Oof. New Study Drags the “Filthiest” Airline in the UK

A survey by British consumer website Which? Travel has uncovered the dirtiest airlines to operate in the UK. While Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Swiss all farewell, cleanliness on budget airline Ryanair was noted to be “significantly worse” than other operators.

A survey by British consumer website Which? Travel has revealed the dirtiest airlines to operate in the UK. According to the results of the study, which used data collected from 8,000 participants, Ryanair lands at the very bottom when it comes to onboard hygiene.

Metro.co.uk further notes that dirty tray tables, headrests, and window sills were spotted on one Ryanair craft. Only 42 percent of those surveyed felt that the level of cleanliness was acceptable and, like the outlet states, the airline’s hygiene was indicated to be “significantly worse” than that of other operators.

“A quarter of Ryanair passengers went as far as to say cleanliness on flights was poor,” Which?Travel added.

Conversely, it appears that the cleanliness of its competitor EasyJet is highly praised. The website states that two-thirds of carrier’s passengers said that the hygiene standards here were observed to be ‘good’, ‘very good’, or even ‘excellent’.

Meanwhile, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific and Swiss all received high marks from surveyed passengers for their cleanliness. Their exact scores can be found here.

Commenting to Metro.co.uk on the results, Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said, “Faster and faster turnarounds are one thing but it is unacceptable for some airlines to be cutting corners when it comes to cleaning out their cabins properly – no matter how cheap the airline ticket. There are steps you can take; either choose your next flight on an airline that has a good track record for cleanliness or equip yourself with some antibacterial wipes.”

“If you are flying Ryanair though, a bio-hazard suit might be more appropriate,” he added.

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