Dubai-based Emirates airline has ranked the world’s best on customer opinion, according to a new report.
In the rankings by AirHelp, an online service that helps air passengers seek compensation for flight cancellations, delays and overbookings, Emirates has emerged as the only airline to score 9 under the ‘customer opinion’ parameter.
Following Emirates, with a score of 8.9 each, are Qatar Airways and Garuda Indonesia.
Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic come next with scores of 8.8 each, while five airlines — Saudia, All Nippon Airways, Thai Airways International, Japan Airlines (JAL) and Etihad Airways — have matching scores of 8.6.
Read: Sheikh Mohammed tours new Emirates A350 aircraft
World’s best airlines
In the overall rankings, Brussels Airlines has taken the number one spot with an overall score of 8.12, with a high score of 8.7 for claim processing. Qatar Airways, which claimed first place last year, is second in this year’s ranking with a score of 8.11. US airlines take the third and fourth spots with United Airlines and American Airlines both scoring 8.04.
Iceland’s Play stood fifth (7.89), followed by Austrian Airlines (7.89), LOT Polish Airlines (7.84), Sharjah’s Air Arabia (7.58), Norway’s Widerøe (7.55) and Air Serbia (7.53).
“The 2024 AirHelp Score for airlines is designed to act as a snapshot of airline performance, evaluating each airline’s strengths and areas for improvement. There is always scope for airlines to improve in the rankings each year, using the score to help guide them. At AirHelp, we support passengers in understanding their air travel rights and help them receive the compensation they may be entitled to,” said Tomasz Pawliszyn, CEO of AirHelp.
Read: Emirates to launch retrofitted Boeing 777 on Vienna route
Air Arabia in top 10
“Founded just over 20 years ago, Air Arabia features in the AirHelp score for the first time this year, making an 8th place finish with an overall score of 7.58 out of 10 all the more admirable,” the report said.
“Proving that youth is in no way synonymous with a lack of quality, the low-cost Emirati airline is fondly thought of by customers whose travels have and haven’t gone to plan, with decent scores for quality of service and claim processing,” the report added.
Virgin Atlantic leads UK airlines
Virgin Atlantic ranked the best out of UK airlines in position 30, with a score of 6.94 and a high customer opinion score of 8.8. British Airways took the 33rd spot, a significant improvement from its 82nd ranking in 2023. British Airways received a high customer opinion score of 8.3. However, it still has a low claim processing score of 5.9.
EasyJet ranked 82nd, taking British Airways’ place from last year with a score of 5.32. This fall can be attributed to easyJet having a low claim processing score of 2.0. Overall, the UK’s airlines didn’t fare well overall with no airlines making the top 30.
