For the third year in a row, London-Luton “won” the title of worst airport in the UK, which is not exactly prestigious.
British passengers include which? An organization that deals with consumer satisfaction has conducted research over the past year.
In the online research, responses from more than 11,000 people were analysed, including queuing at check-in and baggage claim, passenger security and passport screening, as well as baggage claim on arrival.
In the research, participants were also asked about the range and prices of shops and restaurants at the airport, the seats available in the lounge, the condition of bathrooms and the work of airport staff.
Participants were also interested in their overall satisfaction and whether they would recommend the specific airport to their friends.
According to the combined results, Luton Airport received a score of only 35%, which was only enough to reach last place in the satisfaction list for airports that handle at least 10 million passengers.
At Luton, the condition of the toilets, the quantity and quality of seats available at the station and the winding queues at baggage drop off were rated as the worst by research participants, but baggage claim, passport and passenger security checks also received very low scores.
Among the airports with the least traffic, Aberdeen was the worst, with an overall score of 49%.
The absolute winner in the research was Doncaster Sheffield Airport, which welcomed 87% of respondents. The airport won the hearts of passengers thanks to its fast baggage handling and short queues. Wizz Air announced at the beginning of August that it would launch flights to the airport from Budapest three times a week starting in the fall.
Among the major airports, Heathrow Airport T5 received the best score of 63%, second was Birmingham Airport with 61, third was Heathrow Airport T2 with 60, fourth was Edinburgh Airport with 59, and fifth was North Gatwick Airport with 57 percent.
At the bottom of the list, London's Terminal 3 Stansted and Manchester Airport finished in a close contest with a slightly better overall score of 44% than Luton. In the latter case, passengers mostly complained that the airport's capacity was too small compared to current passenger traffic.
The three airports at the bottom of the list – Luton, Stansted and Manchester – are undergoing major development and expansion programmes.
Luton will increase its capacity by 50% by 2020 with a £150m investment, Manchester Airport embarked on a development program worth a total of £1bn a year ago, and the operator is spending £600m to improve Stansted Airport.
