Durham Tees Valley airport, the UK’s fastest growing regional airport came third to Heathrow airport, and winner Gatwick in a recent poll of the nation’s favourite airports conducted by Cheapflights.co.uk.All three airports secured their winning positions due to reliable transport links, efficient check-in and security checks.

The final statistics detailed that 209 respondents* preferred Gatwick to the much larger gateway in West London, which received a close 200 and rounding up the top three was Durham Tees Valley airport with 143.

The poll results present a double edged sword to BAA, with only 8% of travellers citing the selection of shops and duty-free boutiques as a factor when selecting their preferred departure point, and only 10% valuing the variety of restaurants, bars and cafés on offer. This, despite major recent efforts to promote tax-free shopping following the months-long refurbishments of Terminal One and Terminal Three at Heathrow.

David Soskin, CEO of Cheapflights says: “The results of this poll prove that when it comes to choosing their favourite airport, UK consumers are not worried about size and unnecessary extras but it’s all about location, location, location! This is especially demonstrated with the success ofDurham Tees Valley Airport, which has recently benefited from an increase in local infrastructure - an investment that has clearly paid off!

“Savvy UK travellers look for speed and efficiency when planning their next holiday and they are now speaking their minds through voting and also through their pocket books.

“Travellers from the North have previously had to travel to the largerLondon airports to enjoy international travel but now they can reach destinations such as Dubai, India and the Unites States from an airport conveniently located outside their front door - and Cheapflights provides the tools to get them the best prices.”
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