Liverpool tops list and Manchester last as UK's best and worst airports unveiled - full list

Liverpool John Lennon Airport has once again been named best in the UK, according to the annual survey by consumer champions Which?.

The ranking is based on customer ratings and Which? asked members to complete an online survey about their experiences of flying from and to 29 UK airports in the last year. The results are based on almost 5,000 customer opinions, with categories such as seating, queues, passport control and toilets.

Topping the charts for the second consecutive year, Liverpool Airport earned an overall customer score of 81%, a slight drop from 82% in 2023. The airport in Speke also secured the prestigious Which? Recommended Provider status for the third year in a row.

Customers praised their experience at the airport, rating it five stars for its ‘friendly’ and ‘good-natured’ staff, as well as for short 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. One traveller said 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.”

Liverpool John Lennon Airport’s CEO John Irving commented, “To be named as the UK’s number one airport by travellers is a tremendous accolade once again for the Airport and something all who work here are incredibly proud of. As ever, we know we can’t rest on our laurels. We are back to pre-pandemic levels of passenger numbers and set to see further increases in passenger numbers next year, so will need to continue to improve facilities and maintain the friendly, relaxed experience that this airport is renowned for.”

Liverpool John Lennon Airport Which? rating

• Queues at bag drop: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Queues at security: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Staff: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Queues at check-in: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Queues at passport control: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Baggage reclaim: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Seating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Toilets: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Price in shops: ⭐⭐⭐
• Range of shops: ⭐⭐⭐

London City, Norwich, Exeter and Southampton airports all made the top five, and Which? Recommended Provider status. The general trend is that smaller airports received better ratings, with smaller queues and easy navigation. Third-place Norwich, however, did not receive enough survey responses to be given a rating for queues at check-in, queues at bag drop, baggage reclaim, queues at security, prices in shops, range of shops, WiFi or toilets, and still received an overall score of 78% which shows potential flaws in the ranking system.

The Which? survey also does not ask questions about accessibility, which could see the rankings deemed less helpful for disabled passengers. Liverpool Airport was one of five airports to receive the ‘needs improvement' rating in the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) annual Airport Accessibility report earlier this year.

Previously rated as ‘very good’ by the CAA, Liverpool Airport’s operations director, Paul Staples, said the rating was ‘disappointing’. “Particularly in a year when our provider ABM has worked so hard alongside the airport team to focus on the increased demand of over 60% year on year for passengers requesting this service. Whilst we had anticipated an increase in such requests, this level was unforeseen,” he said.

Manchester Airport rating

Manchester Airport remained at the bottom of the Which? rankings, with Terminal 3 taking last place and Terminal 1 one place higher - with scores of 37% and 40% retrospectively. Terminal 1 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. Terminal 2 fared marginally better, placing at number 26, with an overall score of 51%.

In response, 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.”

Which? Travel’s best and worst airports

1. Liverpool John Lennon - 81% customer score
2. London City - 80%
3. Norwich - 78%
4. Exeter - 77%
5. Southampton - 75%
6. Bournemouth - 72%
7. Newcastle - 72%
8. Cardiff - 71%
9. Inverness - 70%
10. East Midlands - 67%
11. Belfast City (George Best) - 63%
12. Glasgow International - 62%
13. Leeds Bradford - 58%
14. London Heathrow T5 - 58%
15. Edinburgh - 57%
16. Aberdeen - 56%
17. London Gatwick North - 56%
18. London Heathrow T2 - 56%
19. Birmingham - 55%
20. London Gatwick South - 55%
21. London Heathrow T3 - 54%
22. Bristol - 53%
23. London Heathrow T4 - 51%
24. Manchester T2 - 51%
25. London Stanstead - 50%
26. London Luton - 47%
27. Belfast International - 44%
28. Manchester T1 - 40%
29. Manchester T3 - 37%