Overview
- Which? polled nearly 6,000 travellers about trips over the past year, rating airports across 10 experience metrics including queues, seating, cleanliness and prices.
- Exeter led with an 80% customer score as smaller regional airports such as Liverpool, London City, Bournemouth and Norwich clustered near the top.
- Manchester Terminal 3 scored 43% and finished last for a fourth year, with complaints over crowding, limited seating, high prices and dirty toilets; Terminal 1 was second worst and Terminal 2 also ranked low.
- Manchester called the report outdated and unrepresentative, citing internal data showing 91% positive ratings from January to June, while Heathrow and Luton also challenged the survey’s small sample sizes.
- Airport operators pointed to ongoing investments, including Manchester’s £1.3bn programme and planned Terminal 3 works, as some hubs reported service improvements; separate CAA data for 2024 previously showed Manchester with comparatively long average departure delays.