Liverpool John Lennon named best airport in the UK

Liverpool John Lennon Airport has been crowned the best airport in the UK, beating every other British terminal in a new global ranking from AirHelp.

The travel report, which looks at how each airport around the world perform for passengers, put Liverpool at number 35 out of 250 — miles ahead of its UK rivals. London City came next for Britain, landing in 56th place, but big names like Gatwick and Heathrow didn’t fare so well.

In fact, Gatwick has been named the worst-performing airport in the UK this year, coming in at a worrying 235th out of 250 worldwide. Heathrow didn’t impress either, scraping in at 178th despite handling the most passengers in the country.

It’s been a rough year for the big London hubs, with staffing issues, strikes, delays and even a fire at Heathrow’s power substation all hitting operations hard.

The AirHelp Score has been ranking airports and airlines globally since 2015, helping people decide where to fly from based on more than just the cheapest flight. The 2025 report looked at airports in 68 countries, scoring them out of 10 for how well they run on time, the passenger experience — like service and staff — and what food and shops are on offer.

The data doesn’t make great reading for some other UK airports either. Leeds Bradford landed mid-table at 132nd, while Manchester and Birmingham were down near the bottom at 220th and 214th, mainly due to complaints about delays and customer service.

With the summer holiday season kicking in, the report shows the growing risk of disruption at some of the UK’s busiest airports — and the rising reliability of others like Liverpool.

Topping the global list this year is Cape Town International in South Africa, followed by Doha Hamad and Riyadh King Khaled airports. At the other end of the scale, Tunis Carthage in Tunisia took the unwanted title of worst airport in the world.

Tomasz Pawliszyn, CEO of AirHelp, said the rankings should help passengers plan better for the summer getaway rush.

“As millions of people get ready to fly off on holiday, our data shows exactly where you’re most likely to have a smooth trip — and where you might want to pack a bit more patience,” he said.

“It’s brilliant to see Liverpool and London City doing so well, but there’s still work to do at some of the UK’s other big airports. For anyone flying this summer, it’s worth knowing your rights if your flight is delayed or cancelled. Being prepared can make all the difference to your trip.”

Travellers can check out the full rankings and find out more about how their local airport did here.

You can enjoy all of these extreme day trips from Liverpool Airport HERE.

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