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Air travellers should head for the smaller airports to avoid holiday hassles, according to a Which? survey.

While some of the UK's biggest airports scored customer satisfaction ratings of under 50% in the survey, the smaller ones had scores of between 78 per cent and 85 per cent.

More than 7,000 Which? members were asked to rate airports on a number of categories, including including pick-up and drop-off, seating provision, queues at security, passport control and baggage reclaim.

Hassle free: Passengers queuing at check-in, Southend Airport, Essex, which has been voted one of the UK's best

Small airports were deemed to be those that handled fewer than four million passengers a year, while large ones were those through which more than four million passengers passed each year.

The survey showed that of the small airports, Southend in Essex and Robin Hood Doncaster Sheffield topped the satisfaction table, each with a score of 85 per cent.

They were followed by Blackpool airport and London City (both 80 per cent) and Inverness and Southampton (both 78 per cent).

Of the large airports, the highest-rated was Newcastle with a score of 66 per cent. Bottom of the large airport table was Luton with a score of only 37 per cent.

Southend is one of the small airports that handled fewer than four million passengers a year

The Which? table showing results of customer surveys about the best airports to fly from in the UK

The table showing the worst airports to fly from in the UK, all of which are big and in London

The next-lowest score was 43 per cent for both Stansted and Heathrow Terminal 1, with Heathrow Terminal 3 getting 46 per cent, Heathrow Terminal 4 getting 48 per cent and Gatwick's Northern Terminal getting 49 per cent.

Which? said baggage reclaim was a top holiday gripe, with 37% naming it as one of their biggest airport frustrations.

Large airports fared particularly badly on this, with 14 of the 20 large airports surveyed scoring only two stars out of a maximum of five) for queues at baggage reclaim.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: 'The message from travellers is clear - larger airports continue to let people down on the basics, from baggage reclaim to food outlets.

'People deserve an enjoyable break without any stress, so we want to hear from consumers so that we can help to stop the holiday hassles.'