Distance from the city center, number of destinations, accessibility by train or metro … A ranking lists the European airports that make life as easy as possible for travelers until they board.
What are the nicest airports in Europe? The Consumer Choice Center, an American organization for the defense of consumers, has just published its first ranking of the top ten out of the thirty most frequented on the continent. Main finding: nine out of ten airports are located in northern Europe, with the exception of Madrid-Barajas (4th). The top 10 is thus dominated by Brussels, Zurich and Düsseldorf. Germany alone occupies three places with Düsseldorf, Frankfurt and Munich.
“The traveler’s experience” is at the center of the study. It includes: the flight offer (the number of companies and destinations), accessibility to the airport (its distance from the city center and the existence of a metro or train line), to make a connection, the number of hotels nearby, or the boarding mode (by footbridge or by bus).
Read also :The list of the easiest airports in the world
Paris-Orly distinguished for its restaurants and shops
The further away they are, the fewer points the airports get. On this criterion, those of Dublin, Lisbon, Düsseldorf, Copenhagen and Palma de Mallorca do well because they are located less than eight kilometers from the city center. The ratio of lounges / number of annual passengers also influences the score. Located as close as possible to the boarding gates, these lounges constitute a bubble of tranquility for VIP travelers before take-off. With 44 lounges for 1.82 million annual business passengers, London-Heathrow dominates in this category ahead of Zurich and Moscow-Vnukovo. Finally, bonus points are awarded for flight punctuality and waiting time at security and customs checks for flights to the United States.
“The size of an airport does not necessarily translate into better comfort and better infrastructure,” recall the study authors. As proof, the two busiest airports in Europe, London-Heathrow and Paris-Charles de Gaulle, do not appear in this list. While no French airport occupies the general ranking, that of Paris-Orly is in fourth position in the Restaurants and shops category. It would thus be one of the best in Europe for gourmets and shopaholics. Great consolation for an airport that is often abused in the rankings. The one established by AirHelp last May places Paris-Orly in 126th place out of the 132 evaluated worldwide.
