Europe’s Most Frustrating Airports

What actually happens when you touchdown on the tarmac?

Landing doesn’t always mean you’ve arrived. You might touch down on time and then spend another 20 minutes sitting on the plane while it taxis across the airport or waits for a gate to become available.

That extra time is known as taxi-in time. It’s the period between landing and reaching the gate, before you disembark and head to baggage claim or passport control. It won’t show up as a flight delay, so your flight can still be listed as arriving on time even though you could be sitting on the plane for another 15 minutes before your journey through the airport even begins.

These extra minutes aren’t the same at every airport. Some have compact layouts, while others are busier, with longer taxi routes and waits for an available gate. Our analysis of the latest Eurocontrol taxi-in data and ACI-APN punctuality reports reveals which European airports add the most time after landing. If you’re booking an airport transfer, catching a train, or heading straight to a ferry, it helps to build that time into your arrival schedule.]

Europe’s top 10 airports with the longest tarmac-to-taxi times

To see which airports are most likely to slow down your arrival, we looked at two sets of data: average taxi-in times, which measure the time between touchdown and reaching the gate, and average arrival delays, which show the average number of minutes flights are delayed on arrival. Together, they show how long you can realistically expect it to take between your scheduled landing time and leaving the airport.

Below are the European airports with the longest average taxi-in times during the 2025 summer season:

Source: Eurocontrol taxi-in data and ACI-APN Europe punctuality reports.

Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon tops the ranking, with passengers spending an average of 25.08 minutes between landing and reaching the gate. Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS) is surrounded by the city, leaving very little space to expand. With only two intersecting runways, limited taxiways, and not enough parking stands for the number of flights arriving, planes regularly end up waiting for a gate. 

And if you’re arriving from outside the EU, you may also face long passport queues and biometric checks once you’re inside the terminal.

Dublin, Ireland 

Dublin comes in second, with an average of 24.94 minutes. Record passenger numbers have pushed Dublin Airport (DUB) close to capacity, and the airport’s layout also slows things down. 

Flights landing on the North Runway can face a long taxi across the airfield to reach Terminals 1 and 2 (usually 10 to 15 minutes). Plus, during busy morning and evening arrival periods, planes often have to wait for a gate to become available.

Paris Charles de Gaulle, France

Charles de Gaulle is one of Europe’s largest airports, with multiple terminals spread across a huge site, so planes often have a long taxi to the gate after landing. It’s no surprise, then, that CDG ranks third, with an average taxi-in time of 24.44 minutes. 

And because the airport is so busy (70 million passengers annually), heavy traffic can leave arriving airplanes waiting even longer before reaching the terminal.

Rome, Italy

Rome Fiumicino’s 24.32-minute average is largely down to the airport’s sheer size. With four runways spread across a large area, some more than 3 miles (5 km) apart, planes can spend a considerable amount of time weaving through taxiways before reaching the terminal.

As one of Europe’s busiest intercontinental hubs, planes can also end up waiting for a gate to become available due to congestion on the ground.

London, UK 

Passengers arriving at London Luton Airport spend an average of 24.21 minutes getting from the runway to the gate. Although it’s much smaller than Heathrow or Gatwick, Luton handles a huge number of flights on a single runway, so arriving flights often have to wait while departures are cleared first. 

Ongoing expansion work around the airfield has also made taxiing slower at busy times.

Athens, Greece 

Athens International Airport (ATH) records an average taxi-in time of 23.79 minutes, and much of that comes down to summer tourist traffic. During peak season, flights arrive so frequently that gates at the airport’s main and satellite terminals can quickly fill up, leaving airplanes waiting on the tarmac. Arriving planes also have to navigate busy taxiways and give way to departing traffic before reaching the gate.

Milan, Italy

Milan Malpensa (MXP) records an average taxi-in time of 23.59 minutes, thanks in part to the airport’s unusual layout. The airport’s two parallel runways sit a long way from the terminals, so planes often spend several kilometers taxiing across the airfield.

Depending on which runway your flight lands on, your plane may have to stop and wait for departing traffic before crossing an active runway. And during busy arrival periods, planes may be sent on longer taxi routes or held until their assigned gate becomes available.

Porto, Portugal

Porto Airport (OPO) ranks among Europe’s slowest for getting from the runway to the gate, with an average taxi-in time of 23.53 minutes. Because it’s a smaller airport with only one runway, arrivals can quickly back up when several flights land around the same time. 

And with ongoing construction around the airfield, the number of available taxi routes has been significantly reduced.

Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Passengers arriving at Edinburgh spend an average of 23.26 minutes getting from the runway to the gate. Edinburgh Airport (EDI) handles far more passengers than you’d expect for its size, and the airport has limited room to expand. 

As a result, the airport can struggle to keep traffic moving when several flights arrive at once, particularly during the busy summer festival season.

Frankfurt, Germany

An average 23.02-minute taxi-in time earns Frankfurt Airport (FRA) the final spot in the top 10. As one of Europe’s largest airports, planes can spend 15 to 20 minutes simply taxiing from distant runways to the terminal. And with hundreds of aircraft movements every hour during peak periods, arriving flights sometimes have to wait before a gate becomes available.

A closer look at Lisbon: Why Humberto Delgado tops the list

Lisbon Airport is in first place with an average taxi-in time of 25.08 minutes, and much of that comes down to the airport’s layout. While Humberto Delgado has two intersecting runways, they can’t be used independently, so it effectively operates as one of Europe’s busiest single-runway airports. It also handles more than 35 million passengers a year, and with the city built up around it, there’s very little room to expand.

