Whatever the time of year, travelling as a family can be stressful. Parents and guardians have to juggle everything just to get from A to B. From keeping little ones entertained to having a comfortable space for feeding or changing, there’s a whole host of things to consider before you’ve even put a holiday deposit down.
With families taking more holidays in the last 12 months, and a recent survey by JoJo Maman Bébé revealing that 61% of British parents find travelling with children stressful, we’re here to help alleviate some of that stress.
We’ve created the Family-Friendly Airport Index, comparing 50 of the busiest airports across Europe based on passenger numbers. The index analysed several family-friendly factors to rank the 50 airports out of a possible score of 10. These factors include:
- The number of children’s play areas
- The total number of restaurants available
- The airport rating
- Passenger numbers to determine how busy the airport is
- The number of nearby hotels to stay at the night before
- The average nearby hotel rating
- The average cost of nearby hotels
- The availability of nursing/baby changing rooms
- The availability of places to heat up baby food and milk
Combined, analysing these metrics gives us the ultimate list of European airports that go the extra mile for families.
Key findings:
- Málaga Airport, Spain, is the most family-friendly airport (7.7/10) in Europe, with high scores across the board for child-friendly amenities.
- Spain dominates the rankings, with three Spanish airports in the top five family-friendly airports.
- Madrid-Barajas Airport, Málaga Airport and Charles de Gaulle have the most play areas to keep children occupied, with Madrid-Barajas having as many as 18.
- Restaurant options play a key role in the index, with several top-ranked airports offering over 50 dining choices.
- Lisbon Portela Airport (6.1/10) leads Europe in nearby hotel availability, with 85 hotels close to the terminal.
- Over two-thirds of the 50 airports reviewed offer information regarding hidden disability support on their website, with all UK airports included providing this service.
Top Family-Friendly Airports in Europe
Choosing the right airport can make all the difference when it comes to travelling with children and some airports go above and beyond to help make a family’s journey more enjoyable. Our index identifies the top airports across Europe that offer the best mix of play facilities, nearby hotels, restaurants and baby amenities, to make choosing a little easier.
| Top 20 Family-Friendly Airports in Europe | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Airport | Country | Number of play areas/kid zones | Number of restaurants available | Airport rating | Annual no. of passengers (rounded down to the nearest million) | Number of nearby hotels | Average hotel rating (out of 10) | Average hotel price | Index score |
| 1. | Málaga Airport | Spain | 17 | 23 | 4.0 | 18 million | 25 | 8.3 | £94 | 7.7 |
| 2. | Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport | Spain | 18 | 53 | 4.1 | 53 million | 21 | 8.4 | £153 | 7.4 |
| 3. | Vaclav Havel Airport Prague | Czech Republic | 10 | 23 | 4.2 | 15 million | 9 | 8.9 | £153 | 6.8 |
| 4. | Alicante International Airport | Spain | 8 | 18 | 4.3 | 13 million | 7 | 8.2 | £88 | 6.7 |
| 5. | Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport | Hungary | 3 | 26 | 4.1 | 13 million | 14 | 8.7 | £86 | 6.6 |
| 6. | Nice-Côte d’Azur Airport | France | 4 | 26 | 3.9 | 13 million | 63 | 8.1 | £128 | 6.5 |
| 7. | Geneva Airport | Switzerland | 11 | 28 | 3.9 | 17 million | 31 | 8.1 | £190 | 6.3 |
| =8. | Charles de Gaulle Airport | France | 15 | 26 | 3.6 | 69 million | 26 | 8.0 | £185 | 6.2 |
| =8. | Sabiha Gökçen International Airport | Turkey | 11 | 80 | 3.9 | 31 million | 28 | 7.3 | £86 | 6.2 |
| =10. | Lisbon Portela Airport | Portugal | 1 | 32 | 3.6 | 26 million | 85 | 7.8 | £124 | 6.1 |
| =10. | Helsinki Airport | Finland | 2 | 48 | 4.4 | 18 million | 16 | 8.3 | £140 | 6.1 |
| =10. | Stuttgart Airport | Germany | 1 | 13 | 3.9 | 10 million | 41 | 8.3 | £118 | 6.1 |
| 13. | Henri Coandă International Airport | Romania | 0 | 23 | 3.7 | 12 million | 60 | 8.9 | £63 | 6.0 |
| =14. | Adnan Menderes International Airport | Turkey | 5 | 10 | 4.3 | 12 million | 4 | 7.9 | £114 | 5.9 |
| =14. | Munich Airport | Germany | 7 | 55 | 4.0 | 44 million | 4 | 8.5 | £186 | 5.9 |
| =16. | Frankfurt am Main Airport | Germany | 9 | 79 | 3.8 | 64 million | 18 | 8.2 | £223 | 5.8 |
| =16. | Berlin-Schönefeld International Airport | Germany | 5 | 39 | 3.2 | 12 million | 10 | 8.4 | £157 | 5.8 |
| =16. | Dublin Airport | Ireland | 4 | 48 | 4.0 | 29 million | 9 | 8.2 | £158 | 5.8 |
| =16. | Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport | Italy | 2 | 48 | 4.2 | 40 million | 17 | 8.1 | £139 | 5.8 |
| 20. | Warsaw Chopin Airport | Poland | 3 | 25 | 4.2 | 15 million | 25 | 8.7 | £97 | 5.7 |
Spain dominates the rankings with three Spanish airports appearing in the top five. In fact, across the top 20, Southern Europe performs especially well, with airports in Spain, Portugal and other Mediterranean destinations appearing repeatedly. This is thanks to their strong mix of play areas, dining and nearby hotels.
