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Revealed: the nicest airports in Europe

Based on the quality of customer service, the price of parking and the number of shops and restaurants, these airports have the best pre-flight experience

Ed Cunningham
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Ed Cunningham
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By our book, the ‘nicest’ airport is (besides from perhaps being in Nice) a little different to the ‘best’ airport. While the world’s best airports hubs might be known for their reliability, punctuality and breadth of service, the nicest ones are a bit more luxurious – they’re the ones you don’t actually mind spending time in.

With all that in mind, a new study from luggage storage firm Bounce has revealed the best airports in Europe for ‘pre-flight experience’. Having analysed stuff like the number of shops and restaurants, the cost of parking and the quality of customer service, Bounce has essentially come up with the continent’s nicest aviation hubs. 

Top of the pile came Istanbul airport, which has a whopping 94 shops, 41 restaurants and bars, and impressively cheap parking. According to Bounce, Istanbul’s main airport is also the busiest air hub in Europe – so plenty of people are making the most of its niceties!

Next up was Athens International airport, which scored highly for shops and customer service, followed by Copenhagen airport, which scored decently across the board.

Here are the full top ten nicest airports in Europe, according to Bounce’s study.

  1. Istanbul, Turkey
  2. Athens International, Greece
  3. Copenhagen, Denmark
  4. Helsinki, Finland
  5. Barcelona El Prat, Spain
  6. Munich, Germany
  7. Vienna International, Austria
  8. Dublin, Ireland
  9. Málaga, Spain
  10. Zurich, Switzerland

You can read more into Bounce’s study for yourself here. At least it’s good to know that if/when your flight is delayed, it’s better to be stuck in some places than others!

Did you see that these are the world’s best airlines in 2022?

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