Analysis of Civial Aviation Authority data by the Mirror has found the UK operating airline that had the most complaints made by passengers during the most recent recorded period
We have gone through the complaints data(Image: simon2579 via Getty Images)
The most complained-about airline in the UK is not Ryanair or easyJet.
While flying, at its best, can feel like a modern-day miracle, transporting us across the world in a handful of hours in a way our forebears could only have dreamed of, it can also be deeply frustrating and annoying.
Whether it’s waking up at the crack of dawn for an early flight, getting stuck in an hours-long boarding queue for a service that promised to leave long before, spending a small fortune in the airport, or suffering from small-airline-seat-cramp, there is plenty to gripe about.
And gripe we have.
The most recent figures from the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority show that over 43,000 complaints were made about airlines operating in the UK from mid-2024 to March 2025. The list of things one could complain about is endless, but the most common are disruptions, denied boarding, lost or damaged baggage, and lack of assistance for disabled passengers.
Have you had a complaint-worthy flight? Email webtravel@reachplc.com
READ MORE: UK’s worst towns for 2026 as tourists slam concrete centres and humdrum atmosphereREAD MORE: Spain holiday warning for Brits after major clampdown this week
Particularly given the rough few months aviation has had. The first five months of 2025 were marred by tens of thousands of delays and cancellations, EuroNews reports. Dutch carrier KLM scrapped the most flights during that period, with 2,760 grounded, followed by British Airways (1,763) and Germany’s Lufthansa (1,757), according to FlightRight.
The highest rate of flights scrapped in those five months was on Finnair, with 3.35% of its flights grounded out of a total of over 43,000 trips.
Whatever the reason for a passenger’s gripe, so long as a flight took off or landed in the UK, they have the right to register a complaint with the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
Analysis of the latest data from the Authority shows that Wizz Air had the highest number of complaints per million passengers flown, beating Ryanair to the bottom spot. In fact, the Hungarian airline romped home with the prize.
It received 10,548 customer complaints from mid-2024 to March 2025, or 918 complaints per one million passengers. That means for every customer who flew, just under 1,000 registered a complaint during that period.
In Wizz Air’s favour is the relatively low ‘complaint upheld’ rate during that time, at 47%. It paid out £1,482,183 as a consequence, or £651 per customer on average.
Contrastingly, British Airways had a far lower complaints rate (192/one million customers), but 83% were upheld. BA paid out £6,238,378 in total, or £837 per customer.
In what may be a surprise to some, Ryanair did not receive the most complaints. Its complaints-per-million-customers rate was 188, with a low complaints upheld rate of 28% and an average award of £694.
The most complained-about airlines
(UK operating airline: complaints per million customers; complaints upheld; average award)
- Wizz Air: 918, 47%, £651
- Air France: 301, 43%, £828
- Turkish Airlines: 265, 51%, £718
- Egypt Air: 234, 19%, £630
- TUI: 223, 20%, £722
- Air Baltic: 221, 52%, £617
- BA: 192, 83%, £837
- Ryanair: 188, 28%, £694
- Air Portugal: 171, 37%, £662
- EasyJet: 147, 18%, £630