1- Málaga Airport, Spain
Málaga secures the top spot with an overall score of 7.7 for family facilities, despite its high volume of passengers at over 18 million per year. With 17 children’s play areas and 23 restaurants, there’s plenty to keep families distracted during their journey. The airport also has a rating of 4.0 with a strong choice of nearby hotels that have an average rating of 8.3/10 at around £94 a night.
As the primary gateway to the Costa del Sol, Málaga Airport is ideal for family beach holidays. Its spacious, modern terminals and clearly laid-out facilities make it easier for parents to navigate with pushchairs, buggies and hand luggage, helping to create a relaxed end to the journey.
2- Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, Spain
Another Spanish favourite, Madrid-Barajas, scores 7.4 overall. With an airport rating of 4.1, the airport offers 18 play areas and the most restaurants out of the top five airports at 53. Hotels nearby have an average rating of 8.4/10, though they sit a bit pricier at £153 per night. Handling a huge 53 million passengers a year, Madrid still maintains a welcoming experience for families.
As Spain’s busiest airport, Madrid-Barajas, is a vital intercontinental gateway between Europe and Latin America, ideal for families ready for long-haul or returning from a summer holiday.
3- Vaclav Havel Airport Prague, Czech Republic
Prague’s main airport is another that stands out for family-friendly visits with an overall index score of 6.8. Families will find 10 play areas, 23 restaurants and a strong radius of hotels rated 8.9/10 on average. With a 4.2 airport rating, Prague is an excellent choice for families. The airport even has quiet rooms in both terminals where families can relax with their children.
4- Alicante International Airport, Spain
Alicante offers a modern terminal with family-focused features throughout, scoring 6.7 in our index. The airport features eight play zones, 18 restaurants, and has an airport rating of 4.3, the highest rating among the top five. Hotel options are rated an average of 8.2/10, and families can benefit from competitive pricing of £88 per night. Serving nearly 14 million passengers each year, Alicante strikes a good balance for families.
One of the two main airports to the Costa Blanca, renowned for its sunny beaches, Alicante offers direct flights to over 100 destinations, making summer holidays super accessible for families, with many flights direct from the UK arriving straight to here.
5- Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport, Hungary
Budapest completes the top five with a 6.6 index rating. While fewer play areas (three in total), it compensates with 26 restaurants, well-rated nearby hotels at 8.7/10 on average and at a great value of £86 per night. With an airport rating of 4.1, the airport does well to provide high-quality service to over 13 million annual passengers, while being a comfortable hub for family travel. The airport even offers strollers at five different locations and provides passengers with young children priority in security screenings to help families move easily within the airport, too.
Most Family-Friendly UK Airports
While Europe offers a strong selection of family-friendly airports, overall, the UK had several standout options in the index.
| Most Family-Friendly UK Airports | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Airport | Number of play areas | Number of restaurants | Airport rating | Annual no. of passengers (rounded down to the nearest million) | Number of hotels nearby | Average hotel rating | Average hotel price | Index Score |
| 1. | Gatwick Airport | 2 | 28 | 3.8 | 45 million | 25 | 8.0 | £113 | 5.7 |
| 2. | Luton Airport | 1 | 25 | 3.4 | 15 million | 34 | 7.7 | £118 | 5.6 |
| 3. | London Heathrow Airport | 5 | 31 | 4.0 | 78 million | 44 | 7.5 | £152 | 5.5 |
| 4. | Birmingham Airport | 2 | 16 | 3.4 | 12 million | 23 | 7.9 | £153 | 5.3 |
| 5. | London Stansted Airport | 1 | 21 | 3.3 | 25 million | 10 | 7.4 | £119 | 5.0 |
| =6. | Manchester Airport | 1 | 31 | 3.1 | 27 million | 11 | 7.1 | £190 | 4.3 |
| =6. | Edinburgh Airport | 0 | 12 | 3.5 | 13 million | 6 | 8.3 | £148 | 4.3 |
1- Gatwick Airport
The highest ranking UK airport, Gatwick, scored 5.7 overall. Thanks to its 28 restaurants, helpful baby-changing facilities and a strong selection of nearby hotels averaging 8/10 and £113 per night, the airport offers families a lot as a departure point. With two children’s play areas and offering several destinations to more than 45 million passengers a year, Gatwick should be a popular choice for families.
