Belfast International Airport has once again been ranked among the worst air hubs in the UK.
A poll by consumer group Which? ranked the Co Antrim airport third worst in the UK, behind Manchester Airport’s Terminals 1 and 3.
In the same poll last year, Belfast International was ranked in the bottom five of all UK airports.
The poll opened in April, asking respondents to rate facilities and services at airports, including baggage reclaim, seating, shops and toilets, during the previous year.
Belfast International was rated with a Which? customer score of 44%.
In contrast, Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport was rated the UK’s best, with a customer score of 81%.
Among those to voice concerns over Belfast International in recent times was SDLP South Down MLA Colin McGrath. In June of last year he said in a social media post it was the scene of the “worst” airport experience he had endured after waiting for baggage for 45 minutes.
In a statement following the latest Which? poll, a spokesperson for Belfast International defended its services, and highlighted the sample size used in the ratings.
“We take all customer feedback seriously and regularly undertake industry recognised benchmarking surveys with our passengers which shows we compare favourably with our peer airports,” they said.
“This passenger feedback is invaluable and we use this to feed directly into our investment plans. In our latest survey, carried out over the summer peak, 97% of passenger stated their experience was rated as excellent, very good or good.
“While we welcome the feedback from the Which? Survey, it is not a representative sample and should not be portrayed as such.
“61 passengers were surveyed out of the six million that used the airport in 2023 and clearly does not show the broad range views of the passengers that flew from Belfast International Airport in 2023 but we have noted the comments made and shared them with our service partners.”
They added: “We continue to work directly with our service partners to continuously improve services and in particular we are addressing baggage reclaim concerns directly with those parties involved.”
Meanwhile, Belfast City Airport received a customer score of 63% in the Which? poll.
