Europe’s five best and worst airports have been revealed by a study that analysed average Google Review ratings.
A Turkish airport took the crown in the Holidu survey, with airports in Portugal and Greece also featuring in the top five.
At the other end of the scale, a UK airport landed third from bottom, while an airport in Crete was named as Europe’s worst place to catch a flight. Read on for the full ranking, presented in reverse order…
Europe’s five best airports
NO.5 – ZURICH AIRPORT, SWITZERLAND
A new study based on Google reviews has ranked Europe’s best and worst airports. Zurich Airport was the fifth-best airport in Europe and has more than 80 shops, according to the study
Zurich Airport is Europe’s fifth-best, according to the study, with a Google rating of 4.3 out of five based on more than 26,000 reviews.
The study notes that the airport has more than 80 shops and the ‘largest selection of Swiss chocolate at any airport in the world’.
NO.4 – VACLAV HAVEL AIRPORT, CZECHIA
One traveller described Prague’s Airport (fourth best) as offering a ‘stress-free travel experience’
Prague’s airport is the fourth best-rated in the world, according to the results of the study.
It has a 4.3 rating on Google based on more than 26,000 reviews, with one traveller, ‘Alex Fomin’, saying it offered a ‘stress-free travel experience’.
NO.3 – ATHENS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Athens International Airport (third best) offers a ‘smooth and efficient security process’ according to one reviewer
Athens International Airport was rated the third-best airport in Europe, with a score of 4.3 on Google based on more than 49,000 reviews.
Reviewer ‘Juan Flores’ said the security process was ‘smooth and efficient’, while ‘Ivan Filipov’ said it was ‘very well organised, clean and logical’.
NO.2 – FRANCISCO DE SA CARNIERO AIRPORT, PORTO, PORTUGAL
Francisco de Sa Carniero Airport (second best) has a 4.4 rating on Google
Porto’s airport just missed out on the top spot, coming second place in the ranking. The study notes that it has a 4.4 rating on Google, based on more than 26,000 reviews.
Reviewer ‘Waner Tavares’ said: ‘Porto Airport impresses with swift security, friendly staff and a clean environment.’
NO.1 – ISTANBUL AIRPORT, TURKEY
Istanbul Airport (first overall) is ‘enormous’ and it’s ‘exceptionally clean and well maintained’
Istanbul Airport took the top spot with a rating of 4.4 based on more than 100,000 Google reviews, according to the study results.
Google reviewer ‘Highway Video’ said: ‘The airport is enormous, exceptionally clean and well maintained.’
Europe’s five worst airports
NO.5 – BRUSSELS-SOUTH CHARLEROI AIRPORT, BELGIUM
Brussels- South Charleroi Airport (fifth worst) has a Google rating of just 3.2 based on more than 19,000 reviews
Brussels-South Charleroi Airport is the fifth worst-rated in Europe, according to the study.
Its Google rating is just 3.2 based on more than 19,000 reviews on the platform. ‘Odin Van Helvoort’ said: ‘Worst airport I have ever been to, charging money to go to the toilet. Even then the toilets are broken and nasty.’
NO.4 – BERLIN WILLY-BRANDT INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, GERMANY
Berlin Willy-Brandt International Airport (fourth worst) has a ‘cramped gate departure space’ according to one reviewer
Willy-Brandt International Airport in Berlin ranks fourth-worst in Europe, with a 3.1 rating on Google, based on more than 34,000 reviews, the study notes.
Reviewer ‘Francisco Parisio’ said: ‘Luggage delivery took longer than an hour, tiny elevators to exit the gate and gate departure space is cramped.’
NO.3 – MANCHESTER AIRPORT, UK
Manchester Airport (third worst) has a 3.1 rating out of five on Google
Manchester Airport is Europe’s third-worst place to fly from, according to the study, which notes it has a 3.1 rating on Google based on more than 27,000 reviews.
The airport’s Terminal 3 was recently ranked as the worst airport in the UK by a Which? Travel survey.
‘Javier Ruiz’, a reviewer on Google, said: ‘The security is slow and chaotic when you depart and slow when you arrive.’
And ‘Kathryn Barrow’ said: ‘Terminal 3 is quite awful. Not enough seats, hardly any shops, no seats at the gates.’
However, Manchester Airport disputes that any solid conclusions can be drawn from the 27,000 Google reviews.
A Manchester Airport spokesperson said: ‘Review websites often use unverified and unreliable data – something Google itself acknowledges – and paint a confusing picture for consumers and airports themselves in terms of understanding what they do well and what they can do better. That’s why we are part of Airports Council International’s independent benchmarking programme – which gathers data from airports all over the world based on in-the-moment passengers surveys.
‘It tells us that between January and July this year, more than 80 per cent of our passengers rated their experience of the airport as good, very good or excellent.
‘YouGov also produces well-sourced data based on a representative sample that rates Manchester as the fourth-best airport in the UK.’
NO.2 – BORDEAUX-MERIGNAC AIRPORT, FRANCE
One reviewer described their experience at Bordeaux-Merignac Airport (second worst) as ‘appalling and unsatisfactory’
Bordeaux’s airport ranked second from bottom in the study, based on a score of 2.8 on Google from more than 12,000 reviews.
‘Alice Fimpel’ wrote on Google Reviews: ‘My experience in this airport was appalling and unsatisfactory. The wait time to check in luggage took over an hour and there was another one hour queue after security.’
NO.1 – HERAKLION AIRPORT, CRETE, GREECE
Heraklion Airport (worst overall) in Crete was ‘lacking in cleanliness’ according to one visitor
Heraklion Airport in Crete was named the worst airport in Europe, with a 2.6 Google rating based on more than 21,000 reviews, according to the study.
Google reviewer ‘Corentin Boquelet’ wrote: ‘The Heraklion Airport is quite small and doesn’t seem well-maintained. The cleanliness is lacking, especially in the limited sanitary facilities available.’
The ranking, says Holidu, was created by extracting the average score from Google Maps and the number of reviews for the 100 busiest airports in Europe based on the number of passengers. Using this data from Google Maps, each airport was ranked from highest to lowest, prioritising those with the most reviews. All airports in Russia, Ukraine and non-operational airports have been removed from this ranking.
For the full ranking visit www.holidu.co.uk/magazine/the-european-airport-index.