Middle East: Ben Gurion International Airport

Tel Aviv, Israel

No longer do visitors to the Holy Land disembark outside on a mobile staircase and schlep onto a bus for a ride to the dinky arrivals hall. Since 2004 travelers have stepped out onto jetways and walked—and walked and walked—down glimmering hallways of Jerusalem stone to a sleek, airy hall for a thorough passport check before retrieving their bags. The first time Ben Gurion was surveyed, in the third quarter of 2006, it placed first out of 40 European airports and fifth among 77 worldwide.