Passengers are “underwhelmed” by flights with British Airways, according to a major survey published today.
A study of more than 7,500 travellers by the consumer group Which? found that Turkish Airlines was the best ranked short-haul carrier while Singapore Airlines came top for long-haul.
BA was mid-table in both rankings which looked at the main airlines flying out of the UK.
The results of the latest short-haul flight poll by Which? shows a decline in customer score and in star ratings across several categories for BA.
The airline scored four out of five stars for food and drink last year, but it has scored just two stars in the latest study.
In addition, BA has a value for money rating of just two stars in this year’s survey, down from received three stars in 2015.
Ryanair and Easyjet score even worse for food and drink in the short-haul survey, as both received scathing one star reviews from passengers.
Ryanair finished third bottom in the table overall with a score of 50%, with only Iberia (49%) and Vueling (41%) achieving lower customer scores.
Spanish low cost carrier Vueling was the only airline not to achieve a single three star rating in any category surveyed.
Turkish Airlines gained five star ratings for food and drink as well as seat comfort, achieving a customer score of 80%. Second place went to Channel Islands minnow Aurigny Air Services followed by SAS.
In the long-haul survey, SIA was awarded five stars out of five for food and drink, in-flight entertainment and the cabin environment. Its overall customer score of 91% represents the highest mark for an economy class airline for eight years.
Emirates and KLM came in the top three, scoring at least three stars in every category.
They also charge less than 1.5% for paying by credit card. In the last year several airlines have cut or removed credit card charges entirely and no airline can be a Which? recommended provider if they charge more than 1.5%.
Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said: “The results of our annual flight survey show that some of the big name airlines need to step up their game.
“Passengers have made it clear that a wide range of improvements are needed in both short-haul and long-haul, and the disappointing scores for the in-flight refreshments certainly provide food for thought for airlines.”