Sit back and get ready to take off on your next holiday with a flight approved by Which? The consumer platform has rated a number of airlines based on surveys of travellers.
For the study, more than 10,000 flights and customer data were analyzed, including ratings on value for money, seat comfort, and food and drink. A customer rating score was calculated based on overall satisfaction and the likelihood of recommending a flight.
Jet2 convinces
Which? found that Jet2 (JET2.L) had wowed customers last year with an overall score of 81%, coming first for short-haul flights and receiving five stars for customer service.
Jet2 also has the lowest rate of last-minute cancellations of all airlines in the survey: According to data from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), only 0.5% of flights were cancelled at short notice.
Its performance convinced customers with an excellent price-performance ratio and awarded it four stars in this category. It also received four stars for the boarding experience, the cabin climate and the cleanliness in the cabin.
Close behind are Icelandair and Norwegian with equally high customer ratings of 74%.
Low-flying aircraft
Among short-haul airlines, Wizz Air (WIZZ.L) came last for the second year in a row with a customer rating of 44%, with delays cited as a particularly common problem, according to Which?.
According to CAA data, 63% of the airline’s flights were on time last year (October 2022-September 2023). About 2% of its flights were delayed by more than three hours – more than most of its competitors.
“We do not consider the results of this report to be representative or an accurate reflection of our current performance, which is among the strongest in Europe,” said a Wizz Air spokesman.
“We have been honest about our performance in summer 2022, which was not up to our standards. We have invested more than £90 million to correct this and have made significant improvements that are not reflected in the results of this survey but which are evident from independent data as well as our own.”
Among the low-cost airlines, Ryanair (RYA.IR) also fared poorly with a customer rating of 47%. The airline received only two stars for the boarding experience, cabin cleanliness and cabin climate, but three stars for value for money.
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“Ryanair has industry-leading punctuality with an average punctuality rate of 87% in 2023, although punctuality in the UK is severely impacted by the inefficient NATS (National Air Traffic Service) and its incompetent CEO, whose ATC (air traffic control) system has collapsed twice this year, delaying thousands of flights and millions of passengers travelling to/from the UK,” the company spokesperson said.
Iberia, Vueling and British Airways occupy the bottom five places in the short-haul segment with customer ratings of 49%, 53% and 56% respectively.
Fares are rising
Research by Which? found that in many cases, service quality fell far short of expectations. Many respondents reported difficulty reaching customer service when they needed it, and one in ten (11%) respondents who contacted an airline by email did not receive a response within 90 days.
This comes despite airlines posting record profits this year and enjoying a rebound in pent-up demand following COVID lockdowns. Average airfares in the UK last summer were as high as £713, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Rory Bowland, editor of Which? Travel, said: “Airfares have soared in recent years and the least passengers should expect for their hard-earned money is a reliable service with friendly, easy-to-reach customer support if they are disappointed.”
The five largest short-haul airlines
Below five short distances Airlines
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British Airways
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Vueling
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Iberia
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Ryanair
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Wizz Air
In it for the long term
Which?’s data also showed that Singapore Airlines (C6L.SI) and Emirates were among the best operators in the long-haul category, with scores of 83% and 81% respectively. Singapore scored best in boarding and was the only long-haul airline to receive five stars.
Germany’s Lufthansa (LHA.DE) and Air Canada (AC.TO) both performed poorly, and IAG’s British Airways (IAG.L) also came in last. Air Canada and Lufthansa both performed poorly in the areas of seat comfort and food and drink.
The five largest long-haul airlines
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Singapore Airlines
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Emirate
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Virgin Atlantic
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Qatar Airways
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Qantas (QAN.AX)
The five weakest long-haul airlines
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Air France (AF.PA)
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American Airlines (AAL)
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British Airways
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Air Canada
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Lufthansa
Watch: European airlines: Why Ryanair is about to take off
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