Most complained-about airlines, airports revealed

Flight compensation company, EUclaim, has today released internal data revealing which airlines and airports they received the most complaints about in 2016. 

The data reveals that the number of compensation enquiries made through EUclaim about Ryanair in 2016, was 9,887 – a 60 per cent increase on the 2015 figure of 6,211.

By comparison, EasyJet generated 15,499 compensation enquiries. EasyJet’s performance has continued to plummet since 2014, taking them from last year’s second place in the rankings, to first. In 2016, easyJet knocked Thomas Cook off the top spot, with the latter now ranking fourth.

The UK’s largest airline, British Airways has held a steady position in the rankings over the last three years. EUclaim has seen a continued increase in the number of claims made against the airline, meaning that 2016 has been BA’s worst year for delays and cancellations according to the EUclaim data.

Tjitze Noorderhaven, UK Manager for EUclaim said: “We appreciate that weather conditions have been a major contributor to the high numbers of delays and cancellations experienced last year. Poor flying conditions throughout December as well as earlier on in March and June are likely to be a driving force behind the incredibly high volume of compensation advice we’ve responded to. However, whilst weather affects all airlines, some have been more efficient at reducing delays and cancellations. Thomas Cook for example has made great strides in improving its services.”

In 2015, 9,104 compensation enquiries were made against Thomas Cook, which put them at the top of the 2015 list. In 2016, this number dropped by almost 2,000 making it the most improved airline. Also putting other low cost airlines to shame is Monarch, which has improved its services so much so that it has fallen out of the 2016 list completely.

Bumping Monarch from the chart is Thomson. After a temporary leave of absence in 2015 it returned in 2016.

“It’s encouraging to see major airlines such as Thomas Cook and Monarch improving their game,” said Noorderhaven.

“If they can do it, it begs the questions why are airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair still leaving consumers high and dry. We appreciate that there are circumstances outside of the control of the airline and that in many cases it is the airports that force them to delay or cancel flights.”

Norwich has proved for the second year running that they are the airport where customers are most likely to experience delays or flight cancellations. In 2016, EUclaim saw the number of delays and cancellations increase dramatically at some major international airports such as London Heathrow (30%) and Belfast Int (72%).