The world’s ‘worst airports’ revealed – major UK hub at number 1

has topped a poll of the world’s worst airports with gripes , security and staff.

The international airport in Ringway, Manchester, was ranked one of the worst flight hubs by readers of The Times newspaper.

Traveller Julie Ritchie is reported as saying it took more than an hour to get past security before she grappled with a “veritable maze” of duty free shops with “no clear path” to the planes.

G.Gordon said: “Manchester is dreadful, Security bark at you to move.”

Despite the complaints, Manchester Airports Group (MAG), which operates Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands airports, saw pre-tax profits of £139.6million for the first half of the financial year, ending September 30.

City AM reported on Tuesday (December 10) that the figure marks an increase from £115.9m and is thanks to a 6.9% rise in traffic to 37.3 million passengers. MAG also saw its busiest day on record in October when 107,000 passengers passed through in 24 hours.

The other airports listed by The Times are Atlanta, John F Kennedy, Rhodes, Bordeaux, Lagos, Geneva and Sharm el-Sheikh.

Atlanta was described as old, tired, overcrowded and smelly, as well as having “overbearing staff who just don’t care”.

JSmith said New York’s John F Kennedy airport “has misery designed into it” while Rhodes has seen some improvement after previously being dismissed as “tattoos and toddlers”.

Plenty of readers were of the view that Nigeria’s Lagos Airport was the world’s worst while Geneva Airport in ski season was described as “absolute chaos” by one critic.

On the flip side, the world’s 10 best airports in 2024 according to Skytrax include first placed Doha Hamad in Qatar, which is described as the most luxurious.

Singapore Changi makes the list as if offers “unrivalled” passenger experiences. Others on the list include Seoul Incheon, Tokyo Haneda, Tokyo Narita, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Dubai, Munich, Zurich and Istanbul.