The assessment of each airport's performance was based on a number of criteria, among which ease of navigation and movement within the terminal building and cleanliness of toilets played a significant role. On these and other indicators, Heathrow ranked last.
As The Guardian notes, this is due to numerous difficulties and disruptions at the airport that followed the prevention by British intelligence services on August 10 of a series of terrorist attacks on transatlantic airline flights departing from Heathrow. The airport administration was forced to tighten baggage screening, leading to numerous flight delays and, consequently, an increase in complaints from air passengers.
For its part, a representative of the main operator of British airports, British Airports Authority (BAA), drew attention to Heathrow's extreme congestion. Designed to handle 45 million passengers a year, Heathrow serves 68 million travelers annually. To change the situation, BAA plans to open a new fifth terminal in 2008 with a capacity of 30 million passengers per year.
As for the Irish airline Ryanair, according to passengers, the worst of its shortcomings is the extreme unfriendliness of the service staff. Then come frequent flight delays and too little legroom in the aircraft cabins.