The UK’s best and worst airports have been revealed in a detailed study by Which? Travel, and the results might just surprise you. Which? surveyed its readers on the UK’s major airports, asking for star ratings based on queues for bag drop, check-in, security and passport control, as well as prices in shops/food outlets, the range of shops and food outlets on offer, seating, toilets and staff. Based on over 10,000 airport experiences, and ranked from best to worst, here’s how the UK’s major airports fared. 

Ranking as the the top airport to fly from according to Which? Travel readers, this small airport impressed customers with relaxed and quiet atmosphere as well as acceptable queues for baggage drop and at security passes. Travellers were particularly pleased with the customer service received in the Doncaster Sheffield airport, scoring it the maximum of five stars.

The staff at London Southend airport was rated particularly high with five stars, however Which? readers were not happy with the range of shops and food outlets available at the airport, scoring them only two stars.

Scoring only one star for the range of shops and food outlets available in this airport, Norwich airport redeemed itself, with customers scoring four stars for queuing times, baggage reclaim, seating and toilets available, as well as the customer service.

With four-star scores received for queuing times and staff, Southampton Airport passengers were less impressed with the range of and prices in shops and food outlets.

Although Which? readers were extremely dissatisfied with the range of shops and food outlets and their prices, the seating availability and queues at the bag drop were rated much higher with four stars.

Bournemouth airport was scored highly for its staff, seating and queuing times but didn't leave a good impression with the range of shops and food outlets available, as well as pricing in them.

Cardiff Airport scored solid four stars across the board, apart from the range of shops and food outlets available as well as pricing, both rated with just two stars.

Even though passengers were satisfied with the queuing times at London City Airport, the customer experience wasn't particularly good here – seating and toilets were rated with two stars while pricing in the shops and food outlets was given only one star.

Four-star customer service and queuing times at the bag drop particularly impressed the customers of Newcastle airport, however the prices in shops and food outlets disappointed with only one star, as did baggage reclaim scoring only two stars.

With an average rating of three stars for overall customer experience, baggage drop queues at Liverpool Airport were particularly customer-friendly.

The highest scoring of the larger airports in the UK (with more than 10 million passengers per year), Birmingham Airport impressed with friendly and helpful staff as well as keeping queues at the passport control at bay.

Staff and seating at Belfast City Airport were both rated highly, however toilets and the range of shops and food outlets disappointed, earning the airport two stars respectively.

Scoring three stars for most experiences in the airport, Which? readers were particularly dissatisfied with the prices in shops and food outlets, giving it a score of one star.

Similarly to Bristol Airport, Glasgow International also disappointed its passengers with the prices in shops and food outlets, however the airport received three stars for queuing times as well as seating, toilets and staff.

Although queuing times at bag drop, baggage reclaim and seating were all satisfactory earning three stars from Which? readers, the airport staff as well as queues at check-in desks and security left more to be desired and scored two stars each.

Heathrow's Terminal 5 scored highest of all terminals with 61% overall, but Terminal 2 disappointed with queues at passport control and security hampering its rating. Terminal 4 scored only one star for prices in shops and food outlets.

Scoring three and four stars for customer service, queues and facilities, Edinburgh only disappointed with the range of shops and food outlets and the prices offered in them.

Scoring just one star for the range of shops and food outlets available, this small airport in the north of Scotland left customers satisfied with its facilities and staff as each were given a score of three stars.

With a two star rating overall, Belfast International Airport was rated especially poorly for the pricing in its shops and food outlets.

With Gatwick's South terminal scoring 52% and North terminal at 51%, Gatwick was consistent with its levels of dissatisfaction throughout. Passengers here were particularly unimpressed by the prices charged in shops and food outlets, scoring just two stars in both terminals.

With overall customer experience rated just two stars and the comfort and availability of seating scoring one star, there's a lot that Leeds Bradford Airport could improve.

Although both Manchester Airport terminals scored three stars for customer service received, Terminal 3 (43%) scored staggering 10% less than Terminal 2 (53%) due to one-star ratings for prices charged in shops and food outlets, and for the long queues at security. Passengers at Terminal 1 also didn't appreciate queues at security and passport control as well as prices in shops and food outlets.

With the lowest score out of the UK's smaller airports, Aberdeen airport could do a lot to improve its range of shops and food outlets, as well as prices and seating availability (all of which scored just one star). Customer service and toilets also could be improved with a current rating of two stars.

With only the satisfactory experience being at the baggage reclaim belt (rated three stars), London Stansted airport particularly disappointed its passengers with queues at security and passport control.

Receiving the lowest customer score ever on this Which? survey, London Luton airport disappointed its customers with pretty much everything and was described as 'chaos', 'crowded' and 'rip off' by Which? readers.