest in the world...[deserving] a new icon of fright"
• "Longest night of my life"

3. NEW YORK JFK, USA

Why? it is hectic, there is limited seating (so get there early or bring an inflatable mattress), frequent announcements, rude counter staff, rude customs/security, limited number of benches, restaurants/shops close at night. On a postive note, bring your laptop and use the WiFi to entertain yourself if you can't sleep.

• "Overall, not a bad place to be stuck for half the day." (Kerry)
• "JFK was probably the most confusing and filthy airport terminal I have ever been in." (Amy)
• "I managed to get some sleep but it wasn't easy." (?)

4. LOS ANGELES, USA

Why? With only one review to go on, I probably should have let LAX slide off the top 5 worst airports list. However, I'm sure little has changed since last year when the airport was voted the worst in North America in our online poll. LAX deserves have an appearance here somewhere. This may change for the year end results, so be sure to leave your comments about LAX here. So what do people hate about LAX? Well, the terminal 4 is cold, there are hard benches, the cleaning staff are noisy and chat to one another loudly, there is construction noise, customs/security staff are rude, constant announcements, stores/restaurants close down at night, and you'll find panhandlers and hustlers. Past comments include:

• "It's a shame that many visitors from the pacific flying into LAX get their first impression of America and Americans at this dump." (DonP)
• "forget about Guantanamo Bay - just send the prisoners here for some torture tactics"  (?)
• "I couldn't relieve myself in the terminal bathroom because the stench was so horrible" (Disgruntled)

5. DELHI, INDIA

Why? From being voted last year as the airport you would most like to strand an enemy in for 24 hours, things do seem to be finally improving for Delhi airport. Reports of improvements such as padded seating and helpful staff are coming in, so we hope to see Delhi off the list next time. Until then there have also been compaints of noise, limited seating and cool temperatures due to air-conditioning. Bring some warm clothes just in case. Past comments include:

• "Had to change in the toilet which made the one in Trainspotting look like the Ritz." (Moray)
• "special effort appeared to be made to make sure that no trace of toilet paper could be found." (Pawel)
• "we survived on water and cookies" (Joe Goozey)

6. Hanoi
7. Manila
8. Rome Fiumicino
9. Frankfurt Hahn
10. London Heathrow

REGIONAL WORST MAJOR AIRPORT LIST

Worst Airport in the South Pacific/Oceania:
Tonga
....see full regional loser list

Worst Airport in Asia:
Delhi, India
....see full regional loser list

Worst Airport in Africa:
Abuja, Nigeria
....see full regional loser list

Worst Airport in the Middle East:
Doha, Qatar
....see full regional loser list

Worst Airport in the Caribbean and Central America:
Havana, Cuba
....see full regional loser list

Worst Airport in South America:
Buenos Aires Aeroparque, Argentina
....see full regional loser list

Worst Airport in North America:
Los Angeles, USA
....see full regional loser list

Worst Airport in Europe:
Paris Charles de Gaulle, France
....see full regional loser list

How the results are tabulated: To determine winners (and losers), I look at your votes from the online poll together with recently submitted reviews. This is a completely unscientific system and my math is bad, so who knows what all of this really means?