Airport anxiety is something I’ve suffered with much of my life.
Much more than airport stress, or that universal sense of jitteriness that hangs in the air at departure halls, airport anxiety can manifest itself as intense panic attacks, agoraphobia or an unshakeable sense of dread.
For someone who has lived with anxiety for over a decade, I find that airports unfortunately represent a place where nearly all of my triggers co-exist; a melting pot of just about everything that causes of my cortisol to rise.
From long queues at security, to large chaotic crowds, I’m often overwhelmed by a sense that there is nowhere ‘safe’ to escape to in an airport. Instead, I’m stuck in a no-man’s land between home and my eventual destination.
Of course, as someone who travels frequently, my airport anxiety has, at times, made my life incredibly hard. Although I want to look forward to my trip, it’s often tainted by a deep-seated fear of the part that must come before it.
Thankfully, and driven largely by necessity, I’ve now developed a toolkit to help me manage this airport anxiety.
Below are my 12 ways to beat airport anxiety – tips that I hope you’ll find useful.
What Helps Airport Anxiety? 12 Ways to Beat Airport Anxiety
1. Identify Your Fears
When it comes to managing airport anxiety, one of the first things you should do is sit and identify what’s really triggering your anxiety or fears.
Whilst it might feel as though you’re scared of airports in general, on the whole it’s likely to be just one or two aspects of the experience that’s really worrying you.
Indeed, for people who already have anxiety, the airport is like a ride through a Haunted House. Here, you can choose your pick from any number of terrifying spectres – whether that’s long, claustrophobic security queues, chaotic crowds or a lack of easy escape routes.
The entire experience can be a very overwhelming and overstimulating one.
However, and by identifying which elements are actually the root-cause of your airport anxiety, you can begin to not only put together a plan as to how you’ll manage these individual anxieties (more on this later), but you can lessen your fear overall.
For example, you might think – whilst I might feel uncomfortable in security queues, I know that I actually find browsing books in departures manageable – exciting, even. It’s not the entire airport experience you dislike, but just small aspects of it.
For me, I identified that airport security makes me anxious, alongside the inability to ‘get out’ if I need to. Once I had these aspects noted down, I then focused on how I would manage these triggers better (using CBT and reframing my fears).
As a result, and whilst I still find airport security horrible, it’s not the entire airport that I now dread – just small parts of it that I know I can overcome.
2. Check Out Your Airport’s Hidden Disability Scheme
For those of you suffering with panic disorder, or ongoing anxiety, please be reassured that you will be supported by the airport when you visit.
This is particularly so if you are scared of going through an airport alone.
Many airports, such as Heathrow, now run ‘hidden disabilities’ schemes, which cover anxiety. In short, these schemes provide those (who opt to be part of it), with subtly branded lanyards, to alert staff to the fact that they might be dealing with hidden disabilities such as autism, anxiety or dementia.
In return, staff are more than ready to help passengers and are aware that they might require a bit more support and patience.
Heathrow’s scheme provides passengers with a sunflower decorated lanyards, which you can collect on the day at the Assistance Desks throughout the terminals.
3. Identify a Safe Space
Anyone with anxiety will appreciate the importance of knowing not only your exit routes, but where your safe spaces are, too.
One of the biggest causes of my own airport anxiety has been what I’ve perceived to be the lack of safe places to retreat to if my anxiety kicks in. Thankfully, this isn’t the case at all and over time I’ve found places to go to in airports that offer genuine sanctuary from the chaos.
Firstly, there are airport lounges. Importantly, you don’t need to be flying business or first class to access these, and most are fairly accessible (provided you book ahead and are willing to pay to enter).
Whilst definitely a luxury, booking these lounges has massively helped with reducing my airport anxiety. I know that there’s a welcoming sanctuary, just after the stress of security, that I can go to for relative privacy, way from the ‘threatening’ crowds and queues. As an added bonus, I can also access free WiFi, alongside a free meal, drinks and snacks; which helps to balance out the cost (which is usually around £20).
To guarantee your place, always be sure to book your lounge place ahead of time. You can buy passes through general holiday sites such as Lounge Pass, Holiday Extras, or LoungeBuddy. Alternatively, you can book directly with lounge operators such as No 1 Lounges.
Alternatively, AMEX customers get free access to airport lounges and customers of Monzo Premium also get discounted access to lounges worldwide.
If you don’t want to pay for access to an airport lounge, there are still plenty of quieter, private spaces to find in airports. For example, did you know that airport chapels, or prayer rooms, are not strictly for religious worshippers – but invite all travellers in to sit, reflect and meditate?
Furthermore, there are now dedicated meditation spaces in some airports – including Heathrow and Helsinki. You can find Heathrow’s beautiful ‘Rest and Relaxation Room’ near Gate 24 in Terminal 2. It’s also entirely free to use.
Lastly, look out for empty gates. Although not as glamorous as lounges or meditation rooms, empty gates are often completely deserted and offer some breathing space, away from the maddening crowds.
