Air passenger experience of security screening: 2024
Published 28 October 2025
1. About this release
This statistical release summarises results from a set of 5 questions about passengers’ experiences of security screening which were included in the Civil Aviation Authority Departing Passenger Survey in 2024.
Over 15,000 respondents at 7 airports (Birmingham, Gatwick, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Manchester and Stansted) were asked about their experiences of security screening. Birmingham and London City airports were included in the survey for the first time since 2019.
Next Generation Security Checkpoint (NGSC)
During 2024, UK airports started to rollout and implement new cutting-edge technology, enhancing security and boosting the passenger experience. For many airports, the implementation process was complex and involved major infrastructure work. This happened at different times at UK airports, so passenger experience is likely to have varied as individual airport security screening measures were upgraded. This upgrade to security equipment and processes is known as the Next Generation Security Checkpoint (NGSC).
These are official statistics. For more information, see the About these statistics section.
2. Overall findings for 2024
In 2024, most passengers surveyed (85%) said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their experience of security screening.
The aspects of security screening with which passengers were least satisfied were:
- 
    queuing (cited by 5%) 
- 
    slow speed of the screening process (cited by 3%) 
- 
    restriction of liquids (cited by 3%) 
However, 78% of passengers surveyed said that there was no aspect of the security screening process with which they were least satisfied.
The aspects of security screening with which passengers were most satisfied were:
- 
    fast speed of the screening process (cited by 25%) 
- 
    general organisation (cited by 7%) 
- 
    staff attitude and politeness (cited by 6%) 
Around half (52%) of passengers reported that there was no aspect of the security screening process with which they were most satisfied.
56% of passengers reported spending no more than 5 minutes queuing for security screening. Just over a third (34%) of passengers reported queuing for between 6 and 15 minutes. 10% reported spending over 15 minutes queuing.
89% of passengers agreed or strongly agreed that any inconvenience caused by the security screening process was acceptable.
3. Comparing findings from 2024 to 2023
Across the 5 airports that were surveyed in both 2023 and 2024, levels of passenger satisfaction remain high (87% in 2023 and 85% in 2024).
The least satisfactory aspect of security screening remains queuing (cited by 5% of passengers at these airports in 2023 and by 4% in 2024).
The proportion of passengers who reported queuing for no more than 5 minutes increased slightly (52% of passengers in 2023 and 57% in 2024).
Most passengers surveyed in both years reported that any inconvenience caused by the security screening was acceptable (89% of passengers in both 2023 and 2024).
4. Satisfaction with experience of security screening (AVI0502)
Question asked: How satisfied are you with your experience of the security screening used at the airport today?
Across all 7 airports, the majority (85%) of respondents in 2024 said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with their experience of security screening, with almost half (47%) saying they were very satisfied.
As shown in Chart 1, passengers at London City had the highest levels of satisfaction, with 97% satisfied or very satisfied with their security screening experience.
Passengers at Luton had the lowest levels of satisfaction (69% satisfied or very satisfied) and the highest levels of dissatisfaction (6% dissatisfied or very dissatisfied). The proportion of passengers describing their experience as “OK” at Luton was much higher than at any other airport (26%).
Chart 1: Levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with security screening at UK airports, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | Very satisfied | Satisfied | OK | Dissatisfied | Very dissatisfied | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London City | 66% | 31% | 2% | 1% | 0% | 100% | 
| Gatwick | 44% | 47% | 7% | 1% | 0% | 100% | 
| Manchester | 62% | 26% | 9% | 3% | 1% | 100% | 
| Heathrow | 47% | 39% | 11% | 2% | 1% | 100% | 
| Stansted | 39% | 42% | 16% | 2% | 1% | 100% | 
| Birmingham | 42% | 39% | 14% | 3% | 2% | 100% | 
| Luton | 40% | 29% | 26% | 3% | 3% | 100% | 
There was little difference in passenger satisfaction between those travelling for leisure and business, between male and female passengers, or between UK and foreign residents. However, passengers travelling on long haul flights were slightly more likely to be satisfied or very satisfied with their experience (87%) than passengers travelling on short haul (84%) or domestic (84%) flights.
5. Least satisfactory aspects of security screening (AVI0503)
Question asked: What aspect of the security screening were you least satisfied with?
Technical note: Passengers were presented with a list of 22 potential response options, and asked to select one aspect. Respondents were able to select ‘None’ if there was no aspect of the security screening process with which they were least satisfied, or ‘Other’ if the least satisfactory aspect was not listed.
