UK’s best and worst airports named in Which? survey

Liverpool John Lennon has been named the UK’s best airport in a survey by Which? – while Manchester Airport came out worst.

The consumer group spoke to nearly 4,000 passengers over the last 12 months, asking them to score airports across 11 categories, including seating, staff, toilets and the dreaded queues at check-in, bag drop, passport control and security.

Liverpool John Lennon scored an overall customer score of 82%, based on a combination of overall satisfaction and likeliness to recommend.

Passengers surveyed described the airport as “first class” and “well run”, while staff were praised for being “friendly” and “helpful”.

London City Airport, which was said to have a “relaxed” atmosphere, came second overall on 78%.

It benefitted from some of the lowest security waiting times in the survey, with an average estimated queue of just 10 minutes.

Only Aberdeen and Southampton, with average wait times of nine minutes each, fared better.

Completing the top five airports were Southampton (77%), Bournemouth (75%), East Midlands and Newcastle (which both scored 72%).

At the other end of the scale, Manchester Airport took the lowest two places in the rankings, with a customer score of just 38% for Terminal 3 and 44% for Terminal 1.

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One passenger complained of “huge queues” at check-in, calling the situation a “joke”, while others dubbed the airport experience “crowded, noisy, generally stressful”.

It was among the worst performing in the survey for security queues, with an average wait time of 28 minutes reported at Terminal 3.

Only Birmingham Airport performed worse, with an average reported wait time of 29 minutes.

Also in the bottom five were London Luton and Belfast International, tied on a score of 49%. One Belfast International passenger commented that at “every level service or quality is poor”.

A spokesperson for Manchester Airport called the research “deeply flawed and misleading”, dismissing it as “out of date” and “based on a tiny and unrepresentative sample of the 25 million passengers who travel through Manchester airport every year”.

It received a 94% rating, it said, from its own survey of 840 passengers in July and August.

A spokesperson for Birmingham Airport said the survey “highlights the potential flaws of relying on anecdotal estimates rather than data”.

Here is the list of airports ranked best to worst, according to the Which? survey:

Liverpool John Lennon – 82% overall customer score

London City – 78%

Southampton – 77%

Bournemouth – 75%

East Midlands – 72%

Newcastle – 72%

Glasgow International – 62%

Leeds Bradford – 58%

London Gatwick North – 57%

London Heathrow – Terminal 4 – 57%

London Heathrow – Terminal 5 – 57%

Bristol – 56%

Aberdeen – 55%

Edinburgh – 55%

London Gatwick South – 54%

London Heathrow – Terminal 2 – 54%

London Heathrow – Terminal 3 – 54%

Birmingham – 53%

London Stansted – 51%

Manchester Terminal 2 – 50%

Belfast International – 49%

Luton – 49%

Manchester Terminal 1 – 44%

Manchester Terminal 3 – 38%