UK holiday-goers are currently experiencing the worst air traffic control meltdown in around two decades, as flights in and out of the country are almost at a complete standstill.
Airports across the country are filled with disgruntled tourists who will be more than likely livid at the situation they have found themselves in.
The situation is at a crisis point, as holidays have been completely ruined and chances of compensation are slim due to the nature of the fault.
Airports and staff will be tested beyond belief over the coming days, but which will fare better? Well, Which? has conducted a survey of 4,000 passengers over the past 12 months to see which UK airport is the best.
'We need to get home!'
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) August 30, 2023
Chanel and eight of her family members are stranded in an airport in Gran Canaria because of the air traffic control chaos. pic.twitter.com/XK5HnbD8y3
What happens if you miss your flight due to airport delays?
They scored airports across 11 categories, including seating, staff, toilets and the dreaded queues at check-in, bag drop, passport control and security.
Liverpool John Lennon scored an overall customer score of 82 per cent, based on a combination of overall satisfaction and likeliness to recommend.
At the other end of the scale, Manchester Airport took the lowest two places in the rankings, with a customer score of just 38 per cent for Terminal 3 and 44 per cent for Terminal 1.
It was among the worst performing in the survey for security queues, with an average wait time of 28 minutes reported at Terminal 3.
Only Birmingham Airport performed worse, with an average reported wait time of 29 minutes.
Sky News contacted a spokesperson for Manchester Airport who called the research "deeply flawed and misleading", dismissing it as "out of date" and "based on a tiny and unrepresentative sample of the 25 million passengers who travel through Manchester airport every year".
It received a 94 per cent rating, it said, from its own survey of 840 passengers in July and August.
Sky's @ArthiNachiappan looks at how air traffic control should work, compared to how it differed yesterday during a technical issue which plunged the system into chaos 👇https://t.co/Ui4B53hfXQ
— Sky News (@SkyNews) August 29, 2023
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/rbiCEjNO8S
Here is the list of airports ranked best to worst, according to the Which? survey:
- Liverpool John Lennon - 82 per cent overall customer score
- London City - 78 per cent
- Southampton - 77 per cent
- Bournemouth - 75 per cent
- East Midlands - 72 per cent
- Newcastle - 72 per cent
- Glasgow International - 62 per cent
- Leeds Bradford - 58 per cent
- London Gatwick North - 57 per cent
- London Heathrow - Terminal 4 - 57 per cent
- London Heathrow - Terminal 5 - 57 per cent
- Bristol - 56 per cent
- Aberdeen - 55 per cent
- Edinburgh - 55 per cent
- London Gatwick South - 54 per cent
- London Heathrow - Terminal 2 - 54 per cent
- London Heathrow - Terminal 3 - 54 per cent
- Birmingham - 53 per cent
- London Stansted - 51 per cent
- Manchester Terminal 2 - 50 per cent
- Belfast International - 49 per cent
- Luton - 49 per cent
- Manchester Terminal 1 - 44 per cent
- Manchester Terminal 3 - 38 per cent
A spokesperson for Birmingham Airport was also approached, who said the survey "highlights the potential flaws of relying on anecdotal estimates rather than data".
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