Every arrival and departure shares the same runway, so it doesn’t take much for delays to build up. Planes often have to wait for an available stand, taxi longer routes around the airfield, or park at remote stands where passengers are transferred to the terminal by bus.

And that’s only part of it. Humberto Delgado is an older airport, so once you’re inside the terminal, getting to the arrivals hall isn’t always as quick as you’d expect. Signage between the gates and baggage claim can be inconsistent, and baggage carousel information can be confusing. The official transfer pickup area is also a longer walk than at many similar airports, and the corridors can get crowded when several flights arrive together.

“With the latest EES delays, travelers are becoming increasingly worried about missing their flights or cutting their trip short. But the concerns around airport planning don’t stop there. They’re also having to think about their journey from tarmac to taxi, as delays become more and more common and taxi-in times add chunks of time to the process from the moment they land, even before they’ve reached baggage reclaim or passport control.

Our data found Lisbon is the worst offender when it comes to additional time added between landing and reaching the arrivals gate. Passengers should expect to factor in nearly half an hour onto their expected arrival time when you account for average taxi-in times and arrival delays combined.

Lisbon Airport is also notoriously tricky to navigate once you’ve landed. Humberto Delgado is an older terminal and the layout between disembarking and the arrivals hall isn’t always intuitive. Signage between gates and baggage reclaim can be inconsistent, the baggage carousels aren’t always clearly labeled, and it’s not uncommon to arrive at the wrong belt entirely. The walk to the official transfer pickup zone is also longer than most airports of a similar size, and during busy periods the corridors get congested fast.”

Villy Papathanasiou, Destinations Manager at Welcome Pickups

If you’re flying into Lisbon, allow a bit more time than you normally would between landing and any onward travel. 

And once you’re inside the terminal, these tips can save you a bit of time:

• Follow the signs for Chegadas (Arrivals) instead of heading for the nearest exit. It’s easy to take a wrong turn and end up walking further than you need to.
• Don’t automatically follow the crowd after exiting the plane. Some passengers will be connecting to domestic flights rather than heading toward baggage claim.
• If you’ve booked a transfer, train, or ferry, leave a little more time between your scheduled landing and pickup than you would at most other European airports.
• If you’re booking an airport transfer, choose a provider that monitors your flight and includes waiting time if you’re delayed, so you don’t need to worry if it takes longer than expected to reach Arrivals.

If you’ve already arranged how you’re getting into the city, arriving is one less thing to think about. You can pre-book your Lisbon Airport transfer before you travel, and your driver will monitor your flight, adjust the pickup time automatically, and wait if your arrival takes longer than expected.

What causes taxi-in delays and why they’re different to flight delays

Flight delays and taxi-in delays aren’t the same thing. A flight delay affects when your plane lands. A taxi-in delay happens afterwards, once you’re already on the ground. So your flight can arrive right on schedule, but you could still spend another 20 or 25 minutes sitting on the plane before it reaches the gate. As far as the airline is concerned, you’ve arrived. But from your point of view, you’re still waiting to get into the terminal.

How long that wait is depends on the airport. At some, it’s simply a long taxi from the runway to the terminal. Others struggle with congested taxiways, limited gate space, or several flights arriving within a short space of time. And older airports, like Lisbon, often have the biggest challenge because they weren’t built for today’s passenger numbers and have very little room to expand.

Taxi-in delays can affect everything that comes next, from meeting your airport transfer to catching a train or ferry. So when you’re planning your arrival, don’t just look at your scheduled landing time. Think about when you’re actually likely to leave the airport. And if you’re traveling with young children, knowing there could be another 20-minute wait before you even reach the gate makes it much easier to plan ahead and manage expectations.

How to plan your arrival at Europe’s busiest airports

• Don’t plan around your landing time alone. Your plane might touch down on schedule, but you could still be waiting another 20 to 25 minutes before you even reach the terminal.
• Leave yourself plenty of time for onward travel. If you’ve got a train, ferry, or another connection to catch, avoid booking it too close to your scheduled arrival.
• Check local taxi-in times before you fly. For example, passengers arriving at Lisbon Airport spend an average of 25.08 minutes getting from the runway to the gate before they’ve even reached baggage claim or passport control.
• If you’re booking an airport transfer, choose one that tracks your flight. Welcome Pickups monitors flights in real time and automatically adjusts your pickup if you’re delayed, so your driver arrives when you do.
• Skip the taxi rank. If you’re traveling to Portugal, you can pre-book your Lisbon Airport transfer before you fly, so your driver is already tracking your arrival while everyone else joins the queue outside.

Taxi-in delays aren’t something you can control, but you can plan around them. Here are a few airport arrival tips to help you plan the rest of your journey after you land.

Welcome Pickups priority cities in the top 10: Quick reference

If you’re flying into one of these airports, it helps to have your onward transport sorted before you travel. Flight delays and taxi-in times don’t always go to plan, but a Welcome Pickups driver who’s already monitoring your flight can adjust your pickup without you having to do anything.

Justine Mellor

Justine is a content specialist and writer who started backpacking the world at 16 and has lived in three countries. With roots in the travel industry and a taste for the road less traveled, she seeks out places with soul—where the food’s loud, the music’s local, and the culture runs deep.