Older travellers are prepared to pay more to travel from regional airports, over 50s operator Saga has found.
It surveyed more than 9,500 travellers, half of whom said they prefer to fly from regional airports – ranking Doncaster Sheffield, Exeter and Newcastle as the top three.
More than half would also change airline if it meant they could fly from their local airport, the survey found – and 48% would pay more for the privilege.
The main reasons for choosing regional departures was proximity to the airport and avoiding larger, busy airports.
The biggest bugbears about airports were queues for check-in, security and baggage reclaim and the cost of food and parking, with regional airports scoring better on these elements than any London airport, according to the survey.
Respondents were asked to rate the services provided by UK airports, including the length of the queues, the helpfulness of staff and the airport’s cleanliness and comfort.
Doncaster Sheffield achieved the highest scores in every category apart from the range of food and shops available. Exeter and Newcastle airports also scored well, coming in the top three for many of the categories, including staff helpfulness and the availability of flight information.
Gatwick, Luton and Heathrow rated the lowest for the cost of both food and parking.
Only 16% of Saga members said they preferred not to fly from regional airports, and 51% of those said this was because larger airports offered a wider variety of flight destinations while 49% said it was for better transport links and 45% said they had better facilities.
Maria Whiteman, managing director of Saga Holidays, said: “It is clear that people love the convenience of travelling from their closest airport and the benefits of regional airports do not stop there.
“People find they queue less at smaller airports, the staff are more helpful and flight information displayed more clearly. We are pleased to offer such a wide range of regional departures to our customers so that they can choose their favourite airport to fly from.”