Edinburgh Airport: The UK's 'worst' airports for customer satisfaction named
A new study has ranked the UK's worst airports for customer satisfaction – and Edinburgh Airport has an unwanted place on the list.
The survey, conducted by travel and luggage experts Bounce.com, looked at a number of factors including ease of navigation, queuing times, and customer complaints for the UK’s largest airports and identified which provide the best and worst travel experience.
Manchester Airport was named as the worst airport in the UK for customer experience, earning a rating of just 2.39 out of 10. Manchester's poor performance is particularly worrying as an important travel hub for UK flyers.
The airport scored two out of five for its cleanliness, ease of navigation, and queuing times, the lowest scores across each category. A high number of complaints to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), with 2.59 per 100,000 passengers, and a long average delay time of 20.01 minutes also contributed to Manchester’s low overall rating.
London Gatwick earned the second lowest rating of just 2.56 out of 10. While Gatwick offers an extensive range of destinations, it also recorded a high cancellation rate, with approximately 1.43% of flights cancelled in 2024. The airport also saw lengthy average delays of 23.31 minutes and slow queuing times rated just 2 out of 5 by passengers.
Southampton airport is the third worst in the UK, with an airport rating of 3.01 out of 10. Unfortunately, Southampton had one of the highest cancellation rates, with 3.63% of all flights cancelled in 2024. The airport also saw high complaints to the CAA, with 4.42 per 100,000 passengers and a rate of 0.18 per 100,000 for luggage complaints.
The UK’s best airport for customer experience is Liverpool John Lennon Airport, which earned an impressive 9.04 out of 10. Liverpool has one of the lowest average delays, just 12.62 minutes, and a cancellation rate of 0.59%, meaning you’re much more likely to get to your destination on time while flying from here. The airport also saw very few complaints made to the CAA, although it did score poorly for cleanliness, with a rating of two out of five.
Belfast International is the second-best-performing airport in the UK, with an overall rating of 8.35 out of 10. It had one of the lowest complaint rates, with just 0.17 per 100,000 passengers, while just 0.42% of flights were canceled in 2024. While the airport also had a relatively low average delay time of 14.70 minutes, it only scored two out of five for its cleanliness and queuing times.
East Midlands International is the UK’s third best airport, earning an overall rating of 8.13 out of 10. It has one of the lowest cancellation rates, at just 0.27% of flights, and very short average delays of 12.56 minutes. However, the airport received a moderate number of complaints, 0.96 per 100,000, and only scored two out of five for its queuing times.
Edinburgh Airport, meanwhile, is the eighth-worst-performing airport in the UK, with an overall rating of 4.78 out of 10. Despite having a low complaint rate, with just 0.95 per 100,000 passengers and just 0.18% of flights cancelled in 2024, Scotland’s busiest airport scored poorly for ease of navigation and queuing times with two out of five.
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