Newcastle Airport has been named the best in the country by Mirror Travel and cheapflights.co.uk.

Researchers asked holiday makers to rank Britain’s top 15 airports on a range of criteria - from check-in speed to security stress, cleanliness, shopping and wi-fi. Toilets, bars and restaurants were also rated.

The airport achieved high satisfaction levels across all categories. Edinburgh Airport came second, followed by Liverpool, Cardiff and Glasgow.

Manchester came top in the retail and leisure category, while Cardiff has the friendliest staff, best security experience and greatest wi-fi access.

Andrew Shelton, MD, Cheapflights.co.uk, said: “Love them or hate them, millions of Brits won’t be able to avoid the UK’s airports this summer season.

“Our poll shows our regional airports are a clear favourite with travellers, with larger airports struggling to deliver a consistently positive passenger experience – proving that bigger isn’t always better and more choice doesn’t always equate to satisfaction.

“Our research reiterated once more that the airport experience remains among the most stressful aspects of going on holiday.

“However, those using the smaller regional airports where the sheer volume of human traffic is lower, find the whole experience less stressful than those passing through the big hubs.

“On the whole though, our airports are happy places to be – arriving at them is where 30% of Brits feel 'holiday mode' kicks in.”