The third most stressful airport in the world is in Britain, according to a new report

Being in an airport can be stressful at the best of times, but when everything goes wrong – delayed or cancelled flights, lengthy queues at security and passport control, lost baggage – flying can be a pull-yer-hair-out stressy experience. And according to a report by travel magazine Condé Nast Traveller (CNT), one British hub is among the planet’s most stressful places to fly. 

What actually makes for a ‘stressful’ experience at a terminal? Well, a delayed or cancelled flight can contribute, but so can less obvious things like a lack of seating, inaccessibility, no staff to help out and unpredictable security queues. CNT considered all of this when putting together its list of the world’s 10 most stressful airports, two of which were in the UK. 

Manchester was named the third most stressful airport in the world by CNT. It was only beaten by Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon and Newark Liberty International Airport in New York.

MAN got its place in the ranking thanks to ‘persistent congestion and operational disruption’, as well as ‘passengers [continuing] to experience extended queues, delayed baggage handling, and bottlenecks across terminals, particularly during peak travel periods’. 

London Gatwick came eighth. According to CNT, operating such a high volume of arrivals and departures with a single runway means that any single issue can ‘ripple quickly’ across the entire daily schedule, causing delays and back ups that snowball into larger problems. This could be resolved soon, as Gatwick is due to get a second runway in the next few years.

Things could be looking up for Manchester, too. The airport is currently undergoing a huge multimillion pound revamp set to transform its third terminal. That project should be complete this year. 

Revealed: First look at Virgin’s new trains that will run direct from the UK to Europe.

Plus: All the countries on the UK’s ‘do not travel’ list for 2026.

Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.