The 2025 ranking of the world’s best and worst airports is here. Which airports make flying a pleasure, and which are still a nightmare? Cape Town, Bergen, Liverpool lead the pack. Full breakdown from AirHelp.
Key Takeaways (for those too lazy to read the full thing):
- The world’s best airport in 2025 — Cape Town (South Africa) 🏆
- Europe’s best — Bergen (Norway) 🛫
- UK’s biggest surprise — Liverpool, which climbed an impressive 108 spots up.
- The UK’s worst? Still London Gatwick 🙈
- European airports overall? Once again… not their best year — only nine made it to the top 50.
Where in Europe can you still find decent airports?
The answer is simple: head north.
Scandinavia keeps showing the rest of Europe how it’s done:
- Bergen-Flesland, Norway — 9th in the world.
- Bilbao, Spain — 16th place globally.
- Bodø, Norway — 23rd.
- Oslo-Gardermoen, Norway — 28th.
- Reykjavik-Keflavik, Iceland — 30th.
The conclusion? If you want a calm airport experience in Europe — go north.
Small vs Big Airports 🚦
AirHelp split the ranking by size — because let’s be honest, comparing Durban to Heathrow is like comparing a bicycle to a Boeing 🚴✈️.
Top Small Airports (less than 65,000 flights per year):
- Durban (South Africa)
- Medina (Saudi Arabia)
- Belém (Brazil)
Top Giants (250,000+ flights per year):
- Doha (Qatar)
- Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)
- Jeddah (Saudi Arabia)
- Mexico City
- Dubai
UK Airports: Who Flopped, Who Surprised
Classic Britain: some surprise winners, some things never change.
Liverpool truly shocked everyone this year. John Lennon Airport climbed an impressive 108 places and now proudly holds 35th spot worldwide. A small but solid victory for the UK’s often-criticised airports.
Gatwick remains the national disgrace. Once again, it secured the title of the UK’s worst airport, sitting comfortably at 235th out of 250. No surprises there.
Heathrow, the country’s main hub, isn’t exactly a shining example either, but at least it moved up a bit from last year. Now ranked 178th, which sounds bad — but it’s better than 200th.
What is AirHelp and Why Should You Care? 🤓
How the AirHelp Score Works? Since 2015, AirHelp has been helping passengers claim compensation for delays and cancellations. They’ve also been publishing these rankings to help travellers choose airports wisely.
What Airports Are Judged On:
- Flight punctuality (this is 60% of the score)
- Customer reviews
- Food and shopping
Data was collected from June 2024 to May 2025.
Why Should Travellers Even Bother With This?
This ranking helps you know in advance where to expect decent service and where to prepare for possible drama.
AirHelp Does More Than Rankings. Their website is packed with useful info about what to do if your flight gets delayed, cancelled or oversold.
Cancelled Flights = Trees?
How Aviation Trouble Helps the Planet?
For every 100 disrupted flights, AirHelp plants one tree. So far, they’ve planted over 123,000 trees.
At least someone’s turning airport frustration into something green.
Useful travel planning tools:
✈️ Aviasales – budget-friendly flights
🏨 Booking.com – accommodation for every taste
🚘 LocalRent – car rentals (with free cancellation)
