You’ve had to wake up in the early hours with a blaring alarm, bundled yourself into an Uber, and sped off to the airport. You stand, bleary-eyed at the departure board, reassured that, yes, you’re here with plenty of time. Buzzing with excitement, you go in search of the first meal of your holiday. 

And, there’s nothing more fitting than a glorious fry up. Because there’s something that you (and 49% of Brits) believe - indulging in a full English is perfectly acceptable at 4am. And depending on which airport you’re at, the amount of cash you’re likely to part with for the pleasure varies a surprising amount. But which is cheapest? And which is the best? 

To find out, we’ve checked the menus and reviews of 65 restaurants across airports up and down the UK. We’ve crunched the numbers, poured through the research and present to you an in-depth analysis of British Airport breakfasts to create the JFC Full English Breakfast Index. We compare pricing, quality, what you get on your plate, and which have the best veggie options.  

So, let’s jump into it! 

Comparing costs

On average, a full English breakfast at the average airport is £13.50. Typically this includes 7 key ingredients, including bacon, eggs and sausages. In a surprise to no one, airports tend to be a little stingier than other places you’ll buy a fry up, with bread and butter not included in the price.

Here’s a snapshot of the average cost at the top 15 UK airports:

Taking the crown as the most affordable airport restaurant for a full English breakfast, The Beer House at Newcastle International Airport offers a delectable morning feast for just £8.95 – nearly £5 below the national airport average.

On the other hand, the priciest pre-flight fry up is Juniper & Co at London City Airport. Priced at a staggering £18.50, at least it comes with toast!

Scammed through security

So, we came across a really interesting factor in this price comparison - in general, airport restaurants tend to hike up the price of a full English once you’ve passed security. Glasgow International Airport takes the lead with a 24% markup, followed by Edinburgh and Gatwick at 15% and 11%. So, if you can afford to risk sitting down to eat before you brave the security line, you might save a pretty penny. 

5-star breakfasts

Newcastle International Airport takes this one out, too! Cheapest, and also best reviewed with an impressive 4.3 out of 5 on Google Review (ranked with London City). 

Unfortunately, there have to be losers too, and this time it’s Leeds Bradford and London Stansted. Restaurants at these airports only come out with a 3.4 out of 5 average, which definitely doesn’t inspire much confidence for your next airport full English. 

Take a look at the full breakdown of average google ratings at each airport below: 

Catering for all

Veggie and vegan readers, rejoice! It turns out, there are a lot of you, which means it’s great to hear that a whopping 97% of the 65 airport restaurants we looked at offered a vegetarian full English, and more than half (54%) catered to vegans, too. 

We know that you’re unlikely to choose an airport solely on the price and quality of their full English (we wouldn’t blame you if you would, though!). But we hope that our Full English Breakfast Index is useful the next time you’re looking to fuel up before a flight, and it gives you a taste of what to expect on your plate :-)