Ryanair and Vueling rated worst short haul airlines by British passengers

PASSENGERS have voted Ryanair the joint-worst European short haul airline.

The budget giant was ranked lowest out of 20 short haul carriers alongside Spanish counterpart Vueling, with both scoring 45 per cent for customer satisfaction in a Which? survey of over 1,000 fliers.

The poll asked questions about food and drink, seat comfort, value for money and punctuality.

Ryanair, which earlier this year cancelled thousands of flights, scored one star out of five for seat comfort, but three stars for value.

The airline said the study was “unrepresentative and worthless,” with marketing directior Kenny Jacobs adding: “This Which? survey doesn’t reflect real passenger choices. Real customers cannot get enough of Ryanair’s low fares.”

British Airways (BA) slumped to third-from-bottom of the ranking, with a score of 52 per cent down from 67 per cent in 2016.

The carrier has stopped serving free food on short haul flights and introduced paid-for Marks and Spencer sandwiches.

Best short-haul airline was tiny Channel Islands outfit Aurigny Air Services, which scored 80 per cent, while Jet2.com (76 per cent) and Norwegian (76 per cent) were both awarded four stars for customer service.

In the long haul section, Singapore Airlines (88 per cent) finished top of the table for a second consecutive year, ahead of Emirates (82 per cent) and Qatar Airways (78 per cent).

US carrier United Airlines (39 per cent) finished bottom, with BA (50 per cent) again performing poorly and finishing third from last.

Which? travel editor, Rory Boland told UK media: “BA’s poor customer satisfaction shows it clearly needs to step up its game in a year that has been beset with problems.

“From the food and drink on offer, to the poor value for money of the journey itself, the airline has a lot of work to do to improve the experience.”

A BA official responded: ”British Airways is a premium airline committed to customer choice. We offer customers the biggest network from London’s most central airports, a loyalty programme with huge benefits and the best punctuality record of the three big short-haul operators from the capital.

“We also give our growing numbers of customers a wide choice of fares and services.

“The quality and choice of food and drink are proving popular and sales have greatly exceeded our initial expectations.”