Most (78%) of the passengers surveyed did not report a least satisfactory aspect of security screening.
Of the least satisfactory aspects reported, queuing was the most common (reported by 5% of passengers). The slow speed of the screening process and restrictions on liquids (both 3%) were second and third.
The highest proportion of passengers who reported queuing as the least satisfactory aspect of security screening was at Birmingham (19%). This is consistent with passengers’ reported queue times, with 16% of passengers at Birmingham reporting queuing for more than 20 minutes. This was more than double the proportion at any other airport.
6. Most satisfactory aspects of security screening (AVI0503)
Question asked: What aspect of the security screening were you most satisfied with?
Technical note: Passengers were presented with a list of 14 potential response options, and asked to select one aspect. Respondents were able to select ‘None’ if there was no aspect of the security screening process with which they were most satisfied, or ‘Other’ if the most satisfactory aspect was not listed.
In 2024, for the first time, passengers were also asked which aspect of the security screening process they were most satisfied with. A higher proportion of passengers (48%) reported a most satisfactory aspect than reported a least satisfactory aspect of security screening (22%).
Of the most satisfactory aspects reported, the fast speed of screening process was the most common (reported by 25% of passengers) followed by general organisation (7%) and staff attitude and politeness (6%).
The highest proportion of passengers who reported the fast speed of screening process as the most satisfactory aspect of security screening was at London City (57%), where 81% of passengers reported queuing for no more than 5 minutes.
Gatwick had the highest proportion of passengers who reported general organisation as the most satisfactory aspect of security screening (16%), and Birmingham had the highest proportion who reported staff attitude and politeness as the most satisfactory (11%).
7. Queuing times (AVI0504)
Question asked: For how long, in minutes, did you queue when waiting to be security screened?
Technical note: Figures represent passengers’ perceptions of their time spent queuing. Passengers can overestimate their queuing time, so these figures may be higher than the actual times at these airports. However, they give some indication of relative queuing times between airports.
Over half of passengers surveyed (56%) reported that they queued for no more than 5 minutes, 11% reported queuing for 6 to 9 minutes, and 33% reported that they queued for at least 10 minutes.
As shown in Chart 2, however, there were differences in queuing times between airports. The highest proportion of passengers who reported queuing times of no more than 5 minutes was at London City (81%). The lowest was at Birmingham (39%), followed by Stansted (43%) and Manchester (44%). Birmingham also had the highest proportion of passengers who reported queuing for more than 20 minutes (16%).
Chart 2: Reported queuing times at security screening at UK airports, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | 1 to 5 minutes | 6 to 9 minutes | 10 to 15 minutes | 16 to 20 minutes | Over 20 minutes | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London City | 81% | 8% | 9% | 2% | 0% | 100% | 
| Luton | 77% | 3% | 13% | 3% | 4% | 100% | 
| Gatwick | 61% | 15% | 18% | 3% | 3% | 100% | 
| Heathrow | 60% | 11% | 22% | 4% | 3% | 100% | 
| Manchester [footnote 2] | 44% | 7% | 33% | 8% | 8% | 100% | 
| Stansted | 43% | 15% | 29% | 7% | 5% | 100% | 
| Birmingham | 39% | 8% | 26% | 11% | 16% | 100% | 
8. Acceptance of any inconvenience caused by security screening (AVI0505)
Question asked: How strongly do you agree or disagree with the following statement: “Any inconvenience caused by the security screening was acceptable?”
Base numbers and measurement bias
Base numbers for this question are lower than for other questions. This is because passengers have the option to respond “not applicable” to this question, if they did not experience any inconvenience. The data presented here and in the accompanying data tables excludes “not applicable” responses.
The number of “not applicable” responses in this year’s survey varies quite considerably between airports, however. At Gatwick, just over 1% of responses to this question were “not applicable”, but at Luton, this rises to nearly 35%. This suggests that there may be some inconsistency in interviewer behaviour between airports, which has the potential to bias results, particularly at airports with lots of “not applicable” responses. This is likely to have a larger impact on the results for Manchester and Luton than other airports.
Ahead of future releases, we will investigate this issue further and consider whether we should be treating “not applicable” responses to this question differently. We also plan to work with the Civil Aviation Authority to clarify interviewer guidance and ensure greater consistency of interviewer behaviour across airports.
The majority (89%) of passengers agreed or strongly agreed that any inconvenience caused by security screening was acceptable, with only 4% disagreeing or strongly disagreeing.
