ABERDEEN airport has said it "won't lose sleep" after being rated Scotland's worst for customer satisfaction for the fifth year in a row, in a Which survey.

Only Belfast International was rated more poorly than the Granite City's airport amongst the UK's small airports.

But Steve Szalay, the managing director of Aberdeen International Airport has taken issue with the feedback from "just 48 people", which he felt was not representative.

Passengers complained about overcrowding, lack of seating and long walks between the plane and terminal, said the consumer organisation about the survey undertaken between April and May, this year.

In the survey collecting more than 6,000 airport experiences of airports in the UK, Aberdeen earned the lowest rating (50%) in Scotland managing only two stars out of a possible five in most categories including seating and overall experience of staff.

Among the airport’s unsatisfied customers, one said they only used the airport out of “geographic convenience rather than choice”.

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Mr Szalay said: “Whilst all feedback is welcome, we’re not going to lose any sleep whatsoever over a survey based on feedback from just 48 people (0.002% of our annual passenger numbers) and which couldn’t get enough respondents to provide a rating for all of the categories.

The Herald: Aberdeen International Airport

“The survey is months out of date and in no way tallies with the hugely positive feedback we’re receiving from the tens of thousands of passengers who are traveling through our doors on a weekly basis.

"Our customer satisfaction scores are the highest they’ve been in over three years as people enjoy the benefits of our terminal transformation project which is now in its final phase.

" Since the survey was taken we’ve further expanded our retail and catering offering.

“All of these developments have delivered a vastly improved experience for our passengers and for the city region."

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Which? Travel’s Naomi Leach said: “Seamless security, ample seating and fuss-free boarding can get your holiday off to a flying start so it’s good to see some Scottish airports scoring better than the rest of the UK.

“All Scots travelling in and out of the country deserve a hassle-free experience no matter which local airport they use and Aberdeen could learn a thing or two from the higher performers in our survey.”

The Herald:

Inverness and Glasgow International were the highest-rated Scottish airports - both scoring 64 per cent.

“Pleasant” Glasgow International was praised by passengers for having “delightful” staff and a decent three stars for catering provisions although one customer considered the offering, only as “adequate”.

Those who travelled through Inverness described it as a “delightful little airport without crowds or hassle” and while security was considered “methodical if a little slow” the airport was viewed as a “pleasure to use”.

Aberdeen fared better than the UK’s worst airport overall, Belfast International, which only managed an abysmal 42 per cent customer score.

Travellers described Belfast International as “tired and shabby”, others pointed out a “poor layout” and claimed the airport was “understaffed.”

The airport also scored poorly for security queues, seating and staff as well as a limited range of shops and restaurants - a quarter (25%) of which are branches of WH Smith.

The Herald:

Crowned the highest-rated airport in the country for the third year running and beating its larger counterparts by some margin with an impressive 86 per cent customer score was Doncaster Sheffield.

Among the airports with more than 10 million passengers a year, Heathrow Terminal 5 has the best overall customer score (66%). Ample seating and helpful staff both earned the airport four out of five stars but it was the quality of the toilet facilities which got the full five-star rating.