UK airports have been criticised after a Skyscanner report revealed that only two offer completely free Wi-Fi access.
Birmingham and London City airport both have free unlimited Wi-Fi, meaning users can browse for as long as they like without the fear of having to pay or get kicked off.
Edinburgh, meanwhile, only allows two hours of free Wi-Fi, whereas London Stansted and Manchester allow just one hour. If customers want to spend longer on the internet, they have to pay as much as £5, reports dailymail.co.uk. However, it was Glasgow International, London Luton and Bristol that were named the worst offenders, offering a mere 30 minutes of free browsing time.
Almost half of the 50 busiest airports in Europe offer free unlimited Wi-Fi access; in comparison, none of the UK’s six busiest do, reports telegraph.co.uk. Russia and Italy came out top, as all their main airports offer completely free Wi-Fi.
Nick Trend, Telegraph Travel’s consumer editor, said there is no excuse for airports not to offer this service for free.
“If McDonalds and Starbucks can offer unlimited free Wi-Fi to their customers, who might spend just £2 or less on a coffee, why can’t airports do the same?” he asked.
“Passengers are already paying to use the airport when they buy a flight ticket, and then pay over the odds for food and drinks while they are there – having to pay again to check your email will leave them feeling understandably frustrated.”
The report also revealed that 96 per cent of international travellers think airports should offer free Wi-Fi access and 33 per cent will only pay £1 to browse the internet for an hour.
