The world’s best (and worst) airlines

The world’s best (and worst) airlines

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Did you know you could submit a review of your airline using TripAdvisor? The website recently gave users the chance to rate their flight, as well as their accommodation, in a move it claims will “demystify” what is becoming an increasingly confusing market place for travellers.

But which airlines score highest on TripAdvisor – and which are propping up the table?

The best airlines – according to TripAdvisor

Hundreds of carriers have been rated using the website, but many have only received a handful of reviews. We chose to ignore all airlines that have received fewer than 400 reviews to leave a total of 66.

Of these 66, 16 have an average rating of 4.5 stars (out of five). We’ve ranked them here according to which have received the highest percentage of five-star reviews.

  1. Emirates – 67.5% five-star reviews
  2. Singapore Airlines – 64.2%
  3. Air New Zealand – 60.6%
  4. Southwest – 60%
  5. Qatar Airways – 59.7%
  6. JetBlue – 59.4%
  7. Aeroflot – 58.9%
  8. JAL – 58.6%
  9. Azul – 58.6%
  10. Jet2.com – 56.4%
  11. ANA – 55.8%
  12. Garuda – 53.5%
  13. Aegean – 53.5%
  14. THAI Smile – 51%
  15. Avianca – 49.9%
  16. TAM – 45.5%

The presence of Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand at the top of the table will come as no surprise -they are regularly rated among the world’s best airlines in the annual Telegraph Travel Awards (see below).

More noteworthy are the strong performances by low-cost carriers such as Jet2.com and US-based JetBlue and Southwest; Aeroflot continues to outrun its Cold War reputation; while THAI Smile, a subsidiary of Thai Airways, is perhaps the most obscure on the list.

The worst airlines – according to TripAdvisor

Once again we ignored those carriers that have received fewer than 400 reviews. Of the remaining 66 airlines, three really stand out: Vueling, Spirit and Frontier. They are the only one to have an average rating of less than 3/5. A further 11 airlines have a rating of 3/5. Here we rank them according to percentage of one-star reviews.

  1. Spirit – 42.8% one-star reviews
  2. Frontier – 40.3%
  3. Vueling – 34.8%
  4. Allegiant – 30.7%
  5. Wow – 32.6%
  6. Sunwing – 25.4%
  7. American Airlines – 21.5%
  8. Air Europa – 19.7%
  9. airberlin – 17.7%
  10. Thomas Cook Airlines – 17.6%
  11. United – 17.3%
  12. Air Transat – 15.5%
  13. Jetstar – 15.1%
  14. Iberia – 12.8%

The bottom six are all low-cost carriers. Spirit holds the dubious honour of being the airline that relies most on “ancillary” revenue, such as baggage fees,  according to a 2015 survey. It charges passengers up to $100 for a cabin bag. Sunwing and Air Transat are both based in Canada.

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The best airlines – according to Skytrax

More established is Skytrax, which has been rating airlines since 2001. Its most recent awards were announced a few weeks ago; here is the top 10:

  1. Emirates
  2. Qatar Airways
  3. Singapore Airlines
  4. Cathay Pacific
  5. ANA
  6. Etihad
  7. Turkish Airlines
  8. EVA Air
  9. Qantas
  10. Lufthansa

The worst airlines – according to Skytrax

Just one airline gets a rating of one star from Skytrax – Air Koryo, based in North Korea. A further 21 get just two stars – they are listed below, in alphabetical order:

  1. Air Koryo
  2. Bahamasair
  3. Biman Bangladesh
  4. Bulgaria Air
  5. China United Airlines
  6. Cubana Airlines
  7. Iran Air
  8. Lion Air
  9. Mahan Air
  10. Nepal Airlines
  11. Onur Air
  12. Pegasus Airlines
  13. Rossiya Airlines
  14. Ryanair
  15. SmartWings
  16. Spirit
  17. Sudan Airways
  18. Syrianair
  19. Tajik Air
  20. Turkmenistan Airlines
  21. Ukraine International Airlines
  22. Yemenia

The best long-haul airlines – according to you

And finally, the most important ranking of all – the best airlines according to the opinions of the 75,000 readers who voted in the 2015/16 Telegraph Travel Awards.

  1. Emirates
  2. Singapore Airlines
  3. Air New Zealand
  4. Virgin Atlantic
  5. British Airways
  6. Qatar Airways
  7. Etihad
  8. Cathay Pacific
  9. Korean Air
  10. Thomson

The best short-haul airlines – according to you

  1. British Airways
  2. Swiss
  3. Icelandair
  4. Aurigny Air
  5. KLM
  6. Jet2.com
  7. Lufthansa
  8. EasyJet
  9. Austrian Airlines
  10. Aer Lingus

Courtesy msn.com