New research ranks the best and the worst airports in the UK in 2024  

An annual survey that ranks the UK’s airports has just published its results for 2024. Overall, it is the country’s smaller airports that boast higher customer approval ratings while bigger airports such as Manchester (MAN), Belfast International (BFS), and London-Luton (LTN) get the ‘thumbs down’ from the traveling public. AeroTime takes a closer look at the results, seeing which airports are top and which are not out of the list of 29 contenders.  

The survey, carried out by the consumer organization Which? surveyed around 7,000 passengers about their experiences at UK airports over the last 12 months. Those questioned were asked to share their views and apply ratings to each airport across eleven categories. These included seating, staff, toilets, and shopping, as well as queues at check-in, bag drop, passport control, and security.  

With scores applied to each, analysts from Which? calculated an overall rating for each airport based on a combination of overall customer satisfaction and the likeliness to recommend the airport to other travelers. For a full list of UK airports and their rankings in this survey, click on this link.  

Markus Mainka / ShutterstockAt the top of the table, the country’s smaller and arguably more efficient airports tended to fare well. Taking the number one spot for 2024 was Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LPL) with an overall rating score of 81%. Coming down the rankings and just behind Liverpool was London City Airport (LCY) which scored 80%, followed by Norwich Airport (NWI) with 78%, Exeter Airport (EXT) with 77%, and Southampton Airport (SOU) managing an overall percentage score of 75%.  

The top-scoring airport, Liverpool, was rated five stars by passengers for its ‘friendly’ staff and its lack of queues at baggage drop and security. Additionally, its toilets, wi-fi, seating, baggage reclaim, and queues at check-in and passport control received four stars. 

Meanwhile, London City Airport, which has recently been given the green light to expand further from handling 6.5 million to nine million passengers annually, was also rated as London’s best airport with respondents noting the gateway’s overall efficiency in passing passengers through the single terminal building and the lack of queues.   

The airport also received five stars for its lack of queues at bag drop and for its staff, as well as four-star ratings for queues at check-in, queues at passport control, baggage reclaim, and airport wi-fi. 

Travers Lewis / ShutterstockLooking at the bottom end of the scale, the five airports that scored the least in the Which? survey were London-Heathrow (LHR) at 51%, London-Stansted (STN) at 50%, London-Luton (LTN) at 47%, and Belfast International (BFS) managing just 44%. However, it was Manchester Airport footing the table and receiving the UK airport wooden spoon, achieving 40% for its Terminal One and just 37% for Terminal Three (although its Terminal Two facility did achieve marginally higher at 51%). 

Rather inauspiciously, the result renders Manchester Terminal Three the holder of the title of ‘worst airport in the UK’ for the third consecutive year. With its overall customer score of just 37%, the facility managed just a single star for seating, staff, queues at security, and its variety of shops and failed to achieve any more than two stars in any of the remaining categories, including for its toilet facilities.  

What does Which? say about the results?  

“Our survey found many of the biggest airports fall at the basics with passengers often unhappy about the availability of toilets and seats, and reporting long queues at times,” said Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel. Flogging fast passes and filling terminals with retail spaces and airport lounges is a money spinner, but judging by our survey results, it’s not what passengers need.” 

“Smaller airports in contrast may have few shops to speak of and no private lounges. However, our survey shows what they can do is get passengers off on their holiday quickly and smoothly. Next time you’re booking a flight, it’s well worth considering not just your choice of airline but also your airport. It could make all the difference to the start of your getaway,” he added. 

Manchester Airport’s response 

In response to the survey results, a statement issued by the airport’s operators, Manchester Airports Group (MAG) said that it disagreed with the survey findings about customer satisfaction and security waiting times and added that its own data indicated that 97% of passengers took less than 15 minutes to pass through security.  

“As in previous years, Which? is letting consumers down with over-simplified judgments based on the outdated and unrepresentative testimony of a narrow group of travelers, as well as publishing misleading statements and factual inaccuracies.”  

Bradley Caslin / Shutterstock“Manchester Airport is proud to give people in all parts of the North easy and affordable access to nearly 200 different destinations across the world. We know our nearly 30 million passengers value the fact we make it possible for them to fly directly to places they otherwise wouldn’t be able to, whether that is for business or leisure, to study or visit friends and family. 

“We also know they value an experience that caters to all needs, tastes, and budgets, and through our £1.3bn Manchester Airport Transformation Programme we are creating world-class facilities that give them just that. Due for completion next year, it is already winning awards and receiving high levels of customer satisfaction,” the statement concluded. 

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