{"id":179524,"date":"2023-08-30T02:55:59","date_gmt":"2023-08-30T02:55:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotworldreport.com\/?p=179524"},"modified":"2023-08-30T02:55:59","modified_gmt":"2023-08-30T02:55:59","slug":"the-uks-best-and-worst-airports-for-2023-named-by-which","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotworldreport.com\/travel\/the-uks-best-and-worst-airports-for-2023-named-by-which\/","title":{"rendered":"The UK's best and worst airports for 2023 named by Which?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Liverpool John Lennon Airport has been rated the UK’s best airport \u2013 with travellers praising their experience at the airport as \u2018first class\u2019.<\/p>\n
London City Airport sits in second place, while Southampton Airport ranks third. Manchester Airport’s Terminal 3, meanwhile, flounders at the bottom of the heap – the same position it held last year.<\/p>\n
The rankings have been produced by a new survey by Which? that asked nearly 4,000 travellers to rate their experiences at 24 UK airports and terminals over the past year. Respondents ranked airports based on eleven categories, including seating, staff, toilets, queues at check in, bag drop, passport control and security.<\/p>\n
A customer score was then calculated based on a combination of travellers’ overall satisfaction and their likeliness to recommend the airport. On top of that, the consumer champion asked travellers to report how long they spent queueing at security.<\/p>\n
First-place Liverpool John Lennon Airport snapped up a score of 82 per cent. Customers gave the airport five stars for check-in and security queues, \u2018indicating an uncommonly hassle-free experience\u2019, Which? reveals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Liverpool John Lennon Airport has been rated the UK’s best airport. The ranking has been produced by a new survey by Which? that asked nearly 4,000 travellers to rate their experiences at 24 UK airports and terminals over the past year<\/p>\n
It scored four stars for staff, with multiple respondents praising the airport’s employees as both \u2018friendly\u2019 and \u2018helpful\u2019. The airport also achieved four stars for baggage reclaim and queues at bag drop and passport control.<\/p>\n
One traveller said it was a \u2018well run, efficient airport\u2019 while another lauded it as their \u2018preferred\u2019 airport, Which? says, adding that the airport has earned the coveted Which? Recommended Provider status for the second consecutive year.<\/p>\n
Second-place London City, meanwhile, is close behind with a score of 78 per cent. \u2018Well served by transport links, the airport is a popular option for business travellers in and out of the capital,\u2019 Which? says.<\/p>\n
Respondents praised the airport\u2019s \u2018relaxed\u2019 atmosphere, Which? notes.<\/p>\n
It scored an impressive five stars for queues at check-in and security, where new scanners have recently been installed, meaning passengers no longer need to observe the 100ml (3.5oz) limit on liquids or remove electronics from their bags.<\/p>\n
In fact, Which? reveals that the airport had some of the lowest security waiting times of any in the survey, with an average estimated queue of just 10 minutes, beaten only by Aberdeen (joint 10th, 55 per cent) and third-place Southampton (77 per cent), which both had average waits of nine minutes.<\/p>\n
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Survey respondents ranked airports based on eleven categories, including toilets and queues at check in\u00a0<\/p>\n
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London City Airport ranks second.\u00a0\u2018Well served by transport links, the airport is a popular option for business travellers in and out of the capital,\u2019 Which? says<\/p>\n
One passenger said London City’s new security system is \u2018quick and so much less hassle\u2019, while another lauded the scanners as a \u2018game-changer\u2019.<\/p>\n
However, the watchdog notes that London City missed out on a Which? Recommended Provider badge owing to a low rating of just two stars for toilet facilities.<\/p>\n
After third-place Southampton, the rest of the top five is made up of Bournemouth (75 per cent), which ranks in fourth place, and East Midlands and Newcastle, which tie for fifth with scores of 72 per cent.<\/p>\n
Looking to the bottom of the table, Manchester Airport has the unwelcome distinction of taking the lowest two spots in the rankings, with a \u2018dismal\u2019 customer score of just 38 per cent for last-place Terminal 3 (17th) and 44 per cent for Terminal 1 (16th), Which? reveals.<\/p>\n
Manchester\u2019s Terminal 2 (14th) fares marginally better, but still finds itself in the bottom five with a score of 50 per cent.<\/p>\n
Terminal 3 scored a ‘lamentable’ one star for seating, prices in shops, and queues at check-in, bag drop and security, Which? reveals. It scored no higher than two stars in any of the remaining categories.<\/p>\n
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Southampton Airport is third in the ranking with a score of 77 per cent. It has bagged five stars for its queue times at check in and security<\/p>\n
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Birmingham Airport was the worst-performing airport when it came to security queue times, with an average reported wait time of 29 minutes<\/p>\n
