Brits praise UK's 'most relaxing airport' with 'hassle-free' queues and terminal
Newcastle Airport is the least stressful travel hub in the UK, according to a new study.
As convenient as it may be to head to your nearest airport and hop on a plane to a sunny holiday destination, the experience is not always a relaxing one. Once the early wake-up time, delayed train, scrabble to get a seat in Pret and the drawn out wait by the check-in desk are taken into account, it is easy to arrive on holiday stressed and irritable.
If you are keen to make this experience as pleasant as possible, then opting for one of Europe's ten least stressful airports is wise. Holiday car rental experts at StressFreeCarRental.com have analysed the quietest airports in Europe and ranked them based on factors that make holidaymakers feel relaxed before take off.
Airports close to the city centre with cheap parking and a relaxing space with plenty of restaurant options were considered less stressful. A customer rating was also used to weed out some of the quieter airports which had some other underlying issues.
The airport was judged to be the seventh least stressful in Europe (Newcastle Chronicle)Corfu Airport in Greece has been named the least stressful and most relaxing airport for holidaymakers to fly from, with a relatively small number of passengers - 3.7million - passing through annually, leaving it feeling quiet. The travel hub doesn’t change for parking so passengers can arrive knowing its one less expense they need to cover. The picturesque island is just over 3 km away from the city centre.
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Billund Airport in Norway, home to Legoland, ranks in second place, with a rating of 80%, despite featuring some of the most expensive parking for a week (€133.42).
Newcastle Airport in the UK ranks in seventh place. The airport scores very highly for the number of restaurants it has - nine - compared to the number of passengers who come through each year - 4,127,000. Hypoethetically the ratio means the customers will be able to find somewhere to sit down and have a relaxing bite to eat.
The airport also has a customer review rating of 80% - among the highest in the study - and is close to the centre of Newcastle which is just over 10 km away. Heathrow Airport, by way of comparison, is around 20km to the centre of London.
Data provided by flight analysts Cirium show that just 148 and that’s out of 13,644 flights that were due to depart Newcastle Airport this year were cancelled, a rate of 1%. The UK average sits at around 1.5%, meaning Newcastle bucks the trend significantly.
It is not difficult to find people who have had a good experience at the airport, something which can't be said for many others in the UK where long queues and departure issues have become a regular feature in recent years. "Newcastle Airport is an excellent travel hub with efficient facilities and a welcoming atmosphere. From my arrival to departure, the airport staff was courteous and helpful, making the check-in and security processes smooth and hassle-free. The airport's cleanliness and organization added to the overall positive experience," one happy customer recently wrote on Google Reviews.
Another echoed the sentiments, adding: "I've passed through Newcastle airport on a few occasions and every time it's been a good experience. Getting through security has always been good as well with the staff being both friendly and polite compared to some of the other major airports. Always a pleasure to fly from this airport."
The busiest airports in Europe process more than 15 times the number of flyers from Newcastle Airport, with the likes of the Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris handling more than 60 million passengers a year.
- Corfu International Airport
- Billund Airport
- Menorca Airport
- Luxembourg Airport
- Vilnius International Airport
- Turin Airport
- Newcastle Airport
- Trondheim Airport
- Cagliari Elmas Airport
- Hannover Airport
John Charnock, CEO of StressFreeCarRental.com said that the whole airport experience for tourists can seriously make or break their holiday. He said: “The time spent travelling to the airport and waiting inside is usually the most stressful part of a holiday as travellers contend with expensive parking fees and try to find a decent bite to eat.
“Journeying far to even get to the airport itself can make passengers feel like they have already had enough of travelling before they have even boarded the plane. We’ve tried to give passengers seeking the easy life a better understanding of what makes airports stressful and which ones across Europe will allow them to sit back and relax.
“The 10 least stressful airports across Europe were found by taking into account the number travellers that pass through every year, as well as the number of restaurants, distance from the city centre, car parking charges and score ratings on FlightRadar24.
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“The study has shown that Corfu Airport, Greece is the least stressful airport in Europe, closely followed by Billund Airport in Denmark and Menorca Airport in Spain making it into the top three. Tourists will likely find their holiday significantly more relaxing and be able to travel with less anxiety, when using any of these ten airports across the continent.”
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