Poll reveals ‘best’ and ‘worst’ UK airports

A new poll by the UK’s leading airport transfer comparison website has revealed the UK’s most loved and most hated airports, according to the British public. 63% said they preferred flying from a regional airport and Luton was voted the ‘worst’ in the UK.

Latest research by one of the UK’s leading airport transfer comparison websites of 2,372 holidaymakers has found that Luton is the ‘worst’ UK airport, whilst Birmingham is the favourite place to fly from.

The study by www.airporttransfers.co.uk aimed to find out what travellers’ attitudes were towards various British airports, so respondents were subsequently asked to reveal what they believed to be the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ in the UK.

This was determined by the respondents’ scores of various aspects of the airport experience, after airporttransfers.co.uk asked them to rate different phases out of 10 of the airports they had been to.

The top five ‘best’ UK airports, according to the poll by airporttransfers.co.uk are;

Birmingham

• Cleanliness 9/10
• Staff friendliness 10/10
• Check-in efficiency 10/10
• Shopping experience 10/10
• Lounge areas 8/10
• Security check time 7/10
• TOTAL 54/60

Cardiff

• Cleanliness 9/10
• Staff friendliness 9/10
• Check-in efficiency 8/10
• Shopping experience 7/10
• Lounge areas 7/10
• Security check time 8/10
• TOTAL 48/60

Liverpool

• Cleanliness 8/10
• Staff friendliness 10/10
• Check-in efficiency 8/10
• Shopping experience 6/10
• Lounge areas 9/10
• Security check time 6/10
• TOTAL 47/60

Manchester

• Cleanliness 7/10
• Staff friendliness 8/10
• Check-in efficiency 7/10
• Shopping experience 10/10
• Lounge areas 6/10
• Security check time 5/10
• TOTAL 43/60

Glasgow

• Cleanliness 6/10
• Staff friendliness 7/10
• Check-in efficiency 6/10
• Shopping experience 5/10
• Lounge areas 6/10
• Security check time 5/10
• TOTAL 35/60

The five ‘worst’ UK airports, as voted by respondents, are;

Luton

• Cleanliness 3/10
• Staff friendliness 1/10
• Check-in efficiency 2/10
• Shopping experience 6/10
• Lounge areas 3/10
• Security check time 1/10
• TOTAL 16/60

Stansted

• Cleanliness 4/10
• Staff friendliness 2/10
• Check-in efficiency 2/10
• Shopping experience 6/10
• Lounge areas 4/10
• Security check time 2/10
• TOTAL 20/60

East Midlands

• Cleanliness 5/10
• Staff friendliness 3/10
• Check-in efficiency 3/10
• Shopping experience 4/10
• Lounge areas 3/10
• Security check time 3/10
• TOTAL 21/60

Gatwick

• Cleanliness 6/10
• Staff friendliness 2/10
• Check-in efficiency 3/10
• Shopping experience 8/10
• Lounge areas 5/10
• Security check time 2/10
• TOTAL 26/60

Heathrow

• Cleanliness 6/10
• Staff friendliness 3/10
• Check-in efficiency 3/10
• Shopping experience 10/10
• Lounge areas 6/10
• Security check time 2/10
• TOTAL 30/60

Almost two thirds, 63%, of respondents admitted that they preferred flying from smaller regional airports outside of London and 12% claimed that the airport experience was one of the things they ‘most looked forward to’ about a holiday.

48% said they were prepared to travel ‘more than 100 miles’ if it meant the airport they were flying from was ‘decent’ and a quarter, 26%, felt that having a bad experience at the airport could ‘ruin a holiday’.

Chris Brown, co-founder of airporttransfers.co.uk, said;

“For some people, the airport experience can be a stressful one, especially when faced with delays, queues and unfriendly staff. With our customers heading to various airports across the UK every day, we were really keen to find out which ones were loved and which passengers would rather avoid.

“I was really surprised to see London’s four main airports voted in the top five ‘worst’, but I think many people are put off by larger, busier airports. Whilst all of the London airports scored relatively high for shopping experience, it seems a lot of passengers feel let down in the more important customer service areas such as friendliness of staff and check-in efficiency.”

www.airporttransfers.co.uk