Wizz Air low-cost airline has received the lowest score in the Which?’s annual airline survey, being ranked by passengers below British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair.
Wizz Air has got a one-star rating for boarding, cabin environment and seat comfort in the survey of more than 8,000 travellers. It obtained a customer service score of 48 per cent and it also cancelled a lot more flights than rivals such as easyJet, Jet2 and Ryanair. More precisely, Wizz Air operated just 56 per cent of its flights on time and nearly 2 per cent were cancelled within 24 hours of departure.
During the period of our survey, 1.8% of its UK flights were cancelled less than 24 hours before departure, compared with 0.5% for Jet2 and Ryanair and 1.3% for easyJet.
In its turn, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) also showed that Wizz Air was one of the least punctual airlines, with just 56% of flights arriving into the UK on time. Over 2% of flights were more than three hours late.
“If alternative carriers are available for your route, avoid Wizz Air, as its poor record on customer care means you’re likely to be left high and dry in the event your flight is delayed or cancelled,” says Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel.
Almost half of the respondents reported that when things went wrong there were no staff available during delays. Passengers also said they had a bad experience once they had finally boarded.
“At Wizz Air, we do everything possible to ensure that passengers reach their destination on time and with minimal delay. We invest heavily into time performance, which is key to our ultra-efficient business model,” a spokesperson for Wizz Air said.
“A number of issues affecting the global aviation industry contributed to a worse time performance in 2022. These issues resulted from a widespread shortage in staff, in particular within air traffic control, ground operations and baggage handling, security and across airports. We are committed to constantly reviewing processes to mitigate these issues and are seeing an overall improvement in the on-time performance of our routes.”
Rynaiar ranked second worst airline in UK, with three stars for customer service, and with less than half of passengers saying they could find a member of Ryanair staff when they faced delays. There were also complaints about the boarding experience, seat comfort and cabin environment.
Lufthansa came out at the bottom of the list for long-haul airlines. It had a two-star rating from passengers for boarding experience, value for money and food and drink offerings.