UK airports with the biggest security queues REVEALED – so how long will you have to wait when YOU fly?

Be prepared for snaking security queues.

Holidaymakers travelling out of Manchester endure the longest delays in passing through the metal detectors.

Almost two-thirds of passengers flying from MAN – the UK’s third busiest airport – were stuck in line for at least 10 minutes in 2023.

Just 30 per cent whizzed through and collected their belongings the other side in under five minutes.

Gatwick, meanwhile, came top of the pack.

Only a fifth of holidaymakers flying from there last year waited 10 minutes to clear security, according to survey data compiled by the Department for Transport and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Government researchers quizzed 13,600 passengers about their experiences with security at Britain’s five busiest airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Stansted and Luton.

When broken down to specific terminals, all three of Manchester’s came bottom of the table.

When broken down to specific terminals, all three of Manchester’s came bottom of the table. Manchester Terminal 1 was worst, with 19 per cent of passengers made to wait over 20 minutes, followed by Terminal 3 (17 per cent) and Terminal 2 (14 per cent)

% of passengers who face 20 minute delays in getting through security, by terminal

Gatwick North: 1%

Gatwick South: 1%

Heathrow Terminal 2: 1%

Heathrow Terminal 3: 4%

Heathrow Terminal 4: 2%

Heathrow Terminal 5: 4%

Luton Terminal 1: 5%

Manchester Terminal 1: 19%

Manchester Terminal 2: 14%

Manchester Terminal 3: 17%

Stansted Terminal 1: 7%

Manchester Terminal 1 was worst, with 19 per cent of passengers made to wait over 20 minutes, followed by Terminal 3 (17 per cent) and Terminal 2 (14 per cent).

Behind Manchester came Stansted Terminal 1 (7 per cent).

For comparison, the comparitive figure stood at just 1 per cent in both of Gatwick’s North and South terminals.

Heathrow’s newly-refurbished Terminal 4 moved 68 per cent of passengers through the queue in fewer than five minutes.

It comes after an investigation earlier this year named and shamed Wizz Air as being the worst airline for UK flight delays.

The budget carrier’s departures from British airports were an average of 31 minutes and 36 seconds late last year, according to analysis of CAA data.

It meant Wizz Air ranked as the least punctual airline for UK flights three years in a row, despite a reduction of nearly a third compared with 2022.

Wizz Air, which sells tickets to holiday destinations in Greece and Spain for as little as £45, said it had made ‘significant improvements’ but acknowledged there was ‘still work to be done’.

Turkish Airlines recorded the second worst punctuality last year, with an average delay of 28 minutes and 36 seconds.