The UK airports with the longest security queues are Manchester and Belfast, according to Which?

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The British airports with the longest security queues are Manchester and Belfast International, according to new research.

Manchester Airport came out worst in a Which? ranking of security queues at the UK's largest airports, with an average wait time of 16 minutes. 

Belfast International came bottom in the study's small airport ranking with an average wait time of 22 minutes, making it the worst overall.    

New research has revealed that passengers travelling through Manchester, pictured, face the longest average security queue waiting times of any large UK airport

Average waiting times at Manchester range from 17 minutes at Terminal 1 to 15.5 minutes at Terminals 2 and 3, the Which? survey suggests.

One holidaymaker told Which? they queued for up to 90 minutes at Manchester. 

At Belfast International, meanwhile, one traveller reported waiting for more than two hours. 

The fourth-worst performance at a large airport was at Stansted (13.7 minutes), followed by Luton (11.7 minutes).

Heathrow Terminal 5 recorded the shortest average time in the large airport ranking, according to the study, at 8.6 minutes. 

Southampton Airport topped the small airport ranking with an average wait time of 5.2 minutes - and was top overall. 

The rankings were based on a survey of 4,499 passengers who were asked to provide an estimation of how long they waited at security on their most recent visits to UK airports.

The consumer group said Manchester Airport appears to have downgraded its waiting time targets from getting 95 per cent of passengers through security in less than eight minutes in 2017, to getting 92 per cent through within 15 minutes today.

Overall, Which? says there were 10 UK airports - including Heathrow T3 and T4, Leeds Bradford and East Midlands - where the longest waiting times reported by passengers was an hour or more.  

A graph by Which? showing the average security waiting times at the UK's largest airports 

Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel magazine, said: 'Never-ending queues through security are a pain at the best of times, but if you are left waiting for hours on end you could find your flight has left without you.

'To add insult to injury, if this happens you are unlikely to qualify for compensation as the time it takes to get through security is out of the airline's control.

'Airlines will rarely delay a flight due to long queues at security so it's important to arrive at the airport in plenty of time, especially if you are flying from Manchester or Belfast.'

The small airport with the longest queuing times - and worst in the UK overall - was Belfast International, pictured, with waiting times of 22 minutes on average

A spokesman for trade body the Airport Operators Association said: 'Which?'s self-selecting survey does not reflect the experience of the millions of passengers travelling through UK airports every year.

'As data from both our regulator, the Civil Aviation Authority, and the Department for Transport show, the majority of the public believes that airports get the balance right at security, delivering to the highest standards both for their safety and their travel experience.

'Nevertheless, airports continuously invest to improve our passengers' experience of airport security and as a result, 85 per cent of passengers were satisfied or very satisfied with their security experience in 2018 according to the Department for Transport.'

A spokesperson for Belfast International said: 'Which?'s self-selecting survey does not reflect the experience of the 6.3million passengers travelling through our airport every year.

A graph by Which? showing the average security waiting times at small airports in the UK 

'Since the Which? survey was carried out, Belfast International Airport has seen a noticeable improvement in passenger satisfaction levels since completing a £1 million reconfiguration and expansion of the Central Search security facility. This investment is having a clear and positive effect. A newly installed tracking system shows that the time it takes to process through security has improved the passenger experience significantly.

'We are working hard to improve the passenger experience and that will continue on a rolling basis.'

A Manchester Airports Group (MAG) spokesperson said: 'We monitor actual waiting time performance in security on a daily basis. For most of the last year the average waiting time at Manchester Airport was around two minutes.

'Even in peak season, the maximum average waiting time in any month was five minutes and six seconds, in July 2019.

'Meanwhile, at London Stansted [MAG runs Stansted], in August 2019, 98.5 of passengers got through security in less than 10 minutes.

'We are working hard to reduce waiting times further by investing even more in facilities, staffing levels and training in our security areas.'