Since your air travel journey always begin at the airport, the experience through it sets the tone for the rest of your holiday. A new study reveals the world’s most stressful airport to travel through – among the five most delayed airports worldwide, four are European.
In 2023, the media has reported on an airline industry still in dire straits, including the numerous delays, cancellations and baggage losses as a result of strikes, system problems and severe weather conditions. Therefore, there are probably very few people who look forward to showing up at the airport.
But to minimize problems on your journey in the coming year, you can avoid the most stressful airports in the world.
The ten most stressful airports in the world
VisaGuide.World, which specializes in visa and travel information, has just published a survey of travelers’ experience at airports around the world. They have analyzed several crucial factors that contribute to an exhausting and stressful airport experience.
Key factors influencing the result include high passenger traffic, airport size in square meters, ease of getting around the airport, passenger density per square meters, the proportion of annual delays and the distance in kilometers from the city center.
In total, 1,642 air passengers from 53 different nationalities who have taken at least two international flights in 2023 have been questioned.
The following airport is the top ten on the list:
- London Gatwick Airport, Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom, Europe
- Istanbul Airport, Arnavutköy, Istanbul, Turkey, Europe
- Munich Airport, Bavaria, Germany, Europe
- Denver International Airport, Colorado, USA
- Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom, Europe
- Los Angeles International Airport, California, USA
- Fiumicino International Airport “Leonardo da Vinci”, Rome, Italy, Europe
- Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Texas, USA
- John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York City, New York, USA
- O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Asian airports stand out
It is especially airports in Great Britain, Europe and the USA that dominates the top 10, of which two airports are British, three European and five American.
With more than 38.8 million passengers passing through annually, the UK airport, London Gatwick, is the most stressful in the world with a score of 52.00. This high number of travelers undoubtedly contributes to the often hectic experience.
Gatwick takes first place due to its very high delay rate and the fact that it is the airport furthest from the city centre, despite three airports on the list having a higher density of travelers.
The second and third most stressful airports in the world are also in Europe – Istanbul Airport in Turkey and Munich Airport in Germany.
Istanbul Airport is also Europe’s busiest with 64,289,107 registered passengers in 2022, making it the seventh busiest airport in the world. Travelers claim that they often find it difficult to find their way around the airport due to its great size.
Asian airports, on the other hand, turn out to be the least stressful out of the world’s 30 largest airports, including Singapore Changi Airport, Indira Gandhi International Airport, King Abdulaziz International Airport and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
Also read about Norwegian is among the most punctual in Europe .