Ryanair voted most unpopular airline in the world
The Irish no-frills company has been voted the least-favourite airline in the world because of its cramped seating, unfriendly staff and delays.
But Ryanair hit back yesterday, saying that it carries over 42m passengers each year - more than any other European airline - so it must be doing a whole lot right.
Online travel group TripAdvisor polled 4,000 of its users on a variety of subjects from airlines and airports, to holiday worries and hotspots.
And, unsurprisingly, Ryanair topped the poll as the least-liked airline as its ultra-frugal approach to air travel continues to win few devotees, but succeeds in putting record numbers of bums on seats.
Fellow low-cost carrier EasyJet was not too far back in its jet stream.
Result
British Airways was singled out as the best airline in the world - another result that didn't go down well at Ryanair.
"Ryanair will this year carry over 42.5m which is more than double BA's UK and European traffic," Ryanair's head of communications Peter Sherrard said.
"In the survey that counts, more passengers prefer Ryanair than any other airline. These idiotic internet surveys are as inaccurate as they are irrelevant.
"As always, passengers continue to fly with Ryanair, while BA wins these useless surveys."
"What makes this survey even more unreliable is the selection of British Airways as the most preferred airline despite the fact that BA charges amongst the highest fares," he added.
Ryanair has recently been in the headlines as it attempts to gain control of Aer Lingus but, more often than not, its coverage revolves around the PR antics of chief executive Michael O'Leary.
- Jason O'Brien
