Britain's 30 biggest airports, ranked from worst to best

Telegraph

4 days ago

For some, an airport is no more interesting than a bus stop or a taxi rank, a functional thing as unworthy of deep consideration as the colour of the seats on a train. For others, the airport can be as glorious an element of that journey as the location at the other end of it. And a meaningful topic of consumer discussion.
The range of shops, the number of bars, the variety of restaurants, the quality and accessibility of the lounges, the availability of parking – these can all be important matters, particularly if you are the sort of traveller who likes to spend extra time in the terminal prior to take-off. And particularly if you live in an area where you have more than one airport from which to choose.
In this data-driven study, Telegraph Travel has taken the 30 busiest British airports and assigned each a score based on almost 40 metrics (see 'methodology' and 'the ranking in full', below, for all the details). This is our detailed rundown of the top 10.
10. Jersey
Total points: 799
Jersey is the second smallest airport in this top 10 when it comes to passenger numbers; the 1.5 million people who entered its terminal in 2024 amount to fewer visitors than Heathrow (84 million passengers in 2024) sees in one week. This smallness is also visible on a departures board which features only six countries and 24 destinations (worth just 15 points in our study) – emphasising the idea that Jersey is a place you fly to for a holiday, rather than from. But the airport's size also works to its credit.
According to the CAA, 71 per cent of its flights were on time last year (a better performance than many bigger rivals; 51 points). It can also claim the joint-highest average Google review score (4.2; 55 points) of all the airports in this poll – and is one of only seven British airports (the others are London City, Isle of Man, Newquay, Inverness, Guernsey and Sumburgh) not to demand a contentious drop-off fee (50 points).
Fascinating fact
One of the airline's hangars, now disused, was built by and for the Luftwaffe, during the German occupation of the Channel Islands (July 1940-May 1945).
9. Aberdeen
Total points: 816
The airport for the 'Granite City' also falls into the 'small' category. Aberdeen greeted 2.3 million passengers in 2024 (the third lowest total in this top 10), and offers departures to just 26 destinations in nine countries (17.5 points) – the furthest-flung being Turkey (Dalaman). But as with Jersey, a lack of size can mean fewer complications.
An impressive 75 per cent of Aberdeen's flights were on time in 2024 (66 points), the fifth best statistic overall – even if its ratio of cancelled flights in the same period (1,646 in total, at a rate of 2.7 per cent) was less laudable. It also loses ground in lacking a rail link to the city centre (a 15-point penalty). But if you are going to find yourself stranded at a British airport, Aberdeen would be a good 'choice'; it can boast seven four-star hotels within a two-mile radius (26 points), and the cheapest room rate of any British airport within that bracket (£55; 30 points).
Even better, it is the only British airport with a beer garden, offering a rare dose of outdoor space (20 points).
Fascinating fact
Aberdeen Airport has a single terminal dedicated to aircraft operations, but four terminals for helicopter flights, mainly serving the oil fields out in the North Sea.
8. Inverness
Total points: 817
Pitched in a spectacular location on the edge of the Moray Firth, Inverness has perfected the equation for smallness and simplicity. It welcomed just short of 800,000 passengers in 2024; the only airport in this top 10 not to break the million-mark. Yes, it has year-round flights to just one other country (the Netherlands), but with a solid cancellation rate (1.8 per cent; 39 points), there is a good chance that you will actually land in Amsterdam.
Smallness also translates into amenities that bigger airports do not tend to provide. Inverness has not introduced a drop-off fee (55 points), offers unlimited free Wi-Fi (60 points), and its parking prices (from £72 for a week in July) are the fourth cheapest on the British mainland (48 points). Little wonder that it has a Google Review score of 4.1 (50 points), or that the Airports Council International (ACI) named it 'Best Airport in Europe' (in the under-two-million-passengers category) in 2024 (20 points).
Fascinating fact
It has two railway stations. Sort of. A new Inverness Airport station opened in 2023. The original stop (Dalcross, half a mile away) was closed down in 1965.
7. Birmingham
Total points: 819
If you cannot fly to all corners of the world from Birmingham, you can travel a fair way around it; 130 destinations in 40 countries appear on the airport's route list (85 points), including places in Asia (India, Qatar), Africa (Cape Verde), North America (Mexico, the USA) and the Caribbean (Dominican Republic). Birmingham's passenger count (12.8 million people in 2024) makes it Britain's seventh busiest airport, but it manages this situation with a cool head – with 731 flights pulled from the schedule last year, its cancellation rate (0.83 per cent; 63 points) is commendably low.
And while the average time to clear security (29 minutes, according to consumer bible Which?) is the longest in this top 10, travellers can at least keep everything in their hand luggage thanks to the CT scanners at the end of the queue (40 points). Birmingham is also an inexpensive departure point – its parking fees (£80 for a week in July; 36 points) are the cheapest of any English airport in this top 10; the best possible train fare into the city centre (£2.80) is also the lowest in the UK (40 points).
Fascinating fact
In 2012, there was talk of re-naming the airport after Ozzy Osbourne.
6. London Gatwick
Total points: 842
You would perhaps expect to find Britain's second busiest airport (43 million passengers in 2024) in this top 10. But would you expect to find it more highly ranked? Gatwick is certainly well connected – it offers flights to 205 destinations in 69 countries (137 points); only Heathrow serves a greater number. But it does not always cope well with the demand – according to the Civil Aviation Authority, only 59.8 per cent of Gatwick's flights were on time last year, the worst statistic of any airport in this survey. Lucky, then, that it seems rather more adept when it comes to serving passengers on the ground.
