Air India fourth in world among airlines with poor business class: Survey

Air India

New Delhi: Tata-owned airline carrier Air India has received a score of 7.4 out of 10 and was ranked fourth in the latest survey conducted on airlines with poor business class.

Bounce, a UK-based agency, ranked global airlines on factors such as cabin and seat comfort, inflight service, entertainment and amenities to reveal the world’s worst airlines for business-class travellers.

According to the ranking, Air India secured 7.4 out of 10 points and was ranked the fourth airline in the world to have the worst business class. EgyptAir (5.71), Copa Airlines (6.71) and Kuwait Airways (seven) were the top three airlines to have the worst business class on their flights.

The survey highlighted Air India’s cabin seats being the biggest problem with its business-class facilities. It received a score of 6/10 for cabin seats, and the remaining services such as in-flight entertainment, cuisine, airport experience, and beverages were given 7/10.

This comes when the airline is in a ‘work in progress’ mode and upgrading the product across all its aircraft types. The upgrade would mean new seats across all classes.

Air India is currently upgrading 40 legacy Boeing 787 and 777 aircraft to the same standard, completely replacing the seats and entertainment systems which is set to begin in July 2024, people aware of the matter said. Concurrently, it is also commencing upgrading 41 A320 aircraft.

The airline is also working with Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA), a world-renowned hospitality interior design firm, to refurbish Air India lounges.

Highlighting the methodology of the rankings, Bounce said, “For each airline, we looked at reviews from BusinessClass.com (a travel search engine), which gives each airline a score out of ten on the factors like airport experience, cabin and seat cuisine, beverages, service entertainment amenities and facilities… reviews were available taking an average of all seven scores for each airline.”

The agency also ranked the best business class facilities by the airlines. Singapore Airlines topped the list with a 9.57/10 score followed by Qatar Airways (9.43) and Oman Air (9.29).

Airports too were ranked based on the business class services and London’s Heathrow airports topped the chart with 7.60/10. Qatar’s Hamad International Airport (7.09) stood in second place and Germany’s Munich Airport (6.99) was given third place.

cond place and Germany’s Munich airport (6.99) stood in third place.

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