The UK's best and worst airports named - here's where Birmingham Airport ranks

For many people, the experience of going abroad, travelling to new, hotter and different places, begins at the airport.

From arriving at the departures terminal to checking in, from security to the departures lounge and finding something to eat and drink, to eventually getting to the departure gate and getting onto the airplane, it is a lot to take in before actually reaching the final destination, so how the airport performs in each area is very important.

A recent survey by Which? Magazine, the consumer champion and price comparison website, asked members of the public about their experiences at airports across the country to determine how each performed in a number of areas, rated out of five, as well as a final overall rating.

The ratings out of five were for staff, queues at the check-in desk, queues for bag drop, queues at airport security, queues at passport control, baggage reclaim wait, seating, price of goods in shops and food outlets, range and quality of shops and food outlets and toilets, as well as the percentage of late cancellations of flights.

The survey was for 7,925 airport visits between April 2024 and April 2025 and saw Exeter Airport in Devon rated as the best, with an 80 per cent overall rating and five star ratings for staff, queues at the check-in desk, queues for bag drop, queues at airport security and toilets, as well as high ratings for four other categories.

Within the survey, 29 airports or terminals were rated by customers, with four terminals at London Heathrow, both north and south terminals at London Gatwick and three terminals at Manchester Airport among the survey results.

For travellers in the West Midlands and Shropshire, the three airports surveyed where the majority of travellers would fly out from were Birmingham Airport, East Midlands Airport and Manchester Airport.

The best performer of the three airports was East Midlands Airport, with the Castle Donnington-based airport ranking 11th overall with an overall customer score of 66 per cent and just 0.17 per cent for late cancellations of flights.

It scored four out of five for staff, queues at the check-in desk, queues for bag drop, queues at airport security and baggage reclaim wait, as well as three stars for seating, but scored just two out of five for queues at passport control, price of goods in shops and food outlets, range and quality of shops and food outlets and toilets.

Ranked 17th overall was Birmingham Airport, with a customer score of 57 per cent and 0.77 per cent for late cancellations of flights.

The airport scored three out of five for queues at the check-in desk, queues for bag drop and baggage reclaim wait, but fared poorly with the other ratings, scoring two out of five for queues at airport security, queues at passport control, seating and toilets, and just one out of five for price of goods in shops and food outlets.

Manchester Airport was rated by the performance of its three terminals, but did not score well among customers as it occupied three of the bottom four positions on the list, with only London Luton splitting Terminal two in 26th from Terminal one in 28th, while Terminal three finished bottom of the list.

Terminal two at Manchester Airport had an overall customer score of 53 per cent, while Terminal one scored 47 per cent and Terminal three just 43 per cent, although all three terminals scored 1.02 per cent for late cancellations.

All three also scored two out of five for staff, queues at passport control and toilets, but also just one out of five for price of goods in shops and food outlets.

The results differed for the other categories, with Terminal two scoring three out of five for queues at the check-in desk, queues for bag drop and baggage reclaim wait, while the other two terminals scored two out of five.

Terminal two also scored three out of five for queues at airport security, while Terminals one and three scored just one out of five and Terminals two and one scored two out of five for seating and range and quality of shops and food outlets, while Terminal three one out of five.

The review on the article for Manchester said: "It’s a mystery as to why Manchester Airport can’t drag itself from the bottom of our table after all the money spent on it: £1.3 billion in the past few years. 

"Visitors complain of long walks, a lack of seating, disorganised and stressful queues, plus the usual rip-off prices for food and drink. ‘Staff were rude and unhelpful,’ complained one traveller. 

"But it’s no surprise that staff can be grumpy working in the overcrowded, run-down terminals 1 and 3. 

"We’re told things will improve when T1 is shut down this year. But even the shiny new T2, while better for queues, still gets two stars for seating, toilets and customer service. 

"Passengers complained of ‘long waits for food’ and even ‘queues for the toilets’."

However, Manchester Airport said it fundamentally disagreed with Which? Magazine's survey, saying that it had done its own research and found that 91 per cent of travellers had rated their experience highly.

Manchester Airport Managing Director Chris Woodroofe said: "I am proud that Manchester Airport is serving more passengers than ever before, connecting 31m people a year to more than 200 destinations, dozens of which you cannot fly to from anywhere else outside London.

"Through our historic £1.3 billion transformation programme, we have created a world-class and award-winning Terminal 2. We have also announced plans to invest significantly in Terminal 3, starting this year.

"I am also proud to say customer satisfaction has increased significantly over the past four years. We know how customers feel about their experience because we asked hundreds of them every week about it. 

"Between January and June this year, 91 per cent of 3,045 people surveyed told us their experience was good, very good or excellent.

"That is how I know this latest outdated and unrepresentative report from Which? bears no resemblance to the experience people receive at Manchester Airport day in, day out.

"The most disappointing thing about Which's continued pursuit of headlines over robust consumer advice is the disservice it does to the hard work and dedication of our thousands of colleagues and those of our partner organisations."

Birmingham Airport and East Midlands Airport have been contacted for a comment.