“The worst airport I have ever used” – Manchester Airport panned in Which? survey of UK’s best and worst airports
In April this year, Which? surveyed almost 5,000 members about their experiences at airports in the previous 12 months. Respondents were invited to rate the airports across 11 categories, including seating, staff, toilets and queues at check in, bag drop, passport control and security. A customer score was calculated based on a combination of overall satisfaction and likeliness to recommend.
On the whole, the consumer champion found smaller airports once again performed better than their larger rivals this year - with respondents reporting shorter queues, and a generally less stressful experience.
In last place for the third-year running is Manchester Airport Terminal 3, with a dismal customer score of just 37 per cent. The terminal received just one star for seating, staff, queues at security, range of shops and prices in shops, and managed no higher than two stars in any of the remaining categories, including for toilets.
With some of its ‘moving walkways’ out of action since 2021, and repair works still ongoing, as well as widespread complaints about queues and lack of seating, many of those surveyed who were reliant on Manchester Airport for its range of international connections reported unhappy experiences.
One disappointed traveller summed up their time at the terminal as “'queuing, queuing, queuing. Not enough staff, poorly trained, surly bordering on rude”, while another said: “'Manchester T3 sums up everything that is bad about UK airports. Too many flights mean too many people crowded into a space not designed to take that many.”Another lamented: “It’s just awful - the worst advert for anyone flying to the UK. It’s the worst airport I have ever used (and by quite a long way) compared to other UK and especially overseas airports.”Manchester Airport told Which? it disagreed with the survey findings in relation to customer satisfaction and security waiting times, and noted its own data shows 97% of people take less than 15 minutes to pass through security. It said its ongoing £1.3bn Manchester Airport Transformation Programme is creating world-class facilities and is award-winning.
Manchester Airport Terminal 1, which is scheduled for closure next year, fared only marginally better, with a customer score of 40 per cent. It received just one star for its staff, queues at security and prices in shops, and a clutch of two star ratings in most of the remaining categories. Its highest rating of three stars was for its toilets. Terminal 2, which is currently undergoing a multi-million pound upgrade, was the highest rated of Manchester’s Terminals, tied with Heathrow Terminal 4 with a score of 51 per cent.
Belfast International was the lowest scoring airport after Manchester Terminals 3 and 1, with a customer score of 44 per cent. Currently in the midst of a £100 million redevelopment, it received one star for its range of shops, the price of goods in shops, and baggage reclaim. The latter was a particular bugbear for travellers – multiple respondents described waits as long as an hour to collect their bags after their flight. It received a mix of two and three stars in the remaining categories, including two stars for toilets and seating. One traveller summed up, “Miserable surroundings and luggage recovery is a joke.” In contrast, its neighbour Belfast City (George Best) Airport was in the top half of the table, with a customer score of 63 per cent.London Luton was the worst-rated London airport, with a customer score of 47 per cent, closely followed by Stansted on a customer score of 50 per cent.
In 2017, Luton received the lowest score ever received by an airport in a Which? survey - just 29 per cent - and while a £160 million upgrade in the intervening years has seen its score improve, it continues to fall behind its London rivals. It received just one star for airport wi-fi, and a string of two star scores in the remaining categories, with seating and toilets reportedly continuing to prove a problem. Its highest rating of three stars was for queues at bag drop. As one respondent put it, “It's not terrible but it's certainly not great - we would definitely avoid using the airport if we had a choice.” Luton told Which? that it meets "all international standards regarding the ratio of seating and toilets per passenger".
At the top end of the table, Liverpool John Lennon received an impressive customer score of 81 per cent, and was one of five airports this year to secure the prestigious Which? Recommended Provider Badge, alongside London City, Norwich, Exeter and Southampton.
