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UK Airport Terminals Ranked
From a shortage of facilities, endless queues at every turn, and seating that’s anything but comfortable, spending time in an airport before a flight can feel more like an ordeal than the start of a holiday. Much of this frustration boils down to the terminal itself—how it handles the constant flow of passengers and what shops and food outlets are available to make the wait more bearable.
Discover which airports will ease you into your holiday with minimal fuss and which might leave you so stressed, that you’ll need another holiday to recover.
Bottom 10 Airport Terminals in the UK
Top 10 Airport Terminals in the UK
The source of the data is from Cody Candee, CEO and Founder of Bounce.com, who provides tips on how to select the best airport terminal to fly from:
The best airports in the UK are all pretty small. Liverpool John Lennon transported 3.5 million passengers in 2022, and Southampton transported just 600,000. Both of these airports had customer scores of 77% or above.
“This contrasts significantly with the two lowest-rated terminals on this list. Both are located in Manchester Airport, which transported over 28 million passengers last year. None of Manchester’s terminals achieved customer scores over 50%.
“So, as a general rule, it might be wise to go with the smaller airports if possible. For example, Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester Airport, the UK’s highest-rated and lowest-rated airports, are a mere 30-mile drive from each other.
“However, this may not always be the case. It’s probably not worth driving for extra hours to avoid longer queues and overcrowding (although this depends on your tolerance for queuing). Additionally, smaller airports might not have the same range of destinations as bigger ones.
“But, if it offers the right destination and isn’t too far away, switch to the smaller airport. It encourages the smaller, better-run airports to expand. For example, Liverpool recently joined Jet2 to add over 20 new holiday destinations to its roster for 2024.”
Manchester T2 to Complete £1.3Bn Upgrades in 2025
Manchester Airport is close to finishing a serious upgrade with 20 new shops, restaurants, and bars set to open next summer! As part of the final phase of its £1.3bn makeover, Terminal 2 is getting some major upgrades, and honestly, it sounds great compared to some of the horror stories we hear almost daily about Manchester Airport.
Here are some of the upgrades:
- New luxury brands such as Chanel, and big favourites like Pandora, LEGO, WH Smith, and Boots.
- The Great Northern Market—this is a large 472-seat food hall, bringing all the best of Manchester’s street food scene straight to the airport. There’ll be six international street food kitchens, including Gooey desserts.
- Plenty of new spots to grab a drink or a bite, like Fever-Tree, JD Wetherspoon, Joe And The Juice, Greggs, and even an extended Amber Alehouse from the Seven Bro7hers brewery in Salford.
- A large new World Duty Free (over 2,000 square metres) with all the top brands like Christian Dior, Gucci, YSL, Charlotte Tilbury, and more.
The first part of Terminal 2 opened back in 2021, and it already has some local favourites like Archies, San Carlo, Pot Kettle Black, and pubs from Joseph Holt and Se7en Brothers. Plus, the usual suspects like Pret, M&S Food, and Starbucks.
The second part of this massive revamp will be ready by summer 2025, so if you’re flying through Manchester please let us know about your experience.
A few months ago, we also mentioned the private terminal opening in Manchester Airport in November. Maybe this will provide some relief to the main terminal?
Will it be enough to take T2 out of the bottom 5 ranked airport terminals in the UK that I mentioned above?
10 comments
Hmm……where is Bristol airport? Bigger than many on these lists. Presume somewhere between the Worst and Best? Why not a complete list? Btw, Bristol is pretty awful at the moment with terrible access roads(1) and chaotic interior.
There are over 40 commercial airports in the UK so I expect people would get a little bored!
Yeah I’m sure what MAN terminals need are more watering holes for people to get pi$$ed before getting their flight and starting a fight! The main issue with that airport is the check-in through to security experience, and the frankly terrible staff!
Fingers crossed they will be putting some of that £1.3bn into improving check In and security!
Airports are basically money cows for their owners and CEOs. They are shopping centres which happen to have planes attached rather than buses. Most of not all are truly awful.
I guess they have to make money somewhere. It can’t be cheap to operate and run an airport privately. Like any other business really.
By definition smaller airports should be quieter and easier to use but only because there are fewer flights to less destinations. As others have already said the, bigger the terminal, the more of a ‘shopping mall attached to some flight gates’ experience. All I want is swift, efficient check in and security then a choice of lounge!
I agree with you however Heathrow T5 is in 8th position and you don’t get much bigger than that. Maybe it’s something to do with the First Wing. That enhances the experience dramatically for me!
If you live North of Manchester it is your only long haul option if you don’t want to use Emirates. Historically I would use Manchester for long haul over Terminal 5 which used to be the worlds most expensive airport disaster. For me the airport is secondary to getting a good flight at a good price.
I have friends in Manchester who regularly choose to fly from London over their local airport. That says a lot!
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