Which? unveils best and worst short and long-haul airlines with Ryanair, Wizz Air and BA placed at bottom - airlines slam 'misleading' survey

Which? surveyed over 7,000 of its members about their experiences of flying last year across more than 9,000 flights. Passengers were asked to rate their experiences across several categories, including customer service, food and drink and value for money – an overall customer score was then calculated.

BA finished joint bottom in the ranking of long-haul airlines alongside Air Canada, with an overall customer score of 62%. The airline didn’t fare much better in the short-haul ranking, placing 12 out of 16, with an overall score of 57%.

At the top of the short-haul table was Jet2, for the fourth year in a row. The Which? Recommended Provider received a customer score of 80% and scored five out of five stars for customer service, booking, cleanliness and value for money. The airline also had the lowest rate of last-minute cancellations in the survey.

Logan Air ranked second with a customer score of 72%. The Scottish regional airline scored top marks for customer service, and four stars for booking process and boarding. While Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) followed closely behind in third with 71%. Meanwhile, low-cost airline EasyJet placed towards the middle of the table in 10th place with a customer score of 61%, followed by Vueling (11th, 60%) and British Airways (12th, 57%).

At the bottom end of the table, Wizz Air, the worst-performing short-haul airline for 2024, ranked just ahead of Ryanair with a customer score of 51%. The airline scored two stars across all categories in Which?’s survey, with 49% lamenting the booking process and the ‘endless choices’ of add-ons.

Ryanair only managed a maximum of two stars in any category, receiving just one star for food and drink, seat comfort, and boarding. One Ryanair passenger told Which?: “You think you are getting a fairly cheap flight only to find that you have to pay extra for everything. I would rather the price was higher but not have to pay to take on a cabin bag. The plane was not clean and the seats were very uncomfortable.”

Both Ryanair and Wizz Air disagreed with the findings. A Ryanair spokesperson said: “Ryanair this year will carry 200 million passengers. Not one of our 200 million passengers wishes to pay “higher prices” as Which? falsely claim.”

A Wizz Air spokesperson said: “Which? is yet again misleading the public with a survey that has a staggeringly small sample size. Wizz Air flew over 12 million passengers in the UK over the last year and Which? only surveyed 109 Wizz Air customers – less than 0.001% of our customer base. It is therefore not a fair or accurate representation of Wizz Air’s industry-leading operational performance and significantly improved customer service.”

A spokesperson for British Airways said: “This research from Which? is entirely at odds with comments from the hundreds of thousands of customers who we know do travel with British Airways and then tell us about their experience. Their feedback tells us customers are seeing the benefit of our £7bn investment programme, with operational performance improving by 18 per cent over the last 12 months, partnered with the introduction of new aircraft, the unveiling of our new First seat, free Wi-Fi messaging on flights and upgrades to nine of our lounges.”

Best and worst short-haul airlines, according to Which?

• Jet2 – 80% (overall customer score)
• Logan Air – 72%
• SAS – 71%
• Norwegian – 69%
• Aegean Airlines – 67%
• KLM – 67%
• Aer Lingus – 66%
• TUI Airways – 64%
• Turkish Airlines – 63%
• EasyJet – 61%
• Vueling Airlines – 60%
• British Airways – 57%
• TAP Portugal – 57%
• Lufthansa – 55%
• Wizz Air – 51%
• Ryanair – 49%

Best and worst long-haul airlines, according to Which?

• Singapore Airlines – 81%
• Etihad Airways – 78%
• Emirates – 77%
• Qantas – 73%
• Virgin Atlantic – 73%
• Air France – 72%
• Delta Airlines – 72%
• KLM – 72%
• United Airlines – 72%
• Qatar Airways – 69%
• Lufthansa – 68%
• Turkish Airlines – 68%
• Cathay Pacific – 67%
• TUI Airways – 67%
• Aer Lingus – 66%
• American Airlines – 65%
• Malaysia Airlines – 64%
• Air Canada – 62%
• British Airways – 62%