As part of research by Airport Parking and Hotels, they set out to identify the friendliest airports in the UK by taking a look at traveller reviews at some of the busiest airports.
To identify the friendliest airports, they analysed Google reviews from 23 of the busiest airports in the UK and then searched for 52 positive staff-related keywords, such as friendly, patient, polite, and professional while filtering out false positives and negatives.
The reviews were dated from May 20, 2025 onwards and only compared reviews written in the English language. They also removed the duplicated and off-topic reviews and excluded airports with fewer than 50 relevant mentions of staff.
Natural language processing (NLP) was also used to analyse the meaning and tone of each review, giving a more accurate measure of sentiment than just counting positive or negative keywords.
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Southampton Airport was ranked the best for friendliness from staff in the UK. There, you can fly domestically to UK destinations or further afield to stunning holiday spots such as Alicante or Palma Majorca.
Edinburgh Airport didn’t make it in the top 15 airports, though it managed to rank 16th, while Manchester Airport, the UK’s second busiest airport, ranked as the 17th friendliest.
Here are the top 15 airports, ranked from the best, for customer experience:
5. Humberside Airport - 65.4%
Humberside Airport, at Kirmington in the Borough of North Lincolnshire, had 65.4 per cent positive reviews. | PA
6. Cardiff Airport - 65.2%
With 65.2 per cent of positive reviews, Cardiff Airport earned a spot at number six on the list. | Getty Images
7. George Best Belfast City Airport - 64.6%
George Best Belfast City Airport earned 64.6 per cent. Situated in County Down, it is adjacent to the Belfast Harbour and is three miles from Belfast city centre. | PA
8. Heathrow Airport - 63.8%
London Heathrow, which is the busiest airport in the UK, has a 63.8 per cent positive review rating for the politeness of their staff. | Bloomberg via Getty Images