As shown in Chart 3, agreement that any inconvenience was acceptable was highest at Gatwick (94% agreed or strongly agreed), followed by London City (93%).
Overall agreement was lowest at Luton (74%) but the proportion of passengers strongly agreeing with the statement at Luton (51%) was higher than at Gatwick (40%) or London City (42%). A larger than usual proportion of passengers at Luton (19%) reported that they neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement.
Chart 3: Levels of agreement and disagreement with the statement “any inconvenience caused by the security screening was acceptable” at UK airports, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | Strongly agree | Agree | Neither | Disagree | Strongly disagree | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gatwick | 40% | 55% | 5% | 0% | 1% | 100% | 
| London City | 42% | 51% | 4% | 2% | 1% | 100% | 
| Stansted | 27% | 65% | 5% | 3% | 1% | 100% | 
| Heathrow | 34% | 55% | 7% | 3% | 1% | 100% | 
| Manchester | 51% | 37% | 7% | 4% | 1% | 100% | 
| Birmingham | 17% | 62% | 12% | 7% | 2% | 100% | 
| Luton | 51% | 23% | 19% | 5% | 2% | 100% | 
Passengers aged 65 and over were more likely to strongly agree that any inconvenience caused was acceptable (41%) than passengers aged 16 to 24 (34%).
9. Airport summaries
9.1. Birmingham [footnote 3]
At Birmingham, 81% of passengers reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their experience of security screening (Chart 4).
Chart 4: Levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with security screening at Birmingham, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | Very satisfied | Satisfied | OK | Dissatisfied | Very dissatisfied | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | 42% | 39% | 14% | 3% | 2% | 100% | 
The aspects that passengers were least satisfied with at Birmingham were queuing (19% of passengers) and general organisation (4%). The proportion of passengers that were least satisfied with queuing at Birmingham was higher than at any other airport. The equivalent aspects in 2019 were queuing (11%) and the slow speed of screening process (3%).
The aspects that passengers were most satisfied with at Birmingham were the fast speed of the screening process (30%) and staff attitude and politeness (11%).
Only 47% of passengers at Birmingham reported queuing for less than 10 minutes at security screening, with 16% reporting queuing for more than 20 minutes (Chart 5). This is more than double the proportion at any other airport.
Chart 5: Reported queuing times at security screening at Birmingham, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | 1 to 5 minutes | 6 to 9 minutes | 10 to 15 minutes | 16 to 20 minutes | Over 20 minutes | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | 39% | 8% | 26% | 11% | 16% | 100% | 
Most passengers (79%) at Birmingham agreed or strongly agreed that any inconvenience caused by security screening was acceptable, though the proportion strongly agreeing was particularly low compared to other airports (17 %). Overall agreement with the statement was lower than in 2019, when the equivalent proportion was 91%.
9.2. Gatwick
At Gatwick, 91% of passengers surveyed reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their experience of security screening (Chart 6), a slightly higher proportion than in 2023 (88%).
Chart 6: Levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with security screening at Gatwick, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | Very satisfied | Satisfied | OK | Dissatisfied | Very dissatisfied | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gatwick | 44% | 47% | 7% | 1% | 0% | 100% | 
The aspect that passengers were least satisfied with at Gatwick was the restriction of liquids (6%). The aspects that passengers were most satisfied with were the fast speed of the screening process (17%) and general organisation (16%).
Most passengers at Gatwick (76%) reported queuing for less than 10 minutes at security screening, with 61% reporting queuing times of no more than 5 minutes (Chart 7). This proportion was similar to 2023, when 63% of passengers surveyed reported queuing for no more than 5 minutes.
Chart 7: Reported queuing times at security screening at Gatwick, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | 1 to 5 minutes | 6 to 9 minutes | 10 to 15 minutes | 16 to 20 minutes | Over 20 minutes | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gatwick | 61% | 15% | 18% | 3% | 3% | 100% | 
Most passengers (94%) at Gatwick agreed or strongly agreed that any inconvenience caused by security screening was acceptable. This proportion is higher than in 2023, when the equivalent was 88%.
9.3. Heathrow
At Heathrow, 86% of passengers surveyed reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their experience of security screening (Chart 8). This is slightly lower than in 2023 when the equivalent proportion was 89%.
Chart 8: Levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with security screening at Heathrow, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | Very satisfied | Satisfied | OK | Dissatisfied | Very dissatisfied | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 47% | 39% | 11% | 2% | 1% | 100% | 
The aspects that passengers were least satisfied with at Heathrow were queuing (5% of passengers) and the slow speed of the screening process (4%). The equivalent aspects in 2023 were general organisation (4% of passengers) and queuing (3%).
