31 March 2009

Blackpool voted best UK airport by holidaymakers

Blackpool airport has been voted the UKÃ¢â¬â¢s best airport by readers of Which? Holiday.

The airport achieved an overall customer score of 80% in the poll of 9,221 people.

London City airport came in a close second, with an overall customer score of 78%.

Both airports received five stars for the efficiency of check-in, the time it takes to clear security and distance from check-in to the gate, and the overall airport experience, including signage, design of the airport and attitude of staff.

But South East airports performed badly in the survey, with London Heathrow Terminal 1 faring worst, scoring only 31%.

North and South terminals at Gatwick, and HeathrowÃ¢â¬â¢s Terminals 2, 3 and 4, complete the bottom six.

Despite its disastrous opening, Heathrow Terminal 5 was ranked in joint 23rd place of out 38 terminals, while BAA-owned Southampton was voted amongst the best, with an overall customer score of 71%.

Doncaster Sheffield (Robin Hood) and Exeter also performed well, ranked in the top four UK airports.

Which? Holiday editor Lorna Cowan said: Ã¢â¬ÅâœIt seems clear that Which? members prefer the experience of flying from smaller regional airports to using the larger ones. So it is well worth looking into the routes offered from smaller airports when planning a holiday to short-haul destinations.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœBut people still need to use Gatwick and Heathrow for long-haul trips - our results suggest that these large airports need to work much harder to provide a better service for their passengers.Ã¢â¬~

By Bev Fearis

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