One traveller complained of \u2018huge queues\u2019 at check-in, branding the situation a \u2018joke\u2019, while others dubbed the airport experience as \u2018crowded, noisy, generally stressful\u2019 and \u2018dispiriting from start to finish\u2019.<\/p>\n
Multiple respondents reported long queues at various points through the airport experience, and noted the airport was \u2018overcrowded\u2019.<\/p>\n
Terminal 1 also received a clutch of one and two-star ratings but secured three stars for the range of shops on offer. Terminal 2, meanwhile, scored no lower than two stars in any category and managed a good score of four stars for queues at the check-in desk, Which? reveals.<\/p>\n
The watchdog says that the airport was among the worst performing in the survey for security queues, with an average wait time of 28 minutes reported at Terminal 3, 26 minutes at Terminal 2 and 25 minutes at Terminal 1.<\/p>\n
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Manchester Terminal 3 flounders at the bottom of the table. Some travellers\u00a0dubbed the airport experience as \u2018dispiriting from start to finish\u2019<\/p>\n
1. Liverpool John Lennon – 82 per cent<\/p>\n
2. London City – 78 per cent<\/p>\n
3. Southampton – 77 per cent<\/p>\n
4. Bournemouth – 75 per cent<\/p>\n
5 = East Midlands – 72 per cent<\/p>\n
5 = Newcastle – 72 per cent<\/p>\n
6. Glasgow International – 62 per cent<\/p>\n
7. Leeds Bradford – 58 per cent<\/p>\n
8 = London Gatwick North – 57 per cent<\/p>\n
8 = London Heathrow T4 – 57 per cent<\/p>\n
8 = London Heathrow T5 – 57 per cent<\/p>\n
9. Bristol – 56 per cent<\/p>\n
10 = Aberdeen – 55 per cent<\/p>\n
10 = Edinburgh – 55 per cent<\/p>\n
11 = London Gatwick South – 54 per cent<\/p>\n
11 = London Heathrow T2 – 54 per cent<\/p>\n
11 = London Heathrow T3 – 54 per cent<\/p>\n
12. Birmingham – 53 per cent<\/p>\n
13. London Stansted – 51 per cent<\/p>\n
14. Manchester T2 – 50 per cent<\/p>\n
15 = Belfast International – 49 per cent<\/p>\n
15 = London Luton – 49 per cent<\/p>\n
16. Manchester T1 – 44 per cent<\/p>\n
17. Manchester T3 – 38 per cent<\/p>\n
Source: Which?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only Birmingham Airport (12th, 53 per cent) performed worse, with an average reported wait time of 29 minutes.<\/p>\n
Also in the bottom five are London Luton and Belfast International – both have tied for 15th with a score of 49 per cent.<\/p>\n
The worst-rated London airport in the survey, Luton received a dismal rating of just one star for queues at check-in and bag drop and received just two stars in the majority of remaining categories, with more than one customer asserting they\u2019d \u2018never fly from Luton again\u2019.<\/p>\n
Which? notes its highest score of three stars was for the range of shops on offer, though one customer complained they had \u2018no time to go near the shops because of all the queues\u2019.<\/p>\n
It was among the five worst airports for security queues, with an average reported waiting time of 22 minutes, Which? reveals.<\/p>\n
Belfast International, meanwhile, scored just two stars for seating, staff, range of shops and toilets, and scored three stars for queues through security, which respondents reported lasting 21 minutes on average. One passenger commented that at \u2018every level service or quality is poor\u2019.<\/p>\n
However, others seemed more satisfied, noting \u2018everything seemed to go smoothly\u2019 and another said, \u2018its facilities and services are easy to use\u2019, Which? says.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the survey\u2019s findings, Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: \u2018Choosing the right airport isn\u2019t often high on travellers\u2019 holiday checklists, but taking the time to think about where you\u2019re flying from can really pay dividends.<\/p>\n
\u2018We\u2019d recommend opting for a smaller airport, as our survey shows they generally tend to perform better on queue times and customer service, giving holidaymakers the positive start to their holidays they should expect.\u2019<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Manchester Airport said: \u2018We are committed to providing a great experience to all passengers. Our customer service is driven by investment in our people \u2013 we have recruited more than 3,000 colleagues since April 2022 and established a new 100-strong resilience team, trained in a variety of roles so they can respond at short notice to ensure passengers get a good level of service. It is also driven by investment in our facilities, especially the \u00a31.3billion transformation of Terminal 2, through which more than 80 per cent of our passengers will fly by 2025.’<\/p>\n
The statement commented that the survey, which was conducted in June 2023, is ‘based on a tiny and unrepresentative sample of the 25million passengers who travel through Manchester airport every year’.<\/p>\n
It continued: \u2018We surveyed 840 passengers in July and August this year, and 94 per cent rated their overall satisfaction with the service they received as either good, very good or excellent. Since April this year, we have welcomed more than 10.4million people through Manchester Airport and 95.6 per cent of them have got through security in under 15 minutes. Almost three-quarters got through security in under five minutes and 99.8 per cent in under 30 minutes.\u2019<\/p>\n