British airports fail to take off in latest European rankings

In its fourth annual report, the Consumer Choice Center observed a surge in airport traffic, with the European branch of Airports Council International estimating that traffic will finally surpass pre-Covid-19 levels in 2024 by 1.4% to 3.4%. However, the consumer organisation highlighted the challenges airports face in attempting to expand and accommodate the increase in demand.

British airports rank middling to low. Manchester is in 13th place, followed by London Heathrow in 15th. The lowest-ranked venues are London Gatwick in the 26th position and London Stansted in the last spot (30th).

By contrast, Zurich (Switzerland) continues to lead in Europe, providing passengers with outstanding amenities and services. Copenhagen (Denmark) returns to the top in the second position, followed by Brussels (Belgium) in third place.

Overall top rankings

Emil Panzaru, Research Director at the Consumer Choice Center, commented on the implications of the Index: “There are several factors that explain why British airports performed relatively worse this year compared to their European counterparts. A general explanation comes from the explosion in passenger numbers. Passenger volumes have doubled, tripled, or almost quadrupled in some instances since 2022. Some venues in our classification were able to expand and accommodate the dramatic rise in demand better than others. The highest recorded change in the data set was in Heathrow, which saw an increase of 291.05%. Heathrow is struggling to tackle this explosion in flyers and has seen its passenger scores per the number of shops and restaurants go down, alongside dealing with large delays and travel chaos.”

Panzaru added: “Other factors are particular to each venue. Manchester saw a power outage on 23 June 2024, cancelling 66 departures and 50 arrivals in terminals 1 and 2, and rendering general security and baggage systems inoperable. Of course, accidents can happen, but the airport showed poor communication with the more than 90,000 passengers affected, who had to wait in extremely long queues with no information or guarantee that they could board their flight. What is worse, many people have yet to see their luggage returned and do not know if their possessions even made it on their flights.”

Panzaru concluded: “Policymakers and airport authorities in Britain need to learn the lessons of successful continental venues and promote competition while avoiding artificial capacity shortages like fuel caps that will make crowding and airfares worse and more expensive. Putting consumer wellbeing first ensures the best use of resources and a safe, enjoyable journey for all.”