London City has taken the crown as the UK’s best airport for security waiting times, according to new research. A survey published today by consumer champion Which? showed that the Newham airport had an average queuing time at security of 12 minutes – well below fellow London airports such as Gatwick or Heathrow. With an average wait of 16 minutes Gatwick came in fifth and was followed by Stansted, Luton and Heathrow.
Airports contested the survey’s methodology, with Stansted calling it “completely flawed” and “not factual in any way.” Luton, Gatwick and Heathrow said their waiting time at security was significantly shorter than what was revealed by the survey.
“Speed, convenience and consistency of service are qualities that we know are so important, especially now, to our passengers,” an airport spokesperson told City A.M. “We hope the results from Which? will encourage more people to use LCY this Christmas and through 2023.”
London City remains on track to reach the 3 million passenger mark at the end of the year, as numbers soared throughout the summer. Unlike Heathrow and Gatwick, the airport was left largely unaffected by this summer’s travel chaos. The UK’s first and second-largest hubs were forced to respectively cap daily departing passengers and flights to guarantee a smoother run of operations. The west London hub kept restrictions on until the end of October but decided to shelve them for the peak Christmas period.