The aspects that passengers were most satisfied with at Heathrow were the fast speed of the screening process (19%) and staff attitude and politeness (7%).
Most passengers (71%) at Heathrow reported queuing for less than 10 minutes at security screening, with 60% reporting queuing times of no more than 5 minutes (Chart 9). Only 3% of passengers surveyed reported queuing for more than 20 minutes.
Chart 9: Reported queuing times at security screening at Heathrow, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | 1 to 5 minutes | 6 to 9 minutes | 10 to 15 minutes | 16 to 20 minutes | Over 20 minutes | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 60% | 11% | 22% | 4% | 3% | 100% | 
Reported queuing times at Terminal 5 were noticeably longer than at other terminals, with passengers at this terminal also more likely to report dissatisfaction with queuing (7%) and the slow speed of the screening process (6%).
Most passengers (89%) at Heathrow agreed or strongly agreed that any inconvenience caused by security screening was acceptable. This is slightly lower than 2023, when the equivalent proportion was 91%.
9.4. London City [footnote 3] [footnote 4]
At London City, 97% of passengers surveyed reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their experience of security screening (Chart 10). This is higher than in 2019, when the equivalent proportion was 85%, and is the highest proportion recorded at any airport since the current question wording was introduced in 2016.
Chart 10: Levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with security screening at London City, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | Very satisfied | Satisfied | OK | Dissatisfied | Very dissatisfied | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London City | 66% | 31% | 2% | 1% | 0% | 100% | 
The aspects that passengers were least satisfied with at London City, were the restriction of liquids (4% of passengers) and queuing (2%). Queuing and unprepared passengers were the most commonly reported least satisfactory aspects in 2019 (5% and 4% respectively).
The aspects that passengers were most satisfied with were the fast speed of the screening process (57%) and staff attitude and politeness (10%).
Most passengers (89%) at London City reported queuing for less than 10 minutes at security screening, with 81% reporting queuing times of no more than 5 minutes (Chart 11). Less than 1% of passengers reported queuing for more than 20 minutes. In 2019, 38% of passengers surveyed reported queuing for no more than 5 minutes.
Chart 11: Reported queuing times at security screening at London City, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | 1 to 5 minutes | 6 to 9 minutes | 10 to 15 minutes | 16 to 20 minutes | Over 20 minutes | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London City | 81% | 8% | 9% | 2% | 0% | 100% | 
Most passengers (93%) at London City agreed or strongly agreed that any inconvenience caused by security screening was acceptable.
9.5. Luton
At Luton, 69% of passengers surveyed reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their experience of security screening (Chart 12). This is noticeably lower than in 2023, when the equivalent proportion was 87%.
However, the proportion of passengers describing their experience as “OK” at Luton (26%) was much higher than at any other airport, and at Luton in 2023 (10%).
6% of passengers at Luton reported being dissatisfied or very dissatisfied in 2024, which was the highest proportion among the airports surveyed.
Chart 12: Levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with security screening at Luton, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | Very satisfied | Satisfied | OK | Dissatisfied | Very dissatisfied | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luton | 40% | 29% | 26% | 3% | 3% | 100% | 
The aspects that passengers were least satisfied with at Luton were the slow speed of the screening process (5% of passengers) and queuing (3%). The slow speed of the screening process and queuing were also the most commonly reported least satisfactory aspects in 2023 (6% and 4% respectively).
The aspect that passengers were most satisfied with at Luton was the fast speed of screening process (26%).
Most passengers (80%) at Luton reported queuing for less than 10 minutes at security screening, with 77% reporting queue times of no more than 5 minutes (Chart 13). The latter was higher than the proportion at any other airport, with the exception of London City. In 2023, 57% of passengers surveyed reported queuing for no more than 5 minutes.
Chart 13: Reported queuing times at security screening at Luton, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | 1 to 5 minutes | 6 to 9 minutes | 10 to 15 minutes | 16 to 20 minutes | Over 20 minutes | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Luton | 77% | 3% | 13% | 3% | 4% | 100% | 
Most passengers (74%) at Luton agreed or strongly agreed that any inconvenience caused by security screening was acceptable. This is noticeably lower than 2023, when the equivalent proportion was 93%.
