Heathrow Airport has been voted the UK’s worst airport for customer satisfaction. Terminals 2, 3 and 4 came out worst in a poll by Which? Magazine, followed closely by Gatwick‘s two terminals. But the one bright spot was Heathrow Terminal 5 - despite its disastrous opening last year it managed a mid-table finish, scoring well for its shopping and eating.Top of the table, with an overall score of 80%, was Blackpool airport, with London City airport (78%) second and Doncaster Sheffield (formerly Robin Hood) third (76%). Southampton was the highest BAA owned airport, coming in at number five with an overall score of 71%.

Of those polled, 23% found the airport experience stressful, with this figure rising to 38-45% for those using Heathrow Terminals 1-4.

The survey results followed shortly after the ruling from the Competition Commission that BAA must sell Gatwick and Stansted and either Glasgow or Edinburgh due to a lack of competition.

Which? Holiday editor Lorna Cowan said: “It 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.”

“But 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.”

The survey was carried out in October and November 2008.
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