The worst UK airports for queues - and how to avoid them

At Birmingham and Manchester airports, passengers reported queueing for almost half an hour at security last year. Passport control at the border was only slightly better.

Which? asked thousands of passengers to estimate the time they spent in queues at airports around the country. At the worst airport, Birmingham, the figure was 29 minutes at security.

At Manchester’s three terminals, passengers said they queued for between 25 and 28 minutes at security. This is a recurring problem for the airport, which has been criticised for its queues for many years.

But there are ways to minimise the queue time, from booking your time at airport security for free to dropping luggage off the day before. 

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The worst airports for passport control queues

The longest reported waits at passport control were at Manchester Terminal 3 and London Stansted. At both airports passengers said they waited 21 minutes.

At Heathrow it was around 15 minutes, depending on terminal. At Gatwick it was around 13 minutes.

Passport control at airports is operated by the UK government’s Border Force.

The best airports for queues

Passengers at smaller airports had a much better experience, whether leaving or arriving, telling us they queued for less than 10 minutes both ways at Southampton, Aberdeen and London City. At Liverpool, queues were 11 minutes for security and passport control.

The times correspond closely with the results of our best and worst airports survey – where Liverpool was rated best by passengers and Manchester worst.

Airport security and passport control queues - from worst to best

Airports’ measurements of security queue times

Many airports dispute whether estimates provided by passengers are accurate. We asked the largest airports for their own figures but these are measured in confusingly different ways.

Heathrow, for example, tracks random passengers’ mobile phone data to see how quickly they pass from the entry point to the exit.

The figure is then calculated using a complicated algorithm agreed with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). This is based on the length of time it takes to get through security, minus ‘unimpeded walking time’.

That means it isn’t tracking how long it took you to get through passport control or security, but simply how long you queued. In some airports, winding queue systems can take time to walk through even if you don’t need to wait in a queue.

Heathrow told us that this adjustment only reduces the figure by a matter of ‘seconds, rather than minutes’. Other airports told us they do include walking time in their figures.

Manchester gave us figures for April until end of July this year and said '95.6% of passengers got through security in under 15 minutes. Almost three quarters got through security in under five minutes and 99.8% in under 30 minutes.'

Birmingham Airport’s own figures for security queues

Birmingham says that its queues were nine minutes, on average, for the period covered by our survey. 

More recently it made the news for long queues at airport security, which it said was caused by work taking place to introduce new scanners. 

How to avoid airport queues

Even if you can’t pick and choose your airport, there are ways to reduce the time you spend in security queues. 

1. Travel light and check-in online

Travel with hand luggage and check in before arriving at the airport and you can avoid the check-in/baggage drop queue. Some airlines, even on short-haul, have much more generous cabin baggage allowance. 

Flying with only hand luggage also means there’s no need for you to wait at the baggage carousel at the other end, or worry that your bag won’t turn up. Need a new cabin bag? Check out the best-rated cabin luggage brands in our survey results.

2. Use twilight bag drop 

During the peak holiday season (see below) you could try a twilight bag drop service. It’s useful if you are staying in an airport hotel the night before travel or live close to the airport.

Most airlines allow one person to check in everyone’s bags from your party, some airlines need everybody flying to be present.

British Airways twilight bag drop

London Heathrow Terminals 3 and 5
For flights departing the following day before 10 am, the hours are from 4 pm to 9pm (T3) and between 4pm and 10pm (T5). 

London Gatwick
From 6pm - 9pm for flights departing the following day before 1pm.

London City
From 4pm - 8.30pm for flights departing the following day before 10am,

Edinburgh
From 4pm - 8pm on Monday to Friday, for flights departing the following day before midday.

Find out full details on BA’s website. 

EasyJet twilight bag drop

Bristol and Manchester airports
From 6pm - 9pm for flights departing the following day before 8.30am.

London Gatwick
From 8pm - 10pm for flights departing the following day before 8am.

Edinburgh
From 4pm to 8pm for flights departing the following day before midday.

Glasgow
From 4pm - 9pm for flights departing the following day before midday.

Find out full details on EasyJet’s website.

Emirates Twilight Bag drop

From 12 hours before departure - only if you’re flying to the USA.

Find out full details on Emirates’ website. 

Jet2 twilight bag drop

Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Leeds Bradford, London Stansted, Manchester and Newcastle airports

 From 4.30pm - 9pm for flights departing the following day before midday.

 One person can drop off up to six people’s bags (you’ll need everyone’s boarding passes, passports, and any essential travel documents) at the following airports: 

 Find out full details on Jet2’s website.

Tui twilight bag drop

Birmingham, Gatwick and Manchester (T2) airports

From 2pm - 9pm for flights departing the following day before midday.

Bristol and East Midlands airports
From 4pm - 9pm for flights departing the following day before midday.

Glasgow airport

From 4pm - 8pm for flights departing the following day before midday.

This service is available for any flight numbers beginning with TOM and you can drop bags any time the day before your flight.

Find out full details on Tui's website.

Virgin twilight bag drop

Manchester airport 

From 4pm - 8pm for all flights departing the following day. However, all customers must be there to check in with their own passports, and if you have a buggy, you have to return to the check-in desk to get it tagged on the day of travel.

Find out full details on Virgin’s website.

3. Use a bag collection service

To avoid bag drop tailbacks, some airlines provide a service via a third party that will collect your luggage from your house and get it to the plane. EasyJet, British Airways and Virgin, for instance, all use Airportr. This service is only available for some flights, though, and only at Gatwick and Heathrow. Plus, you’ll need to live within a certain distance from the airport - you can check whether you live in the catchment on the Airportr website. Which? has not yet put this service to the test, so can’t confirm how reliable it is.

4. Fly later in the day

Historically, the busiest time at the airport was in the morning. Therefore, there are likely to be shorter security queues later in the day. However, the trade-off is that the later the flight, the more likely it is to be delayed. 

5. Avoid peak times

The school summer holidays are when most strike action typically occurs - see our list of all upcoming strike dates to avoid.

The first few days of the holiday often see some airports struggle to cope with the number of people departing, and queues can be longer.  

6. Use a free security timeslot at Heathrow

Heathrow is trialling a security queue timeslot service on selected flights from Terminal 3. It’s free; you can book the time you want to go through security online (there’s a 15 minute window on either side of the slot), and the hope is that it will save you time. Find out more about this timeslot service. 

7. Pay for an airport security fast track pass (maybe)

Our research into airport queues shows that a fast pass won’t usually be necessary, provided you get to the airport two hours before a short-haul flight. Some airports even state in their T&Cs that they can’t guarantee that the fast-track lane will be any quicker than standard security lines. 

The exception might be if you’re flying at peak times – such as first thing in the morning during the school holidays – at an airport known for long queues, such as Manchester.

Be aware that some schemes may not let you through with a pushchair—check the small print before buying. Find out more about whether airport security fast passes are worth it. 

8. Turn up on time, not too early

If everyone followed this advice, the airport queues would likely be shorter and remain steady throughout the day. Turning up unnecessarily early can cause a bottleneck and more delays at security.

Generally speaking, you need to be at the airport two hours before a short-haul flight and three hours before a long-haul flight. 

What can you do if you miss a flight because of long security queues?

At most airports, queues, particularly outside of peak times, aren’t horrendously long. But unexpected circumstances, such as strikes, can change that.

If you miss your flight because of a queue, the bad news is that neither the airline or the airport is likely to compensate you. However, there may be some steps you can take to avoid losing out.

See our full guide to what you can do if you miss a flight because of queues.