Manchester Airport responds to Which? airport survey results

Manchester Airport has issued a response after being named as ‘the UK’s worst airport’ following a survey by consumer magazine, Which?.

The Which? survey, based on the recollections of 4,000 travellers to have used UK airports in the 12 months to June 2023, scored Manchester Airport’s Terminal 3 and Terminal 1 as the worst in the UK, with 38% and 44% satisfaction scores respectively based on the magazine’s metrics, with Terminal 2 fifth-from-bottom with a score of 50%.

Responding to the survey, Manchester Airport has criticised the methodology of the Which? survey, arguing that the 567 responses received pertaining to the Northern hub were not representative of the 25 million passengers who travelled through the airport during the survey period. The airport also argued that the 28 minute average queuing time in security reported by Which? was inaccurate as it was based on customer recollections; the airport’s own data found 95.6% of passengers passed through security in under 15 minutes since April this year. The airport’s own customer satisfaction surveys have found that inn July and August this year, 93% of those passengers rated their overall satisfaction with the service they received as good, very good or excellent.

A spokesperson from Manchester Airport said:

“Manchester Airport is proud to give the people of the North easy and affordable access to a wide range of global destinations. We are committed to providing a great experience to all passengers, and feedback this summer has been really positive, building on the strong Christmas and Easter getaways we delivered.

“Our customer service is driven by investment in our people – we have recruited more than 3,000 colleagues since April 2022 and established a new 100-strong resilience team, trained in a variety of roles so they can respond at short-notice to ensure passengers get a good level of service. It is also driven by investment in our facilities, especially the £1.3bn transformation of Terminal 2, through which more than 80% of our passengers will fly by 2025.

“We take all customer feedback seriously, but the Which? survey creates a deeply flawed and misleading picture of the service we are providing to our customers this summer.”

Elsewhere in the North-west, however, Liverpool John Moores Airport was named the UK’s best by Which? with a customer score of 82%. Of Manchester Airports Group’s other sites, East Midlands Airport was ranked fifth-from top with a score of 72%, while London Stansted had a score of 51%.