2- Luton Airport
Luton Airport performs well at 5.6 overall, with 25 restaurants and hotels nearby rated an average of 7.7/10 at £118 per night. Despite having only one play area, it is still the second-highest-rated UK airport for families.
3- London Heathrow Airport
The UK’s largest airport, handling over 78 million passengers a year, Heathrow scores 5.5 in the overall index. Offering five play areas, the most of any UK airport, alongside 31 restaurants and with a 4.0 airport rating, we can see what it has to offer for families.
4- Birmingham Airport
Scoring 5.3, Birmingham Airport offers families two play areas, 16 restaurants and a solid hotel selection scoring 7.9/10 on average. More compact and perhaps easier to navigate, the airport has just under 13 million annual passengers.
5- London Stansted Airport
Stansted Airport scores 5 in the overall index. It provides families with 21 restaurants and hotels average 7.4/10 at £119 per night. With one dedicated children’s play area. It offers a simpler approach to family travel.
Best European Airports for Restaurant Choice
| Best European Airports for Restaurant Choice | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Airport | City/Country | Total number of restaurants available |
| 1. | Istanbul Airport | Istanbul, Turkey | 118 |
| 2. | Sabiha Gökçen International Airport | Pendik, Turkey | 80 |
| 3. | Frankfurt am Main Airport | Frankfurt, Germany | 79 |
| 4. | Zürich Airport | Zürich, Switzerland | 64 |
| 5. | Munich Airport | Munich, Germany | 55 |
| 6. | Amsterdam Airport Schiphol | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 55 |
| 7. | Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport | Madrid, Spain | 53 |
| 8. | Milan–Malpensa Airport | Milan, Italy | 52 |
| 9. | Copenhagen Airport | Copenhagen, Denmark | 49 |
| 10 | Helsinki Airport | Helsinki, Finland | 48 |
When travelling as a family, having plenty of dining options can make all the difference, especially with fussy eaters or long waits before departure. Europe’s best airports for restaurants include major hubs such as Istanbul, Sabiha Gökçen and Frankfurt, each offering an impressive 70-118 places to eat.
Whether families need a quick bite, child-friendly menus or a sit-down meal before a flight, these airports provide a huge range of variety and convenience. With choices across cafés, casual dining and grab-and-go outlets, they ensure parents can easily find something suitable for everyone.
Best European Airports for Nearby Hotels
| European Airports with the Most Nearby Hotels | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Airport | City/Country | Number of hotels to stay in the night before |
| 1. | Lisbon Portela Airport | Lisbon, Portugal | 85 |
| 2. | Orio al Serio International Airport | Bergamo, Italy | 69 |
| 3. | Nice-Côte d’Azur Airport | Nice, France | 63 |
| 4. | Henri Coandă International Airport | Bucharest, Romania | 60 |
| 5. | London Heathrow Airport | London, UK | 44 |
| 6. | Stuttgart Airport | Stuttgart, Germany | 41 |
| 7. | Luton Airport | London, UK | 34 |
| 8. | Geneva Airport | Geneva, Switzerland | 31 |
| 9. | Düsseldorf International Airport | Düsseldorf, Germany | 30 |
| 10. | Sabiha Gökçen International Airport | Pendik, Turkey | 28 |
Convenient accommodation near the airport is a huge advantage for families catching early flights or travelling from further afield. The top airports for nearby hotels, led by Lisbon Portela, Bergamo Orio al Serio and Nice Côte d’Azur, offer an extensive selection of places to stay within easy reach of the terminals, with Lisbon alone providing 85 hotels close by.
The top UK airports with nearby hotels also include London Heathrow and Luton Airport, ideal for families to get there the night before they depart.
These airports make pre-travel planning much easier, giving families the flexibility to rest, avoid early-morning stress and arrive at the terminal refreshed and ready for their journey.
Airports with Hidden Disability Support
Airports can also be overwhelming for passengers, children or adults, who have hidden disabilities such as Autism, ADHD or sensory sensitivities. Globally, one billion people live with some sort of disability, including those that aren’t visible. From the 50 airports reviewed, 34 clearly provided information on hidden disability support via their official websites, helping families plan ahead with confidence. This includes many of Europe’s busiest airports such as Madrid-Barajas, Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt, Schiphol, Dublin, Heathrow and Istanbul Airport.
