The World Airline Awards rank the best airlines for each continent, and its top list for Europe includes a number of surprises, including a strong ranking for British Airways and a winner that few have heard of
The World Airline Awards have published its list of the Best Airlines in Europe, which includes a number of big names. However, popular budget airlines such as Ryanair and easyJet failed to make the top 10.
Skytrax, whose site allows users to post airline and airport reviews, put together the list based on customer surveys that included rankings for a number of factors from staff friendliness to cabin cleanliness, seat comfort, and even the quality of the airline’s website.
At number one is Turkish Airlines, which is the flag carrier for Turkey. This airline offers several routes from the UK to Turkish destinations including Istanbul, Ankara, and Antalya from bases in London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, and Edinburgh.
Certifying it as a four-star airline, according to its own ranking system, Skytrax said: “Turkish Airlines delivers a good experience to customers, and for short-haul travel the airlines provides a superior experience versus many other legacy carriers in Europe, and benchmarks well against Middle Eastern competitors.”
Another winner was Air France, which operates from London Heathrow, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Birmingham, with destinations including Paris and other major cities.
UK-based British Airways managed to clinch fourth place, while Virgin Atlantic was the next UK airline on the list, taking sixth place. The latter flies from London Heathrow, Manchester, and Edinburgh, and offers services to far-flung destinations such as the USA, Canada, Korea, and India.
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Recently, a study revealed the airline with the worst legroom, and the results were surprising. Which? looked at 12 popular airline and worked out how many inches passengers got for their money.
At the top of the list was Aer Lingus offering 31-32 inches of space, and in second place, British Airways offered a decent 29-31 inches. But in third place was easyJet with 29 inches, showing that budget airlines aren’t necessarily more cramped than their premium counterparts.
At the bottom of the list were TUI and Wizz Air who offered seat pitches of 28 inches, so there’s not a huge amount of difference between the best and worst legroom when it comes to economy class.
10 best airlines in Europe according to Skytrax
- Turkish Airlines
- Air France
- Swiss International Air Lines
- British Airways
- Lufthansa
- Virgin Atlantic
- Iberia
- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
- Austrian Airlines
- Finnair
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