All these spaces are so helpful in helping to overcome airport anxiety.
4. How to Stay Calm in Airport Security
Airport security makes me anxious – and this is something I’ve had to both accept and embrace.
But then again, who does enjoy being penned in a long line? Shuffling along in an often overheated environment, with strip lighting glaring down on you? Not to mention the chaos that happens once you reach security and the anxiety as to whether you’ve packed something entirely illegal in your hand luggage.
The entire thing feels like an endurance test.
While you definitely shouldn’t think yourself abnormal for getting airport security anxiety, there are things you can do to make this airport stress more bearable.
- Firstly, I always buy a security priority pass, to help me get ahead of the crowds. Admittedly, sometimes others have had the same idea and the queues are still sizeable. However, the majority of the time it means I can skip past the queues and go straight through security, without any rising panic.
- Secondly, if airport anxiety is causing you to get extremely anxious – or you feel as though you’re heading for a panic attack – tell someone. I’ve had to do this a few times, alerting a steward or member of staff that I’m not feeling well. They have always handled my request for help extremely discreetly and have calmly escorted me to the front of the queue (no questions asked)
- If I do have to queue, I make sure I always have my AirPods with me and my favourite music, podcast or audiobook ready to go. For me, coping with queues is all about distraction
- I also always pack water (gulp it down before you get to the check point), an invigorating natural oil to sniff and a pack of sweets, to keep my blood sugar levels up
- Plan your flight tactically. Airport security is much busier at certain times of the day, than at others. As a result, it can be virtually deserted if you time things right. Statistically speaking, Tuesday and Wednesdays are the quietest days of the week to fly, and any time before 8am tends to be when you’ll find less queues.
5. Anxious About an Early Flight? Stay in a Hotel
I’ve always experienced early morning flight anxiety.
Although these flights are always eventually worth it – you get to your destination sooner, security is quieter and they’re much cheaper – the prospect of having to make a 6am flight always leaves me feeling sick.
The night before I barely sleep and normally wake up feeling full of dread at the prospect of heading to the airport.
To help deal with this, I’ve started to routinely book myself a room in an hotel airport the night before: something that’s been a real game changer.
If you book ahead, these hotels don’t need to be expensive. In fact, I’ve been known to get a room for as little as £45, between two. I usually arrive at the hotel just in time for dinner (usually eating in the departures – which ironically, never makes me anxious), get to bed early and saunter back into the airport in the early hours.
There’s also something about staying over at an airport – knowing its neon lit halls are just a stone’s throw away – that helps take the sting out of my airport anxiety. It feels more homely and ultimately, more of a safe place.
Our favourite airport hotel by far is the Bloc Hotel at Gatwick.
6. Airport Anxiety of Fear of Flying?
For most, airport anxiety is, in reality, really a fear of flying (or aerophobia).
The airport represents the threshold – the ‘no going back’ line in the sand between being able to drive home or having to actually board that flight. It’s therefore no wonder that so many people with a fear of flying also suffer with airport anxiety.
To help manage your fear of airports, I’d therefore definitely recommend focusing on learning how to overcome, or better manage, your aerophobia. If the idea of flying is no longer filling you with utter dread, it’s likely that you’re going to also find the airport a much more inviting space – perhaps (dare I say it) even an exciting one.
There are so many ways to beat a fear of flying – from specialised fear of flying courses (there are some excellent courses run by EasyJet and British Airways), to CBT courses and hypnotherapy.
Getting a grip on your phobia of flying can be life-changing and something definitely worth looking into.
7. Plan a Treat Ahead of Time
One effective way to beat airport anxiety is to try and reframe this space as one that isn’t threatening, claustrophobic or busy, but a place of excitement, new experiences and positivity.
When it comes to managing my own fear of airports, I’ve therefore started to envisage the airport not just as a glorified holding pen, but as a place where I can kick-start my travels with some lovey experiences, treats and little luxuries.
Did you know, for example, that (at some of the biggest airports), you can book yourself a massage ahead of time? Or an aromatic hand massage? What about a trip to a Champagne Bar? Or a slap up meal?
At Gatwick airport, I love going to Jo Malone for a hand and arm massage before I fly (I always choose very uplifting scents and cremes) and have enjoyed both a pedicure and a massage at Heathrow’s Be Relax spa.
Alternatively, why not go to the airport’s best restaurant (Terminal 5 at Heathrow has some great ones), or order that class of champagne? Your focus here is on making your time inside the airport an indulgent one; allowing you to ultimately reframe how you perceive this space.
This is one reason why I do always try to book an airport lounge ahead of time.
8. Engage with the Discomfort
Another technique I use to manage airport anxiety is based around a CBT approach to managing anxiety more generally.
In short, this means ‘welcoming in’ anxiety and living alongside it. Rather than fighting with your airport anxiety – wrestling to keep it below the surface – instead, let it run its course. Invite it along for the ride and try to practice radical acceptance.