Encouragingly, all UK airports featured in our index offer clear support, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Stansted, Luton and Edinburgh. They typically provide quieter routes through the terminal, accessibility guidance for families, or participation in recognised schemes like the Sunflower Lanyard Programme.
With hidden disability support growing availability across Europe highlights a strong commitment to making air travel more accessible and inclusive for families who may need additional assistance.
Family Travel Airport Tips
The main aim of our index is to help with planning ahead when it comes to travelling with children. Whether you’re travelling with a baby, toddler or young child, there are simple tips to help your journey run a bit smoother.
Arrive early
Arrive earlier than usual to give yourself extra time for security, toilet breaks, and to let your little ones explore the kids’ play zones to help tire them out.
Pack an essentials bag
This won’t be a new concept to parents, but building an airport-specific essentials bag can be key to a smooth departure. Consider packing wipes, changes of clothes, toys and snacks that can be in your hand luggage, avoiding rummaging through your checked cases before you hand them over.
Choose clothes that are easier to change, like onesies or PJs and pack familiar toys or blankets from home to make the transition from sleeping at home to the plane even smoother and ensure you have baby formula or sweets for the little ones to suck on to avoid any ear issues as air pressure changes.
Finally, include your child’s empty sippy cups in your bags so you can refill with water for free at most airports.
Check each airport’s rules
Each airport may have different rules about what can and can’t be taken through security. For example, in the UK, there is no legal limit to how much baby milk or food you can bring through your hand luggage. However, frozen breast milk isn’t allowed. So, it’s better to be clued up before you go.
Consider an airport hotel
For early morning flights, consider extending your holiday and staying over at a nearby hotel the night before. It helps reduce travel time on the day and avoids breaking up children’s sleeping patterns too much.
Pre-book where you can
Take some of the brainwork out of the stress of travel. Pre-book airport parking, transfers and airline seat choices as early as possible to make sure you can solely focus on getting the family where you need to be, without added pressure.
Consider pre-booking Boots airport click and collect, where you can pre-book orders of nappies, wipes and more to collect at your arrival airport. It helps save space in your suitcase whilst allowing you to pick up essentials after security.
As a parent, travel anxiety is normal, but remember, most people have been around kids on a flight before or even have their own or grandkids. Make sure you rest when you can and try and enjoy your holiday, too, to make all this extra planning worth it.
Methodology
To identify Europe’s most family-friendly airports, we compared key facilities and services across the 50 busiest European airports according to passenger numbers from Get To Center, excluding Russia and Ukraine due to the ongoing conflict impacting travel. Each airport was scored across several factors that matter most to families, with the following weightings applied:
- Children’s play areas – 20%
- Hotel cost – 20%
- Nearby hotel availability – 10%
- Average hotel rating – 10%
- Restaurant availability – 10%
- Infant-care amenities (nursing/changing rooms) – 10%
- Infant-care amenities (heating facilities for baby food/milk) – 10%
- Airport rating – 5%
- Passenger numbers – 5%
Airports were scored against each category, where all numeric variables were normalised to a 0–1 scale before applying weightings accordingly. These figures were then combined to create an overall family-friendliness index out of a possible score of 10.
Data on airport facilities, infant-care services and restaurant availability were taken from individual, official airport websites. Passenger numbers and airport ratings were collected from Get To Center and Google Reviews. Hotel availability, rating and pricing data were sourced from Booking.com.
Infant-care amenities qualified by: a scoring of 1 if present, 0 if absent. Where data were unavailable for certain facilities, airports were scored as 0 for that category to avoid biasing the overall ranking.
We also reviewed whether airports provided information on their website for support for hidden disabilities such as autism or ADHD. This was included for context only and did not contribute to the final ranking. Data reflects facilities and services available at the time of collection; airport amenities may change over time.
Some qualitative assessments, such as play area quality, are based on available descriptions and may not capture the full experience.
Sources
- Statista, ‘Family Travel in the UK’, 2025
- NetMums, ‘Travelling with Kids is Stressful’, 2025
- Get To Center, ‘100 Biggest European Airports’, 2025
- Cafisa Rent a Car, ‘Malaga Airport Tourism’, 2025
- Airport Spotting, ‘Spain’s Busiest Airport’, 2025
- Prague Airport, ‘Travelling with Children’, 2025
- Mediterranean Villas, ‘Airports of Costa Blanca’, 2025
- Budapest Airport, ‘Travelling with Children’, 2025
- Flight Right, ‘UK’s Largest Airports’, 2024
- Sunflower, ‘Airports Around The World’, 2025
- Gov UK, ‘Hand Luggage Restrictions’, 2025