This is the only London airport officially ‘recommended’ by Which? in 2024

There’s something about airports that brings out the worst in people. Any minor inconvenience like security queues and long waits at baggage reclaim (let alone major tech failures, cancellations or strikes) is enough to set even the most level-headed of us off on a bout of angry huffing and puffing. Obviously, we’d all rather avoid that. 

The best way to ensure a smooth airport experience is to fly from somewhere with a reputation for reliability and quality. Fortunately, Which? has surveyed almost 7,000 passengers to find out exactly which British airports are best. In this year’s list, just one London hub was considered good enough to earn a ‘recommended’ stamp – London City, which was ranked London’s best for the second year running. 

City airport was given customer score of 80 percent and came second only to Liverpool John Lennon, which was awarded 81 percent. Which? wrote: ‘By far the best airport in London, City doesn’t bother with expensive, private lounges or with trying to sell fast-track security passes. Instead, it concentrates on getting people in and out as efficiently as possible.’

The hub landed five stars for its staff and queues at bag drop and security, and four stars for check-in queues and baggage reclaim. It was also the first airport in the country to ditch the 100ml liquid limit thanks to new scanners that also mean there’s no need to take electrical stuff out of your luggage. That’ll certainly speed things up. 

It didn’t do so well on the catering front, though, with just one star for its range of shops, bars and restaurants. 

One thing’s clear when looking at Which’s ranking the best airports come in small packages. London’s larger airports, Heathrow, Stansted, Luton and Gatwick all scored below 60 percent. Read more about the Which?’s list of best (and worst) airports in the UK on Time Out here.

Time Out and London’s airports

London’s airports have been in the spotlight recently, for reasons both good and bad – and we’ve covered it all on Time Out. Did you see that Luton was crowned the best airport in Europe? And that Heathrow fell out of the top 10 most connected airports in the world? Plus: Heathrow is now the fourth-busiest air hub on the planet. 

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