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More often than not, airports feel like intense pressure-cookers. Run 15 minutes behind schedule and you may miss the shuttle bus to your plane or pack. Bag marginally too big and you may not be allowed to board. Even if you do everything right, you may still find yourself stuck in a waiting room for hours longer than expected or without your luggage on the other side. Airports are often where you’ll see people at their most stressed.
Some airports are actually fairly pleasant. However, most of those aren’t anywhere near London. In the latest ranking of the UK’s main airports by consumer group Which?, almost every London airport scored pretty poorly, but it was Luton Airport that had the lowest rating of all.
The north-of-London hub earned a measly customer score of 51 percent. It was given one star for the price of goods in its shops and food outlets and its seating, and two stars for its staff and its queues at check-in, bag drop, security and passport control. Luton’s best performance was in its baggage reclaim wait time, for which it earned three out of five stars. That made it the worst airport in London but only the second worst in the whole of the UK, which is slightly better than it has done in previous years.
Which? said: ‘Gone are the days when Luton used to be rooted to the bottom of our airports survey. In 2017, while in the middle of a £160m refurb, it got the staggeringly low score of 29 percent.
‘That money did improve things, but only to the point where, as one person put it, it’s like a “glorified bus station’’.’
Stansted didn’t fare much better. It was awarded just 53 percent overall with one star given to its queues at security, its seating and the price of goods in its shops and food outlets. Heathrow Terminal’s 3 and 4 were just above it with scores of 54 percent and 55 percent respectively, followed by Gatwick’s South Terminal, which also got 55 percent.
The only London airport to get a customer score above 60 percent was London City, which Which? ranked third best in the UK. You can read more about why it did so well here.
The good news for Luton is that the government has recently approved a huge massive £2.4 bilion expansion, which will bring a new terminal, new taxiways and an increased capacity for the existing terminal. Whether that’ll help boost it up Which?’s ranking, only time will tell.
Not everyone thinks Luton is so bad, though. It won big at the prestigious ACI Europe Best Airport Awards last year and was named one of the top 10 airports in the whole world at the Skytrax Awards back in April.
The best airports in London in 2025, according to Which?
Here’s the full ranking of London’s airports according to Which?, plus where they placed in the nationwide list.
- London City (3)
- London Heathrow Terminal 5 (13)
- London Gatwick North Terminal (19)
- London Heathrow Terminal 2 (20)
- London Gatwick South Terminal (22)
- London Heathrow Terminal 4 (23)
- London Heathrow Terminal 3 (24)
- London Stansted (25)
- London Luton (27)
Find Which?’s full report here.
ICYMI: The major London travel hub that is officially the worst airport in the UK for delays.
Plus: every London airport ranked from worst to best, according to the Telegraph.
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