Norway leads Europe’s best airports list while France and the UK fall behind again.

  Norway leads Europe’s best airports list while France and the UK fall behind again.

As millions of Europeans set off on their summer travels, new data reveals which airports are most likely to deliver a smooth journey – and which ones might test your patience.

AirHelp, a passenger rights organisation, has just released its annual global airport ranking, assessing performance based on punctuality, passenger satisfaction and service quality.

And, while major hubs like Paris Charles de Gaulle and London Gatwick failed to impress, several smaller European airports stood out for their reliability and customer care.

Which airports are Europe’s best?

Cape Town International Airport in South Africa ranked first overall, scoring 8.6 for punctuality and 8.7 for customer opinion to top a list of 250 international airports from 68 different countries.

The best-performing airport in Europe overall was Bergen Flesland in Norway, which came 9th globally and topped European airports for punctuality.

Other high scorers in Europe included Bilbao Airport in Spain’s Basque region (16th), Bodø Airport (23rd) and Oslo Gardermoen (28th), also in Norway, and Reykjavik Keflavík in Iceland (30th).

Despite ranking 130th overall, Luxembourg Airport scored 9.0 for customer opinion, putting it atop all other European airports in that category, while Amsterdam Schiphol (111th overall) scored highest in Europe for food and drinks, scoring 8.3.

Still, it topped the French list for the second year running, earning solid scores for punctuality and customer satisfaction, though it rated slightly lower for shopping and dining. In 181st, Paris Charles de Gaulle performed poorly across all metrics, with frequent delays and low customer ratings dragging down its score.

London Gatwick ranked 235th, with low marks across the board.

All three still outperformed Europe’s worst airport, Rhodes Diagoras. The Greek island air hub scored a paltry 6.05, with a 5.8 for punctuality. That score put it in 249th, one spot above the world’s worst by these metrics, Tunis Carthage Airport.