Also try to get curious with your anxiety. What physical sensations are you having? What thoughts are you experiencing? Can you describe where the anxiety is sitting in your body? What would it feel and look like?
I do understand that for airport anxiety sufferers, this seems terrifying. I’m sure ‘what if’ thoughts are flooding your brain – ‘but, what if I then have a panic attack in front of everyone?’, ‘what if I then can’t board my flight as I’m so anxious?’.
While I completely understand this, try to remember that these ‘what if’ thoughts are just another element of your airport anxiety and not reality.
Instead, try the mantra ‘I have felt uncomfortable/anxious before and I have coped’. Or, why not get bolder and egg your anxiety on – willing it to do its worst?
Eventually, I promise that your airport anxiety will very quickly lose its potency (and much faster than if you keep trying to suppress it) and will likely fade away; allowing you to grow in confidence.
9. You Can Get Out
One thought that’s often driven my own airport anxiety is the question: can you leave an airport after going through security? The idea that I can’t, or am somehow trapped, makes my anxiety rocket.
To help nip this particularly intrusive thought in the bud, I decided to research what would happen if you really did need to leave the airport once you were through security.
The answer? Not a lot. You’re free to go.
Of course, best practice would be to inform staff on the gate that you won’t be boarding – just so that they can take you off the passenger manifest and remove your luggage. But other than that, you can simply turn around and exit.
No alarms or sirens will fire and you aren’t about to being tackled to the floor by security.
Of course, I very much doubt that your airport anxiety will actually lead to you having to escape the airport, but it helped my mental health to know that if you do feel too overwhelmed, you can simply leave (just follow the exit signs).
10. Distraction
Once I’ve finally made it through security and into departures, I next focus on what is always my go-to tool when it comes to dissipating my airport anxiety – distraction.
Something from my CBT toolkit, distraction is a fantastic way to deal with airport anxiety. Importantly, however, this isn’t just panicked distraction – like frantically scrolling your phone – but slow and purposeful distraction. This might include activities like reading, colouring, journalling or any other (portable) hobby you might enjoy.
Studies have proven that this sort of meaningful distraction is an incredibly powerful tool when it comes to moving you out of your sympathetic nervous system (that responsible for your stress response) and into your parasympathetic system (the one responsible for promoting feelings of calm and peace).
Personally, I find a quiet area (sometimes an airport lounge), plug my AirPods in and read. Just this very simple act immediately transports me away from the freneticism of the airport and into a place that feels familiar and safe.
There are also a number of great apps aimed at distracting you from an anxiety or panic attack; helping you to regain control when the world feels as though it’s spinning away.
These include Rootd (just hit the red button if you feel a panic attack coming in), PanicShield and the wonderful Headspace, which offers an SOS meditation. These are always so useful in helping me overcome airport anxiety.
11. Use an Anxiety-Busting Gadget
Alongside some award-winning anxiety apps, there are now a number of gadgets designed to help you shift seamlessly from a flight or fight response into a gentler, calmer state.
One of these gadgets is the incredible Sensate, designed to help improve your anxiety and mental health.
In short, the Sensate 2 is a cordless pebble-shaped device that uses infrasonic therapy to stimulate your vagus nerve. In turn, this calms and reassures your nervous system (specifically, your ‘flight or fight’ system) and builds longer term resilience to things like anxiety and stress.
This gadget is used alongside the Sensate app (and a pair of headphones), to play calming soundscapes which correspond with the rise and fall of the gadget’s vibrations.
Designed to be portable and usable on the move (even on airplanes), the Sensate is ideal to take with you to the airport. Coming complete with a lanyard, you can just pop this over your head and let the Sensate rest on your breastbone – before you then start an immersive, soundscape experience.
Having already used the sensate in an airport and on a flight, I cannot stress how powerful this tiny tool is in helping to beat my airport anxiety. Tapping into my calming sympathetic nervous system, just a 10 minute session leaves me feeling revitalised, calm and my brain recalibrated.
12. You Are Not Alone
Lastly, I wanted to finish this list of 12 ways to beat airport anxiety with a quick, but reassuring message.
You really are not alone in experiencing airport anxiety. Even for the calmest, most laidback of individuals, the airport environment is one that can cause incredible levels of stress and anxiety.
A space where you have very little control over your journey – whether that be queues at security or long-delays on your flight – the entire airport experience is one that leaves us feeling tired, drained and apprehensive.
Try to therefore normalise how you feel and embrace it; empathetically so. Airport anxiety is such a common and somewhat inevitable syndrome, and one most of us will experience at some point in our lives.
Acknowledge your feelings towards airports, take a deep breathe and continue with your journey. You might be feeling uncomfortable, but those feelings can’t hurt you. They are just a natural response to a stressful environment.
Airport anxiety is tough, but you’ve got this – that I promise you.
