Heathrow Airport Joins Newark Liberty, Vienna International and Madrid-Barajas in the World’s Most Frustrating Airports for Travel, Here is What New Data Reveals

Published on December 4, 2025

A startling new report confirms what millions of flyers already knew. Air travel has become a massive frustration. Flying is now a grueling endurance test. A cruising company, Sail Croatia, recently published a major study. They looked at the world’s most frustrating airports. This report analyzed fifty major international terminals. The goal was simple: see which airports cause passengers the most trouble. The findings are now public. They reveal a shocking truth about major global hubs. Even famous names like London Heathrow Airport are struggling badly. The study used a simple ranking system. It gave airports a score from zero to one hundred. A higher score means a much poorer travel experience. The data confirms that London Heathrow Airport is one of the Worst Airports in the world for travelers. It joins other massive hubs on this notorious list. The report specifically flags Newark Liberty International Airport, Vienna International Airport and Madrid-Barajas Airport. These four airports—London Heathrow Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Vienna International Airport and Madrid-Barajas Airport—show a disturbing global trend. Airport infrastructure cannot keep up with soaring passenger numbers. This report is a clear warning to every traveler. You must now plan for delays, crowds and missing bags.

The New Era of Travel Frustration

The travel industry changed forever twenty years ago. Budget airlines made flying cheap. Air travel used to be expensive. Most people flew only once or twice a year. That is not true anymore. Passenger numbers have exploded. They went from two billion to nearly ten billion today. The sheer number of people flying causes chaos. Airports were not built to handle this volume. This is the core reason for the frustration we all feel now.

Sail Croatia’s study did not just count passenger numbers. It looked at three key pain points for flyers. These are the factors that truly ruin a trip.

• Flight Delay Frequency: How often flights are running late.
• Terminal Overcrowding (Passenger Density): How crowded the terminals are.
• Lost Baggage Crisis: How many people search online for help with lost baggage.

The airports ranked the highest for frustration score the worst in these categories. The results paint a clear picture of what makes a journey miserable.

The UK’s Shame: London Stansted Leads the Worst Airports

The research delivered a brutal verdict on the United Kingdom. The UK has the most problematic terminals globally. London Stansted Airport is the single worst terminal for travelers in the world. This airport’s statistics are shocking. Nearly eight out of every ten flights run late. The delay rate is a massive seventy-five point five zero percent. This is the highest delay rate in the world.

Stansted is also a tiny airport. It covers only nine point six square kilometers. Yet, it handles twenty-eight million passengers every year. People constantly end up packed into the terminals. They cannot even find a place to sit during peak times. This combination of huge delays and massive crowding made Stansted the clear leader in the list of Worst Airports.

Stansted’s final score was sixty-four point eight zero. This is far higher than any other airport on the list.

The Frustration in London: Heathrow’s Struggle

The problem is not limited to Stansted. Two other UK airports also ranked high. London Gatwick and London Heathrow Airport are both in the top five globally for flight issues.

London Heathrow Airport rounds out the top five Worst Airports. It is Europe’s busiest terminal. It serves eighty-four million passengers annually. The airport is physically bigger than both Stansted and Gatwick. Yet, this massive passenger traffic still overwhelms the space. Nearly every fourth flight runs late here. The reported delay rate for London Heathrow Airport is twenty-four point six zero percent.

Lost baggage is also a serious problem at London Heathrow Airport. Over five point four zero thousand people search each year for their missing belongings. Heathrow’s final frustration score was forty-eight point three three. This puts it in a very poor position globally.

The report included a stark comment from a Sail Croatia spokesperson. “It’s no wonder that even famous terminals like Heathrow and Charles de Gaulle are struggling these days,” they said. The infrastructure simply cannot cope with the sheer number of people flying. The issues at London Heathrow Airport are a clear example of this global failure.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta: The Busiest and Most Overwhelmed

The world’s busiest airport by passenger count is Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. It serves one hundred eight million people annually. Atlanta comes second on the list of Worst Airports. The terminals here are always overcrowded. This is America’s lowest-ranked airport. The reported delay rate is twenty point nine eight percent.

With so many flights, bags are often misplaced. Each year, thirty-five point eight one thousand people look up online how to track down their lost luggage from Hartsfield-Jackson. Its overall score was fifty-one point two four.

