Flights of fancy - airports and terminals readers love

I cannot comment on the first two, beyond offering sympathy to anyone who has to spend time in either, in any capacity.

- SIMON CALDER

But airports are different. While they may be inherently stressful hubs - in a way that railway stations are generally not - at least airports hold out the prospect of a better existence in just a few hours' time.

Survive this, we passengers think, and before sunset I will be dipping a toe in the Med and sipping a glass of something even more exotic than the airport Wetherspoons offers.

Yet a formidable number of airport staff spend their time trying to make your time in their hands more enjoyable. They deserve to be recognised, which is why I handed out awards for a range of virtues from parking and passport control to architecture and arrivals.

Not everyone agreed with my selection - including the home team at The Independent.

I am a fan of Heathrow Terminal 5. But senior travel writer Natalie Wilson says: “It hurt to see operations at my former favourite, T5, fall apart when bag drop broke down, and I waved goodbye to my suitcase of summer shopping at departures.”

Inbound, Natalie enjoyed more fortune at Gatwick: “Although delayed departing Alicante, breezing through eGates and baggage claim made up the time difference by cutting my factored-in ‘arrivals formalities’ time in half.”