Whether it’s legroom, less-than-nutritious on-board meals or limited baggage space, there’s always some kind of sacrifice to make when flying on a budget. But some cheap airlines can take the biscuit.
But which short-haul carriers in the UK make for the shoddiest experiences at the moment? To find out, Which? ran a survey where customers rated airlines for factors like cabin cleanliness, boarding efficiency, seat comfort, food and drink offerings, delays and cancellations.
Following that survey, Which? named WizzAir the worst of the short-haul economy companies to fly with from the UK for the second year running. WizzAir’s pink planes scored a meagre one star for seat comfort and customer service and just two stars for cleanliness, food and drink and value for money. Oh dear.
Ryanair followed closely behind with one star for cleanliness and food and drink but three stars for value for money.
Which? researcher and writer Trevor Baker also warned that although WizzAir claims to be a budget airline, ‘once you add in a bag and seat next to family and friends, it’s nowhere near as cheap as it claims’.
Things aren’t going so great for the Hungary-based airline – Which? isn’t the only brand that has ranked it poorly recently. Last year, PA news agency dug up some data to reveal that it was the worst airline for flight delays (also for a second year running).
But WizzAir has clapped back at this latest ranking. Marion Geoffroy, its UK managing director, said that the company was not convinced by Which?’s findings.
She said: ‘Sample sizes are completely different for every airline – only 124 Wizz Air passengers were surveyed, while Which? spoke to several thousand people who had flown with some of our competitors.
‘The results are most certainly not what we are hearing from our customer surveys. It is unclear how Which? can come to these conclusions when only 1.15 percent of their respondents said they flew with Wizz Air.’
So, make of the findings what you will. But if you take these kinds of things seriously, you might also want to know about the UK’s worst airport for flight delays, the best (and worst) airport lounges or Which?’s overall ranking of UK airports.
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