Why Ryanair is the airline we just love to hate

WE may fly Ryanair planes more often than any others – but it is also the airline we love to loathe.

Ryanair ranks rock bottom out of 19 European short-haul economy airlines in a new survey by UK consumer website, Which?

It was given the lowly rating of 40% for customer satisfaction by 7,900 airline passengers in the survey released to Irish Which? members yesterday.

Ryanair’s mark is 12% lower than the second worst scorer – Thomas Cook airlines. Aer Lingus ranked in eighth position, with a 68% satisfaction rating.

Aurigny Air Service (a small Channel Islands hopper) came tops (81%) followed by Swiss (80%), Jet2 (75%) and Norwegian (73%). That mark combines overall satisfaction and the likelihood of recommending the airline to others.

Ryanair fares even worse than it did in a Which? survey last year, when it was merely jointlast in members’ estimation.

This time around, Ryanair was out on its own – outright last in

four out of six categories and joint last in the other two.

‘Has your least favourite airline gone too far,’ Which? asked in its headline. ‘Cancellations, confusing charges and bewildering luggage rules leave you steering clear of Ryanair.’

For boarding, seat comfort, food and cabin environment, it was given just one star out of five when every other airline

received at least two.

For customer service, it was among three airlines who received three stars. Vueling and Thomas Cook were the other two. Which? members weren’t even prepared to give Ryanair much credit for its reputedly low prices. It got two stars for the ‘value for money’ category.

A staggering 70% of those who listed one airline they would always avoid said they would never fly Ryanair. Which?

describes itself as a not-forprofit ‘champion’ of mainly UKbased consumers, who pay membership fees to receive its monthly magazine. It does not accept advertising

The Irish airline was furnished with a copy of the Which? survey and asked to respond. At the time of the Irish Daily Mail going to press, it had not done so.

However, in relation to a similar Which? survey in 2017, Ryanair called it ‘unrepresentative and worthless’. Of that survey, Ryanair said it didn’t represent real passenger choices.

The Which? survey suggests Ryanair’s biggest problem may be its image, with passengers quick to damn the airline at every opportunity, perhaps unfairly.

For example, Ryanair flies the same aircraft as at least two other carriers which got three stars for seat room – while Ryanair got just one. Two out of three readers may say they would never fly Ryanair, yet it is still by far the most popular European airline, selling 130million tickets in 2018.

Two stars for value for money