Luton rubbished by Which Travel? report
Consumer body Which? has suggested holidaymakers should consider flying from Southend airport instead of Luton after the former scored more highly in its recent comparison of the two London airports.
Which Travel? gave Southend five out of five stars in four out of five categories, which included the length of security queues and the qualify of the toilets. It awarded the airport four points for its shops and food outlets.
Luton on the other hand scored only one or two points in every category.
"Luton Airport may be 14 times bigger, but that’s no excuse for such a poor customer experience," said Which Travel? "EasyJet serves both airport, so consider Southend for a cheap and considerably more cheerful trip."
Luton offers a faster connection to London, with the train journey taking 40 minutes instead of 53 minutes to Southend, but at £27.50 the train fare is £2.50 more expensive.
However, Southend currently offers flights to only 16 destinations whereas Luton serves more than 130. Luton handled 14.5 million passengers last year when fewer than one million used Southend.
Luton is in the process of expanding its passenger terminal and plans later this year to add more shops and restaurants, for which it received just one star from Which Travel?
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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