Six billion passengers worldwide by 2006? Yes, according to analysts. But how will we cope?

Travelers suffering from the misery of air travel, teeming terminals, gridlock getting to the airport, unaccountable delays and ever more onerous security and immigration controls with the concomitant "hassle factor" may feel that Armageddon has arrived. Where on earth are all these people going? How can they afford it? And more to the point, why do they all seem to be traveling with me? Airports (especially the megahubs) have become the slowest common denominator of air travel.

How we judge airports depends on a shifting equation of factors: which airline we're flying and in which class, whether we are subject to the "refugee shuffle" or "fast-track" privileges through immigration, and our access to a soothing something in the business class lounge. Judgments are subjective, based upon whether we had a good or bad experience and how that impacted on our mode of travel.

And how can you compare a "no-frills" airport like Luton, near London, with London City Airport, a hub for a network of city center airports in Europe, mainly aimed for business travelers? This is why I am skeptical about "best airline," "best hotel" and "best airport" surveys.

But two recent, independent airport surveys show amazing congruence. Skytrax Research and Aetra, jointly conducted by Airports Council International and the International Air Transport Association, rank Hong Kong International as the "best airport in the world," followed by Singapore Changi and Seoul Incheon Airport.

 Skytrax ranks Munich No.4, followed by Kansai in Osaka, Dubai, KLIA Kuala Lumpur, Amsterdam Schiphol, Copenhagen and Sydney Airport.

 "Space, light, airy, clean, efficient, ground transport" were some key words Skytrax used to describe Hong Kong airport; while Changi was praised for its abundant range of facilities and its "pivotal role" as a transit airport. Seoul Incheon, one of Asia's newest airports, was praised for "ease of navigation," "cleanliness" and "facilities."

Skytrax rates Minneapolis-St. Paul as Best Airport-North America; Lima as Best Airport-South America; Munich as Best Airport-Europe; Dubai as Best Airport-Middle East; and Cape Town as Best Airport-Africa; Sydney as Best Airport-Australia/Pacific.

Aetra rates Halifax, Minneapolis and San Diego as top three airports in the Americas; Dubai, Cape Town and Durban as top three airports in Africa/Middle East; and Halifax, Minneapolis and Helsinki as the best domestic airports.

 Electronic tickets are set to go global with claims from Oneworld that it's the first alliance to complete "total interline e-ticketing" with an unlikely "e-partnership" between Aer Lingus and LAN Chile. Passengers can now travel with a single e-ticket throughout the combined network served by Oneworld's eight member airlines - Aer Lingus, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, LAN Chile and Qantas - which collectively fly to 600 destinations in 135 countries. The bottom line for the airline partners is cash savings of $65 million. 

But what happens to your phantom itinerary when a screen goes down in Mogadishu?

No matter. All airlines will stop printing tickets by the end of 2007 as part of continuing attempts to cut costs, according to the International Air Transport Association. Currently, 19 percent of tickets processed through IATA are electronic, and this is expected to rise to 40 percent by the end of 2005.

The stakes are huge: A paper ticket costs $9, so eliminating them could save the industry $3 billion a year.

Project IRIS - an "Iris Recognition Immigration System" - will shortly be introduced at London Heathrow. People not holding European Union passports will be invited to have their iris patterns photographed and stored in a database upon departure. They can then use special automated security checkpoints that scan their eyes, allowing them to avoid lines when they return to London. Frankfurt Airport and some U.S. airports are currently testing the system. Britain plans to roll out the technology at the country's other major airports.

Lighters and matches are now banned in airline cabins; but passengers on British aircraft will once more be allowed to eat a meal with metal cutlery and to take knitting needles and scissors with blades less than 3 centimeters, or 1.2 inches, long in hand baggage. Longer blades, corkscrews, and penknives will remain forbidden, according to the British Department of Transport. "Airline security is an issue under constant review," a spokesman says. "There are now enough security measures in place to allow passengers to bring these items back on to planes."



Roger Collis is the author of 'The Survivor's Guide to Business Travel,' published by Kogan Page in conjunction with the Inrternational Herald Tribune, and edits an online newsletter at www.truthintravel.com