Charles de Gaulle: Europe’s Troubled Hub

Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris ranks third. More than six out of every ten flights here are behind schedule. This makes it one of the most problematic hubs in Europe. The airport serves seventy million passengers every year. The delay rate is sixty-two point one zero percent. The airport is big enough to handle the volume, yet it still faces operational problems.

London Gatwick: The Second UK Nightmare

London Gatwick Airport follows next as London’s other low-ranked airport. It is fourth on the list of Worst Airports. Over forty-three million passengers pass through this terminal annually. The airport only covers about seven square kilometers. With so little room, passengers are often stuck in overcrowded terminals. Three in every ten flights run late. This causes passengers to fail to catch their connecting flights.

The Global Crisis: Newark Liberty, Vienna and Madrid

The new data shows that airport frustration is not just a UK or US problem. It is a worldwide crisis. The study identified other massive hubs as being among the Worst Airports for travelers. The airports in the headline are prime examples of this global failure: Newark Liberty International Airport, Vienna International Airport and Madrid-Barajas Airport.

Newark Liberty International Airport

Newark Liberty International Airport in the USA ranked seventh on the list of Worst Airports. This is a major gateway for the entire New York City area. It handles a massive volume of flights.

The core problems at Newark Liberty International Airport include delays and high crowding. The reported delay rate is twenty-eight point eight nine percent. The passenger density is reported at five point nine five million per square kilometer. Furthermore, one point four zero thousand people search online for help with lost baggage every year. The final frustration score for Newark Liberty International Airport was forty-five point one six.

Vienna International Airport

Central European hubs are also struggling. Vienna International Airport in Austria is the region’s main gateway. It is a crucial connection point. The airport placed eighth on the list of Worst Airports.

Vienna International Airport has a very high rate of flight delays. The data shows a delay rate of forty-two point four zero percent. Almost half of all flights at Vienna International Airport are running late. Lost baggage is a smaller, but still noticeable, issue. four hundred people search online for lost and found help annually. The passenger density at Vienna International Airport is three point one seven million per square kilometer. The total frustration score for Vienna International Airport was thirty-nine point six one.

Madrid-Barajas Airport

Spain’s massive hub, Madrid-Barajas Airport, also made the list of Worst Airports. Madrid-Barajas Airport ranked tenth in the study.

Like Vienna, the main problem at Madrid-Barajas Airport is flight punctuality. The reported delay rate is forty-four point four zero percent. That means four out of every ten flights are behind schedule. Passenger density is reported at two point one seven million per square kilometer. Lost and found searches total one point two one thousand annually. Madrid-Barajas Airport received a frustration score of thirty-five point eight nine.

The Overwhelming Truth: Why Airports Fail

The core message of this study is clear. The aviation industry has failed to upgrade its infrastructure. It has failed to match the explosion in passenger demand. A spokesperson from Sail Croatia stated this plainly. More people can afford to fly now. But airports were not built to handle nearly ten billion passengers.

The concentration of highly ranked Worst Airports in the UK, like London Heathrow Airport, suggests deep, systemic issues. Other major American and European hubs, including Newark Liberty International Airport, Vienna International Airport and Madrid-Barajas Airport, face the same crisis.

• Crowding Kills Efficiency: High passenger density means chaos. At London Gatwick, forty-three million passengers pass through a terminal covering only seven square kilometers. This lack of room causes missed connections.
• Delays Cascade: A high delay rate is the single biggest factor in an airport’s poor score. When three-quarters of flights at London Stansted are late, the entire system breaks down.
• Baggage is a Barometer: When thirty-five point eight one thousand people search for lost luggage from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, it shows the operational system is overwhelmed. This same strain affects London Heathrow Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.

The final score for London Heathrow Airport was forty-eight point three three. Newark Liberty International Airport scored forty-five point one six. Vienna International Airport scored thirty-nine point six one. Madrid-Barajas Airport scored thirty-five point eight nine. These scores confirm that travel through these once-reliable hubs is now a guaranteed source of frustration. The data offers a brutal but necessary warning. Travelers must adjust their expectations and plan for the worst. This era of travel chaos is not ending soon.