London Luton is yet again rated the worst airport in the UK, by Which? The annual airport survey reveals passengers have a better experience when flying from smaller airports.
The survey found the disastrous customer service, queues at passport control and poor facilities were part of the reasons why London Luton was named as the worst overall airport, with a customer satisfaction score of just 35% percent.
The survey was based on 11,265 passenger visits to UK airports, taking into account everything from queues at bag drop to the cleanliness of toilets. Of that number, the consumer publication is understood to have questioned just 521 people travelling through Luton.
“Which? polled 521 of its subscribers who had travelled through the airport between May 2017 and May 2018, 0.003% of all passengers in that period. During this time we’ve undergone a period of significant change, investing £160 million redeveloping the airport to increase capacity and transform the passenger experience." Said Nick Barton, CEO of London Luton Airport, adding “In the first six months of 2018 alone, 1.2 million passengers responded to our customer service tracking, 70 per cent of whom told us they were happy with their experience."
Which? claims that top of the list was Doncaster Sheffield airport with an outstanding customer score of 87 percent. Passengers praised the airport’s short queues, facilities and speedy baggage reclaim process. Robert Hough, Chairman of Doncaster Sheffield Airport, said: “We are proud to be judged the UK’s and the North’s best airport, this is great recognition of the exceptional customer service offered by every single member of the team. We have always set out to deliver a top class passenger experience, it’s what people should enjoy when at an airport whether for pleasure or business."The Top Ten
1. Doncaster Sheffield (87%)
2. London Southend (84%)
3. Newcastle (74%)
4. Southampton (73%)
5. Exeter (72%)
6. Bournemouth (71%)
7=. Liverpool (70%)
7=. London City (70%)
9=. Inverness (68%)
9=. Norwich (68%)
The bottom ten
22=. London Gatwick South Terminal (55%)
22=. London Heathrow Terminal 3 (55%)
24. Leeds Bradford (54%)
25. Manchester Terminal 2 (51%)
26. Belfast International (50%)
27. Aberdeen (49%)
28. Manchester Terminal 1 (46%)
29=. London Stansted (44%)
29=. Manchester Terminal 3 (44%)
31. London Luton (35%)
