Which? names best and worst airlines
Thomas Cook Airlines has been rated by holidaymakers as one of the worst short-haul airlines for the third year running.
It came second bottom in the Which? annual poll of members, just above Ryanair, which has come bottom of the pile for the last two years.
In 2011, Thomas Cook Airlines came last.
Ryanair scored a customer rating of just 32%, which was 2% worse than last year, but it has announced enhancements to its service for 2014, including allocated seating and lower baggage fees.
Thomas Cook scored a customer rating of 36%, which was the same as last year.
However, the airline’s CEO Christoph Debus rubbished the Which? results, saying they were in "stark contrast" to Thomas Cook’s own customer feedback.
"From our own survey – which takes the views of over 900 times more of our customers than the Which? report – we have customer satisfaction scores of 87% rating their flight as either excellent or good for their holiday this summer," he said.
"This is set to increase as we improve our fleet further – we’ve very recently taken delivery of the first of many brand new Airbus A321 and a new A330, which are already taking short and long haul customers on holiday, By 2016, we will have replaced 50 per cent of our UK fleet and for the rest the cabins will be completely renewed.
"It’s impossible to see how this survey offers consumers a like-for-like comparison when Which? is comparing airlines with completely different product offerings that appeal to completely different customers – including, for our package holiday customers, where the priority is getting them to their holiday on time."
Guersney-based Aurigny Air came top of the short-haul league with a score of 87%. Swiss came second with 82% and Norwegian third with 79%.
Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines came joint first for long-haul flights, with a customer score of 87%.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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