This Popular Airport Is Europe's Most Stressful To Travel Through

Flying has become a stressful pursuit in recent years. If you're old enough, you'll remember the seemingly draconian security measures flooding into global airports following 9/11 — and 25 years later it feels like the situation has scarcely improved. Flight delays, sky-high ticket prices, shrinking airplane seats, paltry luggage capacities, and insufferable lines at security are all commonplace — and all stressful. Luxury luggage brand Eminent recently conducted a study to ascertain which European airport was actually the most stressful, analyzing the punctuality of flight departures and arrivals, the average delay and security wait times, and traveler reviews. In an email sent to Islands, Eminent revealed that Lisbon Airport in the Portuguese capital was the worst of the lot.

Lisbon Airport — formally, Humberto Delgado Airport — earned the ignominious title of Europe's most stressful airport due to several factors. It was the least punctual for both departures (less than half of flights left on time) and arrivals (only two-thirds of flights arrived on time). Average delay times were longer than in any other airport and it received some of the worst reviews, with passengers complaining about overcrowding, limited seating, and long queues, all of which can cause cortisol levels to spike. Incidentally, the second and third most stressful airports were both in England: Manchester and London Stansted.

The result is disappointing for Lisbon Airport, and perhaps a little surprising. Even London Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport, fared much better in the study, receiving double the number of annual passengers as Lisbon but dealing with flight traffic much more efficiently. Moreover, Lisbon has also been central to Portugal's travel boom. It's a trendy city, with winding cobbled lanes, boutique restaurants, ornate architecture, and it was considered the happiest holiday destination in the world in 2025. Shouldn't it have a travel hub that befits its popular status?

Disruptions at Lisbon Airport are caused by a multiplicity of factors. Many European airports have introduced new CT scanners, meaning passengers can leave all items in their carry-on bags when going through security, thereby expediting the process. Lisbon is not yet one of these airports. This can easily contribute to the lengthy security wait times — the 20-minute average at Lisbon is comparable to wait times at busy American airports like Newark, Miami, and George Bush Intercontinental in Houston.

Lisbon Airport also faced a crisis earlier this year, when the introduction of a new entry/exit system for arrivals to the EU caused significant delays. The system requires non-EU passport holders traveling into EU countries on short stays (up to 90 days within a 180-day period) to submit biometric data, including fingerprints. According to The Portugal Resident, some travelers at Lisbon Airport had to wait for several hours to present documents and submit biometrics. The European Commission (EC) said that the airport, rather than the new system, was at fault, and conducted a surprise inspection of Portugal's sea and air border controls, "uncovering 'serious deficiencies' in border controls, particularly at Lisbon airport," as noted in The Portugal Resident. Also noted, the EC identified "critical failures linked to human resources, a lack of equipment and the systematic simplification of security procedures." 

Flight delays are also common in Lisbon. Passengers experience an average of 18.43 minute delay for arrivals, and 25.15 minutes for departures — as Portugal struggles to meet its increasing tourist demand. Additionally, the spike in high-season travelers increasingly coincides with adverse weather, like heat waves and summer storms, which can affect flight clearance.

Although passenger reviews are ultimately subjective, and sometimes need to be taken with a pinch of salt, common themes appear in the scathing critiques of Lisbon Airport. It has an average of 1.9 stars on Tripadvisor, with reviewers focusing on overcrowding, poor organization, not enough seats in relation to the number of passengers, and long wait times for everything. The highly debatable "airport theory," claiming only 15 minutes are needed to make your flight, went viral on TikTok, but travelers departing Lisbon should still arrive at check-in early. 

Lisbon Airport has been received better on Google (a score of 3.6 across almost 62,000 ratings), but negative reviews return to the same complaints, some saying it's the worst airport they've ever traveled through. You'll find similarly disenchanted reviewers elsewhere online, such as AirMundo, and to a lesser degree, Rick Steves' Europe community forums. Because "confusion" and "chaos" are words that appear so frequently in customer appraisals, the most actionable advice is to give yourself lots of time and expect the unexpected.