Manchester Airport has ranked behind several of the UK's biggest airports for passenger satisfaction, according to a major new survey by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
The annual survey, which questioned around 175,000 departing passengers across eight of England's busiest airports, found Manchester Airport received an average passenger rating of 8.27 out of 10 in 2025 - lower than several of its rivals.
The score placed Manchester behind East Midlands Airport (9.20) - which is also part of the Manchester Airport Group - as well as London City Airport (9.04), Heathrow (8.53) and Birmingham (8.50), while narrowly edging out Stansted (8.26), Gatwick (8.20) and Luton (7.77).
The ratings are based on how likely passengers are to recommend an airport to friends or colleagues.
Across all eight airports surveyed, the average satisfaction score improved slightly from 8.36 in 2024 to 8.39 in 2025.
The findings come despite Manchester Airport handling 31 million passengers during 2025, making it the third-busiest airport in the survey behind Heathrow and Gatwick.
The airport's rating is likely to be of interest to travellers across the North West, many of whom use Manchester Airport as their main gateway for holidays and business trips.
The survey also provides an insight into the type of passengers using Manchester Airport.
Just nine per cent were travelling for business purposes, while the vast majority were flying for leisure.
Manchester's proportion of business travellers was lower than Heathrow's 18 per cent and Birmingham's 11 per cent.
Meanwhile, only 20 per cent of Manchester Airport passengers used public transport to get to the airport, with the majority relying on cars, taxis or other forms of transport.
Nationally, passenger numbers continued to rise, with 225 million travellers passing through the eight airports included in the survey, a two per cent increase on the previous year.
Despite that growth, overall satisfaction levels remained high.
The CAA's annual Departing Passenger Survey collects information from passengers at departure gates before boarding flights and is regarded as one of the largest studies of passenger attitudes at UK airports.
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