These Are The 'Most Stressful' Airports In Canada That You'll Probably Want To Avoid

The most stressful airport in North America is probably no surprise. 😬

​A person walks through Toronto Pearson Airport. Right: An aerial view of aircraft at Toronto Pearson Airport.

A person walks through Toronto Pearson Airport. Right: An aerial view of aircraft at Toronto Pearson Airport.

Writer

Going to the airport to catch a flight can be a stressful experience for anyone, anywhere, but it turns out that some airports may be more stress-inducing than others.

Travel and vacation platform Hawaiian Islands recently compiled information about the most stressful airports around the world, and as it would happen, Canada is home to two particularly tense airports, with one actually being the most stressful airport in all of North America.

That honour goes to Toronto Pearson Airport, according to Hawaiian Islands, which says that 52.5% of all flights at Pearson were delayed between May 26 and July 19, 2022 – the most of any airport in the world, and certainly a stress-inducing statistic.

Indeed, the report says that 76% of those travelling through Pearson Aiport report feeling stressed, the most of any airport in both North and South America. Yikes!

The only other Canadian airport included in the list was Quebec's Montréal-Trudeau International Airport, which was ranked as the 19th most stressful airport in North America with over 56% of travellers experiencing stress.

This summer, Canadian airports experienced some of the worst delays in the world as travel continued to ramp up after being subdued during COVID-19.

In fact, over the July 1 weekend this year, Pearson ranked second-worst globally for departure delays. On July 2, over half of the airport's outbound flights were late.

In the same ranking, Montréal-Trudeau Airport was the fourth-worst in the world for delays, with 43% of takeoffs held up.

Today, passengers are still experiencing delays and long wait times at some airports, with CityNews reporting recently that hundreds of travellers waited hours for their luggage at Pearson airport last month.

Worst airports in the world for stress

Worldwide, the most stressful airport was found to be the U.K.'s Manchester Airport, where 82.5% of travellers report feeling stressed.

The top 10 most stressful airports in the world are as follows. Interestingly, the U.K. had more airports in the top 10 than any other country:

  1. Manchester Airport, U.K.
  2. Heraklion International Airport, Greece
  3. London Stansted Airport, U.K.
  4. Toronto Pearson International Airport, Canada
  5. Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport, France
  6. London Luton Airport, U.K.
  7. Beauvais-Tillé Airport, France
  8. Berlin Brandenburg Airport, Germany
  9. Brussels South Charleroi Airport, Belgium
  10. Bristol Airport, U.K.
If you can avoid travelling through Pearson, Montreal-Trudeau Airport, or any of the above, apparently, it may be to your benefit!

  • Contributing Writer

    Katherine Caspersz (she/her) is a contributing writer for Narcity Media, covering travel, things to do and more. She has written for various news sites and magazines, including Yahoo Canada and The National Post, and worked as an editor for the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail. She loves shopping, travel and all things spooky.

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