However, a much larger than usual proportion of passengers at Luton (19%) reported that they neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement. This compares to 4% in 2023, and a maximum proportion of 9% across all years the survey has taken place since 2009.
9.6. Manchester
At Manchester, 87% of passengers surveyed reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their experience of security screening (Chart 14). This is slightly higher than in 2023, when the equivalent proportion was 83%.
Chart 14: Levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with security screening at Manchester, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | Very satisfied | Satisfied | OK | Dissatisfied | Very dissatisfied | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | 62% | 26% | 9% | 3% | 1% | 100% | 
The aspects that passengers were least satisfied with at Manchester were general organisation (4%) and the slow speed of the screening process (4%). The least satisfactory aspects in 2023 were queuing (7% of passengers) and the slow speed of the screening process (6%).
As with all airports, the aspect that passengers were most satisfied with was the fast speed of the screening process (39%).
The proportion of passengers at Manchester who reported queuing for less than 10 minutes at security screening (51%) was higher than in 2023 (37%). 8% of passengers surveyed reported queuing for more than 20 minutes (Chart 15). This is much lower than in 2023 when the equivalent proportion was 17%.
Chart 15: Reported queuing times at security screening at Manchester, 2024 [footnote 1] [footnote 2]
| Airport | 1 to 5 minutes | 6 to 9 minutes | 10 to 15 minutes | 16 to 20 minutes | Over 20 minutes | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester | 44% | 7% | 33% | 8% | 8% | 100% | 
Queuing performance was better at Terminal 2, with only 2% of passengers reporting queuing for more than 20 minutes, compared to 9% at Terminal 3, and 11% at Terminal 1. Overall passenger satisfaction with security screening at Terminal 2 (95%) was also higher than at the other two terminals (both 84%).
A similar proportion of passengers (88%) at Manchester agreed or strongly agreed that any inconvenience caused by security screening was acceptable to 2023 (87%).
9.7. Stansted
At Stansted, 81% of passengers surveyed reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their experience of security screening (Chart 16). This is a similar proportion of passengers as in 2023 (82%).
Chart 16: Levels of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with security screening at Stansted, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | Very satisfied | Satisfied | OK | Dissatisfied | Very dissatisfied | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stansted | 39% | 42% | 16% | 2% | 1% | 100% | 
The aspects that passengers were least satisfied with at Stansted were queuing (9%) - the second highest proportion after Birmingham - and the restriction of liquids (3%). Queuing was also the most commonly reported aspect at Stansted in 2023 (11%).
The aspects that passengers were most satisfied with were the fast speed of the screening process (23%) and staff attitude and politeness (8%).
Most passengers (59%) at Stansted reported queuing for less than 10 minutes at security screening. This is the same proportion as in 2023. 5% of passengers surveyed reported queuing for more than 20 minutes (Chart 17).
Chart 17: Reported queuing times at security screening at Stansted, 2024 [footnote 1]
| Airport | 1 to 5 minutes | 6 to 9 minutes | 10 to 15 minutes | 16 to 20 minutes | Over 20 minutes | Total | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stansted | 43% | 15% | 29% | 7% | 5% | 100% | 
Most passengers (91%) at Stansted agreed or strongly agreed that any inconvenience caused by security screening was acceptable. This is slightly higher than in 2023, when the equivalent proportion was 88%.
10. About these statistics
These statistics are official statistics. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics. More information about these statistics can be found in the Aviation statistics: notes and definitions.
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- 
      Figures in this chart are rounded, so may not add up to 100%. Totals quoted in the commentary have been calculated using unrounded figures, so there may sometimes appear to be a discrepancy between the sum of the constituent parts and the totals shown. Unrounded figures are available in the data tables accompanying this release. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 
- 
      In 2024, around 7% of responses to the queuing time question at Manchester were “no answer” responses, which is much higher than at other airports. It is possible that some of these responses were passengers reporting not having to queue at all, which should have been recorded in the “1 to 5 minutes” category. Ahead of future releases, we will investigate this issue further and work with the Civil Aviation Authority to ensure consistency of interviewer behaviour across airports. ↩ ↩2 
- 
      Birmingham and London City airports were not included in the 2023 survey. Where appropriate, comparisons are made with 2019 instead. ↩ ↩2 
- 
      The base number for questions asked at London City is smaller than at other airports. Data is based on 400 to 500 responses to each question at London City, compared to over 1,000 responses elsewhere. This reflects the fact that London City handles fewer passengers than the other airports in the survey. Base numbers are provided for each question in the accompanying data tables. ↩ 
