Heathrow has been ranked as the UK’s favourite airport – scoring more than twice as many votes as nearest rival, Gatwick.
More than a third of 1,199 members polled by subscription low fare finding newsletter Jack’s Flight Club said Heathrow was the best UK airport, compared to 14.4% for Gatwick and 11.6% for Manchester.
Luton was described as the UK’s worst airport by more than a fifth of voters (22.9%), with Stansted coming a close second at 17.7%.
More than two fifths of voters (42.9%) said food and shopping outlets at Luton were poor, while two fifths (40%) said they were average. More than a tenth (12.4%) said they were terrible.
Check-in facilities were described as average by half of voters (50.9%) and poor by more than a quarter (26.2%) and terrible by 14.9%.
The facilities and amenities at Heathrow, which handles more than 75 million passengers a year, were the main drivers for its success, according to the survey carried out a week before Christmas.
More than half of voters (55.4%) scored the west London hub’s food and shopping outlets as good, while more than a third (39.2%) described them as brilliant.
Security at the airport also rated highly, with almost two thirds of voters (59.3%) claiming it was good, while almost a third (30.4%) said it was brilliant.
Check-in procedures were either good (59.3%) or brilliant (33.9%) – while baggage reclaim was good (63.5%) and access to and from the airport was good (48.4%) or brilliant (38.5%).
Company co-founder Jack Sheldon said: “Whether you’re flying first class or have snapped up a cheap flight to some exotic destination from one of our air fare deals, recent improvements to Heathrow’s security, check-in and transport links to central London, have turned a trip to the airport into an all-round pleasant experience for British travellers.
“No longer is Heathrow just a means to get to your holiday destination of choice, it is also a shopping and dining experience that gives passengers an excuse to arrive early and enjoy themselves for an extra few hours before take off.
“By contrast, as our survey shows, Luton airport has the basics – but for an airport offering London departures, it needs to try a lot harder.”