London Heathrow has been named the best European airport for families, according to a study conducted by travel search site, Skyscanner.
Skyscanner commissioned the study with the help of 35 family travel experts, who rated Europe’s top 20 airports by passenger numbers, for their family facilities. Paris Orly and Moscow DME failed to qualify as not enough valid scores were received for those airports.
Each airport was marked for its baby changing facilities, security process, food offerings and entertainment, as well as an overall general family friendly score to take into account accessibility, the check-in process and baggage reclaim.
In 2012, the same Skyscanner study named Heathrow the least family friendly airport in the UK. The airport has faced tough competition across Europe, including from the major hubs of Frankfurt and Paris Charles De Gaulle.
Skyscanner’s Mary Porter commented: ‘This is great news for Heathrow and, although the sample was small, it is these personal experiences by those in the know that really demonstrate how well an airport is meeting the needs of its youngest customers.
‘Flying with a family can be challenging and it is great to see airports addressing this. Judging by the results of our study, this has certainly paid off for Heathrow and our hope is that other airports will now look to take similar steps, making life as easy as possible for flying families.’
Europe’s busiest airport, carrying almost 70 million passengers each year, London Heathrow is also presently the world’s busiest airport. The airport said that over the past 18 months it has invested heavily in its facilities for families, including the introduction of play areas in each terminal and a dedicated family lounge.
The study focused on families with pre-school children and was conducted from June to September this year. The family travel experts included bloggers from across Europe, including Spain, Italy, Russia and Germany.