Ranked: The best airports for pre-flight dining
Heathrow Airport has topped a ranking of the UK’s 10 largest airports for pre-flight fine dining, shows research from travel comparison site Netflights.
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Home to eight of the highest-rated restaurants in the highest price bracket in the country, including House & Prunier Seafood and Fortnum & Mason Bar, the west London Airport scored highest in an analysis of online reviews, price data and restaurant listings of flight hubs across the UK.
For mid-range pre-flight meals, Birmingham Airport took the top spot across choice and price categories, with a score of 7.3 out of 10.
A concentration of 12 different eateries in a single terminal meant the Midlands hub achieved a high passenger satisfaction score for choice on all review sites consulted by Netflights.
Particular praise was given for Birmingham’s wide selection of vegetarian dishes, which was found to be superior to those of Edinburgh, Gatwick, Manchester and Heathrow airports.
Newcastle International Airport came bottom of the list, with limited vegetarian options and poor passenger feedback, scoring 5.3, just below Glasgow Airport.
Netflights managing director Andrew Shelton said: “The days when airport dining was a grim choice between a speedy sandwich or a greasy fry-up are long gone. We expect airports to mirror the high street, with variety, quality, good value and options to suit different dietary needs, and maybe even the odd high-end choice for when we want to treat ourselves.”
“Our rankings show that when an airport invests in meeting those expectations, it can pay off – and will certainly encourage passengers to come back again in the future. With over a third of Brits citing the cost of airport food as one of the main annoyances of travelling by air, it’s vital for airports to get a good balance between choice and value.”
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Here are the UK's top 10 airports for dining:
| Airport | Rating |
| Birmingham | 7.3 |
| Heathrow | 7.0 |
| Liverpool | 6.8 |
| Stansted | 6.8 |
| Gatwick | 6.7 |
| Manchester | 6.5 |
| Luton | 6.5 |
| Edinburgh | 6.2 |
| Glasgow | 5.9 |
| Newcastle | 5.3 |