The worst UK short-haul airline has been named and shamed

It has a customer score of 44% (Picture: Getty)

An airline has been named as the worst for short-haul trips for the second year in a row, according to a Which? survey.

Wizz Air came in at the bottom of the 2024 list, according to the consumer champion’s annual airline satisfaction survey.

The report assesses 10,775 flights with UK passengers – asking them to rate customer service, value for money, seat comfort and food.

However, the new report is pretty damning for Wizz Air with just one star out of five awarded for customer service.

In fact, it scooped a customer score of just 44% – coming in last – with Ryanair (47%), Iberia (49%) and Vueling (53%), in second, third and fourth respectively.

Also, no more than two stars were awarded to Wizz Air in any of the other categories, including value for money.

Overall, the airline was criticised for delays and poor customer service, with one person saying it was ‘impossible’ to communicate when they sought assistance.

Wizz Air was at the bottom of the rankings Picture: Getty Images)

And unfortunately it’s not the first time the airline has found itself at the bottom of the rankings.

The budget Hungarian carrier was named the worst short-haul airline in 2023, too.

However, Wizz Air strongly disputes these recent findings, calling the methodology ‘misleading’ and saying the results from sample group represent less than 0.001% of its customer base.

Marion Geoffroy, UK managing director at Wizz Air UK, said: ‘We do not consider the findings of this report to be representative or the methodology used to be transparent.

‘Sample sizes are completely different for every airline – only 124 Wizz Air passengers were surveyed, while Which? spoke to several thousand people who had flown with some of our competitors.

‘We conduct customer satisfaction surveys across our network and hundreds of thousands of passengers have said they are satisfied with the service we provide. Our results show our customer satisfaction has improved year-on-year and is significantly higher than this report suggests.’

Best and worst short-haul economy airlines, according to Which?:

Jet2- 81%

Icelandair – 74%

Norwegian – 74%

Turkish Airlines – 73%

Loganair -72%

Swiss Air – 71%

Finnair – 68%

TAP Air Portugal – 67%

Aer Lingus – 66%

Air France – 65%

Aegean Airlines – 63%

KLM – 62%

EasyJet 59%

TUI Airways – 59%

Air Malta – 58%

Lufthansa – 57%

British Airways – 56%

Vueling – 53%

Iberia – 49%

Ryanair – 47%

Wizz Air 44%

The Which? report also sheds light on some of the best.

On the flip side, Jet2 took the top spot in the Which? research for the third consecutive year, with a five-star customer service score and 81%.

Which? travel editor, Rory Boland, said: ‘Air fares have soared in recent years, and the bare minimum passengers should expect in return for their hard-earned cash is a reliable service, with friendly, easy-to-access customer support when they are let down.

‘While the likes of Jet2 continue to excel in this regard, our survey shows that passengers of many airlines are sadly being shortchanged – with high rates of last-minute cancellations, abysmal customer service and sneaky extra fees for luggage hiking up the final price.’

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