Best airport in the world?

Singapore's Changi Airport has so many resort-like amenities that some travelers choose to stay a while. From the WSJ's Scott McCartney:

There are comfortable areas for sleeping or watching TV, premium bars, work desks and free Internet. A nap room is about $23 for three hours; a shower can be had for $6. If you want to put your feet in a tank with tiny fish that eat dead skin, that's $17 for 20 minutes. The pool is free to guests of the airport's in-transit hotels; otherwise it's about $11 a person. A bus tour of Singapore is offered free by the airport. The tour is arranged so that passengers don't have to clear immigration--the airport retains passports so passengers don't run off. Simple steps matter, like minimizing annoying announcements and honking carts and instead playing soothing music to reduce stress. Placing rival currency-exchange booths and clothing stores side-by-side stimulates competition. Touch screens in bathrooms let travelers send text messages to supervisors when toilet paper runs out, for example.

Airport development has had plenty of government support (you couldn't duplicate anything like this in L.A. or NY, certainly not now), although it's worth noting that 50 percent of the revenue comes from the amenities.


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Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
The multi-talented Mark Lacter
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