Together, Gatwick's two terminals boast 37 bars and restaurants (30 points), and it has been listed as the eighth best British airport for food and drink (12 points) in a data-crunch of 1.2 million consumer reviews by luggage company Radical Storage. Its own lounge (Clubrooms) has the highest average Google review score (4.8; 20 points) of any airport in this top 10, while unlimited free Wi-Fi (60 points) and CT scanners in security (40 points) give it a technological filip.
Fascinating fact
Gatwick's original (1936) terminal, The Beehive, still exists, as offices.
5. Newcastle
Total points: 867
The growth of the north-east's main airport over the last three decades has been striking; Newcastle International's annual number of passengers has more than doubled in the last 30 years – from 2.4 million in 1994 to 5.1 million in 2024. The latter figure equated to 37,218 flights over the course of last year, but just 387 non-departures – a cancellation rate of 1.03 per cent (57 points). If this is good news for travellers in England's upper corner, so is the range of destinations – Newcastle offers flights to 76 destinations in 28 countries (52 points), and places as diverse as Dubai and Barbados.
With nine bars and restaurants (15 points), it is ranked the ninth best airport in the UK for food and drink by Radical Storage (eight points), while the cost of a train to the city centre (£3.60; 40 points) is comparable to rail prices for mid-sized 'rivals' such as Birmingham and Liverpool. Perhaps some of those 5.1 million passengers are Telegraph subscribers; the airport's biggest airline – Jet2 – was the readers' short-haul champion at this year's Telegraph Travel Awards (35 points).
Fascinating fact
4. London Heathrow
Total points: 868
It should be no surprise to find Britain's biggest airport – and the planet's fifth busiest – in the upper reaches of this study. Heathrow is an international hub, with direct services to 216 destinations in 82 countries (149 points). That it manages to cater to so many people (84 million passengers in 2024) with relative composure is surely to be applauded. Heathrow achieved a cancellation rate of 'just' 1.73 per cent in 2024 (42 points), and saw 67.3 per cent of its flights depart on time during the same period (27 points).
True, it can be expensive to reach – tickets for the fastest of the three direct rail links to central London (the Heathrow Express) will set you back at least £25. But it can also make for a comparatively stress-free start or end to a journey: You can pick from 20 four-star hotels within a two-mile radius (13 points), with room rates as low as £78 (27 points). Meanwhile, the average queuing times for security and passport control are 19 and 15 minutes respectively, according to Which? (a combined 24 points).
Fascinating fact
Heathrow earns an extra 30 points for the award it received from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2008 for the aesthetic flair of the new Terminal 5.
3. London City
Total points: 872
The capital's top airport is not the giant out west beyond Hounslow, but the 1980s upstart in the easterly Docklands. City has slotted into London's landscape so well that its youth (it only opened in 1987, but, from that standing start, processed 3.6 million passengers last year) is often overlooked. Yes, it is a short-haul specialist, with just 31 destinations in 15 countries on its schedules (23 points), all European.
But that's the point. City is a business-focused hub with a reputation for speedy professionalism. So it proves on the departures boards, where 73 per cent of flights in 2024 were on time (60 points) – and in the queues, where the tiny average wait times for security (10 minutes) and the passport gates (eight minutes) translate into 60 more points. Even the delays are 'swift'; an average of 13 minutes last year. City also matches Jersey's (joint highest) average Google review score (4.2; 55 points), and lack of drop-off fee (50 points). Only its rail link is 'unbusinesslike': a dash into London on the Docklands Light Railway starts at £5.40 (30 points) – hardly the stuff of expenses claims.
Fascinating fact
The then-Prince Charles laid the terminal's foundation stone – in 1986.
2. George Best Belfast City
Total points: 880
Not to be confused with the larger Belfast International (which sits 15 miles west of the Northern Irish capital, and in 19th place in this study), Belfast City is another case of good things in smaller packages. Admittedly, it does not have the connectivity of its local brother, running flights to just three countries (Italy, Spain, the Netherlands; 12.5 points), as opposed to 23, but it excels as a short-haul hub, with Aer Lingus, British Airways and easyJet using it as a key runway.
Its ability to excel at the basics is obvious in its most applause-worthy statistics: Belfast City's punctuality rating is the best of any airport in this survey – 78 per cent of its flights left on time last year (78 points). Its management of late-running aircraft is also outstanding: at just 12 minutes, its average delay was the shortest of any airport in this poll in 2024 (45 points). Better still, it is easy to reach. While it attracts a penalty (-15 points) for the absence of a train link, its proximity to the city centre – just over five miles away; a 15-minute cab ride – garners another 58 points.
Fascinating fact
Belfast City was renamed in tribute to George Best in 2006, just after the death of the former Manchester United footballer – who was born in the city in 1946.
1. Liverpool John Lennon
Total points: 888
Perhaps the secret to being a brilliant airport is having the name of a long-haired genius of the 1960s and 1970s embedded in the sign on your main terminal. Then again, to credit Liverpool Airport's triumph in this poll to a lingering Beatlemania would be to severely underplay its attributes.
To an extent, its success mimics Belfast City's performance at the metrics which matter – Liverpool's punctuality rate in 2024 (76.4 per cent of flights were on time; 75 points) was only eclipsed by its Northern Irish cousin; its average delay (14 minutes; 35 points) was only marginally lengthier. Its security and passport queues are brisk (an average of 11 minutes in each case; 56 points), while its cancellation rate in 2024 – 0.7 per cent of flights (69 points) – was the best in the top 10.
All this is done with a heavier workload than Belfast City: last year, Liverpool greeted five million passengers, witnessed 35,523 aircraft movements, and waved off flights to 29 countries (49 points). Moreover, Which? agrees with us – and declares Liverpool the best of British (81 points).
Fascinating fact
The airport's motto, painted on its roof – 'Above us only sky' – is, of course, another John Lennon reference; a lyric from his 1971 post-Beatles track Imagine.