The best airlines in the UK have been revealed
NEW data has revealed the best – and worst – airlines in the UK.
In a new Which? report, Jet2 has been named the best airline in the UK, based on the responses of 5,500 travellers.
The airline – which was the only airline with short-haul flights to be named a Which? Recommended Provider – achieved an average score of 76 per cent based on several categories including boarding, customer service and seat comfort.
Last year, Jet2 cancelled fewer flights last minute than its biggest rivals.
This helped the airline to hold on to four stars for its booking process, customer service and value for money.
One customer said: “Compared with other budget airlines they give you a generous luggage allowance, which makes such a difference.”
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And unlike other budget airlines, Jet2 allows passengers to take on board one piece of hand luggage – as long as it weighs no more than 10kg and isn’t bigger than 56cm x 45cm x 25cm – free of charge, each.
And you can also bring a small, under-seat bag as long as it is not bigger than 40cm x 30cm x 20cm.
More than 76 per cent agreed they hadn’t had any problems with their flight, whilst only 63 per cent said this about Ryanair.
When it comes to other short-haul airlines that performed well, Lufthansa and Norwegian scored 73 per cent satisfaction, British Airways, TUI and KLM each scored 72 per cent, Aer Lingus scored 71 per cent and Air France scored 69 per cent.
At the other end of the table, it might not come as a surprise that Ryanair finished bottom, achieving a satisfaction score of just 55 per cent.
The airline, which is often called out for having hidden fees, scored two stars for its booking process, boarding, customer service and cabin environment.
It then also achieved just one star for seat comfort, with one customer commenting: “The plane is dirty and the seats are awful.”
And even though the airline did get three stars for value for money, another customer added: “It is billed as a budget airline but they make money from extras which far outweigh price savings on other flight companies.”
In total, over a third of Ryanair’s customers said something went wrong with their journey.
A spokesperson for Ryanair said: “Neither we nor our 208million passengers pay any attention to these made-up manufactured surveys or their fake results.
“Every passenger booking a flight has a choice and last year 208million consumers chose Ryanair, while nobody reads or pays any attention to Which? fake surveys.”
Wizz Air also didn’t do too great, scoring just 59 per cent for customer satisfaction.
The budget airline achieved two stars in most categories and then three stars in the value for money category, with one customer remarking that the airline is “consistently terrible and overpriced”.
Passengers also noted how the airline has poor customer service and lack of communication around delays.
A spokesperson for Wizz Air said: “Once again, Which’s survey relies on a tiny sample size.
“While the total number of passengers surveyed was 5,500 – only 259 of those actually flew with Wizz Air.
“That’s less than five per cent of those surveyed, and only 0.002 per cent of passengers carried on WIZZ flights to and from the UK in 2025.
“This tiny sample size of Wizz customers is a point we’ve raised with Which for the last three years, which has also been echoed by other airlines.
“Despite raising our concerns about how misleading this figure is, there have been no major improvements, and the survey remains entirely unrepresentative of what the vast majority of customers have experienced – and therefore an inaccurate source of information for the British public.”
EasyJet did slightly better, scoring 67 per cent overall, with three stars for its booking process and value for money and two stars for its customer service, seat comfort and cabin environment.
The budget airline also improved its punctuality over the past two years with fewer cancelled flights.
A spokesperson for easyJet said: “With around 40 per cent of our customers choosing to travel with just the fare and our customer satisfaction scores at a ten year high, it’s clear that customers continue to value this choice and our service.
“Given this survey is not weighted, it simply isn’t representative when comparing with airlines who carry far fewer passengers.”
Which? also found that the price for flights with low-cost airlines often shoots up once you add cabin bags to your booking.
And these prices usually don’t become clear until towards the end of the booking process.
Rory Boland, editor of Which? Travel said: “It’s outrageous to see Ryanair and Wizz Air openly scoff at the poor experiences of their own customers.
“They love to blow their own trumpet about the number of passengers who fly with them, but on many routes, there is simply no other choice.
“Many other passengers fly with them because of the enticingly low headline fares.
“But ridiculously expensive charges for baggage and other add-ons mean they are no longer guaranteed to be the cheapest option.
“We’ve repeatedly found that airlines that include baggage and seat allocation in their fares can actually work out cheaper overall.
“Fly with anyone else, if you can.”
Sun Travel has also contacted the airlines mentioned for comment.
The best long-haul airlines according to Which?
When it came to long-haul operators, Singapore Airlines came out on top with a customer satisfaction score of 81 per cent.
The airline also gained five stars for its cabin environment and customer service.
One customer said: “Cabin staff were very kind and accommodating. Food was excellent and the whole cabin environment was comfortable.”
However, the airline did miss out on a Which? Recommended Provider endorsement as it has a policy that means if you miss your outbound flight they will cancel your return ticket or charge you extra to amend your trip.
Other long-haul providers that scored well include Emirates (80 per cent), Virgin Atlantic (79 per cent), Qatar (78 per cent), Air Canada (77 per cent), KLM (75 per cent) and Etihad Airways (74 per cent).
British Airways also scored 72 per cent in the long-haul category, with four stars for customer service.
At the other end of the table, Aer Lingus scored the lowest for long-haul travel – 65 per cent.
A number of US airlines also scored low, such as Delta (70 per cent), American Airlines (69 per cent) and United Airlines (68 per cent.
In other aviation news, two UK airports are about to be much easier and cheaper to travel to – after thousands fined £100.
Plus, another English airport introduces hugely unpopular charge for passengers.
