Spanish airports ranked best in Europe: Three of the top four

MADRID'S Adolfo Suárez-Barajas airport has been named number one in Europe in terms of services, efficiency, complaints handling, and quality of its shops and restaurants, and Bilbao airport has come second.

AirHelp, a travel consumer protection organisation, publishes an annual ranking of the world's best and worst terminals, scoring them for facilities, flight punctuality, helpfulness, comfort and a broad range of other features.

Issued every year since 2015 – other than during the pandemic years - the AirHelp Score report puts the international airport in Spain's capital at number 12 worldwide and top in Europe.

Overall, the hub – with four terminals and based in the Madrid satellite town of Barajas – gained 82.5% after a meteoric rise from its 2019 position.

Back then, Madrid airport was at number 33 in the world.

How Madrid and Bilbao score

For flight punctuality, Madrid earned 82.6%; customer opinion rankings gave it 81.9%, and leisure and relaxation facilities such as bars, cafés, restaurants and shops gained 83%.

Connections from Madrid cover the entire world, although direct flights to Latin American destinations are its speciality, making it the gateway to the 'new world' south of the tropics.

It was renamed in 2014 in honour of the first national president of Spain's democratic era, Adolfo Suárez, who died on March 23 that year aged 81 from Alzheimer's.

Bilbao airport is 24th in the world and second-highest ranked in Europe, with a total score of 80.5%, made up of 83.9% for punctuality, 78.1% for customer opinion rankings and 72.8% for its shopping and dining facilities.

The next European airport to appear on the AirHelp Score 2022 ranking is Milan, north-western Italy, at number 49 in the world.

Barcelona fourth in Europe after Milan

Another Spanish airport comes near the top – fourth in Europe and 53rd in the world, Barcelona's Josep Tarradellas-El Prat gets 76.8% overall, comprising 76% for flight punctuality, 77.2% for customer opinions, and 78.5% for shops, cafés and restaurants.

In fact, El Prat is another flight hub that has rocketed up the ranking this year – back in 2019, the Barcelona terminal was at world number 103 out of the total of 151 listed, but has shot up 50 places.

How Spain's scores compare with Japan's and Brazil's, the world's best

The difference in scores out of 100 between Madrid at number 12 and the world number one airport is not huge – Tokyo Haneda International Airport in the Japanese capital earns an across-the-board figure of 88.3%, made up of 88.9% for flight punctuality, 89% for customer opinions, and 85.7% for retail and restaurant facilities.

Indeed, Japan's capital occupies two slots in the top three – Narita International comes third worldwide with 84.9%, behind Recife airport on Brazil's northern coast in second place with 85.2%.

Brazil has five airports in the world's top 12, which also includes Dubai International at number nine.

The terminal in the United Arab Emirates city holds the record for the highest climb in the AirHelp Score 2022 ranking – back in 2019, it was at number 111, but its dramatic improvement in flight punctuality has seen it jump 102 slots.

Kuala Lumpur airport, in the Malaysian capital, comes in at 10, with improvements in all areas analysed, and the terminal in the Colombian capital of Bogotá is at number 11 in the world, risking several rungs due to getting better at flights being on time.

Bristol, Brussels-Charleroi and Athens plummet

The greatest fall in positions this year is Charleroi airport in Brussels, Belgium, dropping from world number 14 to 142, or a total of 128 positions, followed by Athens' Eleftherios Venizelos International in the Greek capital, dropping 96 places.

In both cases, their scores fell in all areas analysed.

The third-greatest drop was experienced by Bristol airport in the UK, which has fallen 77 places to number 147 out of 151, largely due to poor flight punctuality, according to AirHelp.