Just 30 miles from Manchester Airport, travellers at Liverpool John Lennon might as well have been a world away, rating it five stars for its “friendly”, “good-natured” staff, as well for queues at bag drop and security. It also received four stars for its toilets, wi-fi, seating, baggage reclaim and queues at the check in desk and at passport control. As one traveller put it, it’s a “smaller, friendlier, efficient airport, generally not too busy with smallish queues …it is a far more pleasurable experience than its nearest rival, Manchester.”
London City Airport took a close second place with a customer score of 80 per cent, and was the best-rated London airport overall. Multiple respondents enthused about the airport’s efficiency and lack of queues, noting the “seamless process from arrival to departure,” achieved without the need for fast track passes. It received five stars for queues at bag drop, queues at security, and for its staff, as well as four stars ratings for queues at check-in, queues at passport control, baggage reclaim and airport wi-fi. Currently a relatively small airport, City recently saw its proposals for expansion greenlit.
Norwich (78%), Exeter (77%) and Southampton (75%) completed the top five.
Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said:
“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. 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 the likes of City have no private lounges - but 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.”
-ENDS-
Notes to editors:
-The results are based on an online survey of 4,962 members of the Which? Connect panel conducted in April 2024. Sample sizes in brackets. ‘-’ means not enough responses to include a star rating.”
- If using this information, please include a link back to Which?’s airport survey results.
Rights of reply:
A spokesperson for Manchester Airport said: “As in previous years, Which? is letting consumers down with over-simplified judgements based on the outdated and unrepresentative testimony of a narrow group of travellers, as well as publishing misleading statements and factual inaccuracies.
“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 30m 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 for 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.
"We understand not every experience is perfect and want all passengers to feel able to raise their concerns directly with us. That is why we speak to them on a daily basis, surveying hundreds of people a month to get in-the-moment feedback from a full range of perspectives.
"That is in stark contrast to Which?, which conducted a tiny and unrepresentative survey of its members six months ago, asking them to recollect airport experiences that could have been as far back in time as April 2023.
"Recognising how limited and out of date the Which? survey is, we have engaged with the publication and its writers to provide accurate, up to date performance data and satisfaction scores, as well as showcasing in person how our once-in-a-generation investment is transforming passenger experiences and helping connect them to even more parts of the world.”
A spokesperson for Luton Airport said: “Last year, 4 out of 5 passengers described their experience at LLA as very good or excellent thanks to the hard work and commitment of our teams. A consistently strong operational performance was also key to this feedback and included an average security wait time of just 8 minutes. The £20m investment in our security hall, including the installation of next-generation scanner technology, will mean even faster processing times for passengers.
“Delivering a consistently strong operational and customer service performance is essential in the hugely competitive market we operate in. Our teams are dedicated to delivering a positive passenger experience and our continued investment in terminal facilities underlines our commitment to providing a comfortable, relaxing and convenient environment for everyone who travels through the airport.
“Whilst all feedback is important, we do not see the analysis provided by Which? as representative of the views of millions of passengers who travel through the airport each year. Our focus is to continue to deliver a simple, friendly and positive experience to everyone who travels through London Luton Airport.”
A spokesperson for Belfast International said: “At Belfast International Airport we take all customer feedback seriously and regularly undertake industry recognised benchmarking surveys with our passengers which shows we compare favourably with our peer airports. This passenger feedback is invaluable and we use this to feed directly into our investment plans. In our latest survey, carried out over the summer peak, 97% of passenger stated their experience was rated as excellent, very good or good. While we welcome the feedback from the Which? Survey it is not a representative sample and should not be portrayed as such. 61 passengers were surveyed out of the six million that used the airport in 2023 and clearly does not show the broad range views of the passengers that flew from Belfast International Airport in 2023 but we have noted the comments made and shared them with our service partners.
“We continue to work directly with our service partners to continuously improve services and in particular we are addressing baggage reclaim concerns directly with those parties involved.
“Belfast International Airport is proud to give local travellers access to a wide range of destinations across the UK and Europe and we are continually developing and growing our route network. We are committed to providing passengers with a great experience and as a result we are currently undergoing a £100 million five year investment plan to transform that passenger experience.”
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