Why can't all airports be like Incheon?

— -- If you could design the ideal airport, what would you include? How about free Internet access and free public access computers for those inclined to leave their laptops at home? Perhaps you might provide free showers and a clean place to change clothes between connecting flights. Would you consider a lounge accessible to any passenger with a tempting buffet of hot food and super comfortable lounge chairs, available for a nominal fee or free for premium credit card holders? How about a full-service hotel adjacent to the gates where you can rent a private room and bath for just $40 for up to six hours or $100 for 24 hours? Would it ever occur to you to offer connecting passengers an array of local one- to six-hour guided sightseeing tours or golf outings that whisk you away and back to the airport again in time for your next flight?

Is this ideal airport just a fantasy? Actually not. Such an airport exists today and more than eight million travelers ranked it number one among 190 airports worldwide in a survey just released by Skytrax. The airport with all these marvelous amenities and many more is Incheon International Airport in Seoul. I just happened to be passing through the airport observing all of these wonderful features when Skytrax released their survey results proclaiming Incheon the best in the world in 2009. The Skytrax survey evaluates airports using 39 different criteria, including check-in facilities, ease of transit through airport, Internet access and lost/delayed luggage.

It's not often I praise an airport. Most U.S. airports are inadequate, overcrowded, outdated facilities, ill equipped for processing passengers and providing creature comforts in the post-9/11 era. But Incheon is setting standards for all others. The spacious facility, opened in 2001, processes 30 million passengers each year and is still underutilized, according to Michelle Mi Sung Wee, an airport official at Incheon. Each time I passed through the airport on my recent trip it was peaceful, tranquil and never appeared crowded.