Manchester Airport has slammed a Which? Travel report published today which suggests consumers rate it the UK’s worst airport.
The airport accused Which? of publishing a report “based on poor information” and including “factual inaccuracies”, saying Which? sought to advertise its magazine through “deliberately sensationalist and misleading” statements.
Which? reported Manchester Airport Terminal 3 finished bottom of an annual airport survey of its members for a third consecutive year, while Liverpool John Lennon Airport took first place.
The publication said it surveyed almost 5,000 members in April about their experience of UK airports in the previous 12 months, with respondents rating the airports across 11 categories, including seating, staff, toilets and queues at check in, bag drop, security and passport control.
The results not surprisingly showed smaller airports performed better than larger rivals.
Manchester Airport Terminal 3 was given what Which? described as “a dismal customer score” of 37%.
The terminal received just a one-star rating for seating, staff, security queues, range of shops and prices, and only two stars in any other category, with Which? recording “widespread complaints about queues and lack of seating”.
However, Manchester Airport pointed out Which? surveyed “a small number of its own readers” representing just 0.0026% of the airport’s annual passengers.
It also pointed out the survey took place in April with readers asked to recollect their experiences at the airport in the 12 months to that point, “meaning the experiences could be as far back as April 2023”.
The airport suggested comparing large airports with smaller airports “is inherently misleading” and noted the Which? report ignored “important metrics like the service offer to disabled passengers”.
It said its own data showed that “in the year to date 98.4% of our passengers waited for 15 minutes or less to get to security [and] 78.7% waited less than five minutes”.
The airport added: “We provided this data to Which? who decided to ignore it in favour of relying on its respondents’ memories of how long they thought they queued up to 12 months ago.”
A Manchester Airport spokesperson accused Which? of “publishing misleading statements and factual inaccuracies” and of “letting consumers down with over-simplified judgments based on the outdated and unrepresentative testimony of a narrow group of travellers”.
The spokesperson said: “Which? conducted a tiny and unrepresentative survey of its members six months ago.
“Which? fully understands its readers form a narrow group of passengers whose views cannot in any way be taken to represent those of the travelling public at large.”
The spokesperson added: “We have engaged with the publication and its writers to provide accurate, up to date performance data and satisfaction scores. It is disappointing to see Which? chase cheap headlines.”
Which? reported Manchester Airport Terminal 1, which is scheduled to close next year, fared only marginally better than the airport’s Terminal 3 with a customer score of 40%.
Belfast International scored the next lowest rating of 44% after Manchester’s Terminals 3 and 1 – with “multiple respondents” reporting waits as long as an hour to collect their bags.
Luton was the worst-rated London airport with a customer score of 47%, followed by Stansted on 50%.
Spokespeople for Luton and Belfast International also criticised the publication and its survey.
A Luton Airport spokesperson said: “We do not see the analysis provided by Which? as representative of the views of millions of passengers who travel through the airport each year.”
And a spokesperson for Belfast International said: “We regularly undertake industry recognised benchmarking surveys with our passengers which shows we compare favourably with peer airports.
“In our latest survey over the summer peak, 97% of passengers stated their experience was excellent, very good or good. While we welcome the feedback from the Which? survey, it’s not a representative sample and should not be portrayed as such.
“Sixty-one passengers were surveyed out of the six million that used the airport in 2023.”
Airports association Airports UK also criticised the Which? report, with a spokesperson saying: “These results do not align with our airport members’ own data on passenger experience, which is that most customers are very happy with the service they receive.
“This is seen in comprehensive surveys of thousands of people every month, while Which? has only asked a tiny and unrepresentative fraction of airport passengers to recall their experiences up to a year previously.
“The UK’s airports are consumer-facing businesses in a competitive market so are continually focused on improving terminal facilities [and] are currently investing millions of pounds in upgrading security equipment and improving services.”
The spokesperson also noted: “Passenger services at airports are provided through the combined efforts of airlines, ground handlers, airports and the hundreds of businesses that work onsite and have been doing so effectively and efficiently in an incredibly busy summer.”
The Which? survey rated the top five airports as Liverpool, with a customer score of 81%. London City 80%, Norwich 78%, Exeter 77% and Southampton 75%.
Which? Travel editor Rory Boland suggested: “Many of the biggest airports fail at the basics, with passengers often unhappy about the availability of toilets and seats and reporting long queues.
“Flogging fast passes and filling terminals with retail spaces and airport lounges is a money spinner, but judging by our survey results, it’s not what passengers need.”