British airports suffer a huge variation in the quality of their public transport links.
Some like Gatwick and Stansted have a high-quality train service direct to the passenger terminals while others have to rely on buses.
New research by Railfuture assesses each airport on the quality of rail, bus and coach links and the information given to passengers about public transport.
Railfuture highlights the difference between those with excellent all-round provision and those with relatively poor provision such as Norwich.
"Clearly there's huge room for improvement," said Trevor Garrod, who helped compile Railfuture's Airport Links report.
"Naturally you'd expect the larger airports to have better links, but there are some surprises, such as Southampton coming out better than Heathrow.
"Gatwick is a good example of best practice, with the rail station connected to the airport. Other rail connections have to be made via a bus or coach link, which is less satisfactory."
"In some cases, simple actions such as reorganising bus routes so that buses call at the airport and the railway station could bring huge improvements.
"No one seems to have taken responsibility for this on a national level. There's a piecemeal approach, and some joined-up thinking is really needed."
"It's not just the passengers who benefit from decent public transport links. We have to remember the thousands of people who work in UK airports who can also benefit, as well as the general population through reduced pollution and congestion."
The report can be viewed online at:
http://www.railfuture.org.uk/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=169
For further information please contact: Bruce Williamson, media spokesman. Tel: 0117 927 2954 Mobile: 07759 557389. Email: media at railfuture.org.uk