How Birmingham ranked in the Which? review of best and worst regional UK airports 2023

A survey by Which? revealed regional airports, including Birmingham, that are best and worst in the UK in 2023. The report was published after the consumer magazine surveyed 3,842 Which? members in June 2023 about their experiences of flying from and to a UK airport in the last 12 months.

Passengers across the UK have had a tough time this week after an air traffic control system meltdown and several Birmingham Airport (BHX) passengers opened up about their experiences. The system failure took place on Monday, August 29, and BHX had said that the effects will take a few days to “wash out”. Several flights were cancelled and delayed between Monday and today (August 30).

The airport in Birmingham is also undergoing building works to prepare for a new pre-flight security screening hall - which is expected to be operational in June 2024. Meanwhile, several new flight destinations and airlines like Emirates, Saudia, Qatar Airways, were added to BHX’s portfolio.

Which? used a sample size of 306 customers at BHX for its scores. BHX received 53% customer score with Liverpool John Lennon Airport topping the rankings in the category with 82%. Manchester T3 had the lowest score with 38%. BHX was ranked 10th among the regional airports surveyed by the consumer magazine.

For queues at check-in desk and queues at bag drop, Birmingham received 3/5 stars. For queues at security, BHX received one star, for seating and staff, the airport received two stars. The ratings showed that there was much room for improvement for the airport with queues at different points being one of the weakest points.

Birmingham Airport reacts to Which? review

A spokesperson for Birmingham Airport (BHX) said: “The average security wait time for customers at BHX between June 2022 and June 2023 was nine minutes - not 29 minutes, as Which? claims based on estimates from 0.002% of the 11.8m customers who used BHX between June 2022 and 2023.

“This fact highlights the potential flaws of relying on anecdotal estimates rather than data. Our performance in this area matters to us and our customers, which is why we measure it every day. We are currently investing £40m in a new security hall, which, once operational in June 2024, will further improve customers’ experience.”