Pic:Gatwick Airport was ranked the second worst in the world /Getty Images
Staff reporter(wp/es):
Gatwick is the second worst airport in the world, according to a damning new study.
A survey by ranked four British airports in the bottom 20 for “punctuality and quality”, for people flying into and out of the UK. Kuwait was rated the world's worst airport.
It comes after a year of chaotic incidents for travellers flying from the airport, including a British Airways IT crash that left thousands stranded in the capital last month.
Heathrow was rated the 20th best of the 76 airports studied.
A spokesman for Gatwick dismissed the survey, saying delays at the airport were often due to continental strikes and "outside its control".
In April, a Which survey found Gatwick to have the worst airport lounge in Britain, with customers complaining that the “floor was grubby and the facilities were basic”.
May Bank Holiday travellers were also left furious when they were told they would have to fly without luggage due a fault with the conveyer belt system that sorts suitcases before boarding flights.
Gatwick Airport's South Terminal last year unveiled a £186 million "state of the art" terminal link including a brand new baggage handling system, the airport's biggest single investment under its new ownership.
The top airport in the world, according to the rankings, was Singapore's Changi, followed by Munich and Hong Kong.
AirHelp’s UK manager Marius Fermi said: “It’s important - now more so than ever - that passenger service is a top priority of both airlines and airports, ensuring they receive the experience they deserve, so it’s fantastic to see that Singapore is setting the standard for customer-first service.
“This research should hopefully give airlines and airports across the world, particularly in the UK, a nudge to improve their quality and punctuality urgently before the travel rush starts this summer."
The rankings also looked at airlines, with British Airways placed seventh worldwide out of 87 carriers, despite a worldwide computer outage that caused chaos in London last month.
Passengers at Heathrow and Gatwick were left stranded when computer systems went down, with travellers reporting being charged thousands to stay at nearby hotels.
Flybe came in 22nd, while Ryanair and Monarch featured in the bottom five of the rankings which measure on-time performance, quality of service and how well airlines process claims for compensation.
The top ranked carrier in the world was Singapore Airlines.
Sig Watkins, from Hampshire, flew from Gatwick with an under-12s rugby team to Lyon when the conveyer belt broke in May, describing being greeted by the "biggest queues I've ever seen" and confusion at the airport.
Airline staff assured her that their bags were on board, but when she arrived in Lyon they were nowhere to be found, she said.
"That's the frustration. If they'd said, then maybe we would have taken hand baggage," said Ms Watkins.
Nathan James called the airport a "nightmare" and described "chaos" after the incident.
A spokesman for Gatwick Airport said: “Gatwick recognises the inconvenience that delays cause to our passengers and we will continue to do everything possible to prevent them from occurring.
“However over recent years repeated strike action on the continent and heavily congested airspace above parts of Europe and London, have led to a significant increase in the number of delays caused by wider air traffic control issues outside Gatwick’s control."
He added: "Surveys conducted amongst real passengers travelling through Gatwick currently show record levels of satisfaction and advocacy, with other third party passenger surveys also telling a different story and rating Gatwick’s service levels highly.”
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