richardab

What is the Best European Airtline? Who is the Worst?

Thyra

IMO: <BR>The best airline Europe...or in my opinion the world is VIRGIN ATLANTIC I only wish they had more destinations... I would fly them anywhere!!! <BR>I have flown Air France and they were alright but to be honest the worst airline I have ever been on in my life was domestic... American Airlines.... I have heard nice things about Lufthansa though, have never flown them.

igor

The best airline in Europe is definetely <BR>British Airways. They offer the best <BR>service and their pilots and flight <BR>attendants are the most professional <BR>people in the industry.

anniel

For me Easyjet,Go, Ryanair and Buzz have become the airlines in Europe. They are all slick operators and now we can fly from London to almost anywhere in Europe at very cheap rates. The flights are relatively short and so we do not really miss the meals and drinks served when we consider the low fares we pay. <BR>If I had to nominate a bad airline I would go for the poor service we experienced on KLM.

Sjoerd

Igor must be joking. British Airways is one of the worst airlines in Northern and Western Europe and is approaching American levels of service, which is not a compliment in the airline industry. Asian airlines are still the best, but SAS, KLM, Austrian Airlines, Swissair, Lufthansa and Air France do a pretty good job, too. British Midland is OK as well. <BR>

kam

I would vote for Swissair. They are not particularly warm and fuzzy, but they sure are efficient.

igor

No, I was not joking about British Airways. I guess we are so used to the <BR>bad service here in the U.S., that <BR>we actually consider British Air's service to be outstanding. As far as <BR>EasyJet goes, yes, it is very cheap but <BR>I would only fly it from Amserdam because most of the people on the plane <BR>are so stoned that they don't even notice the unbelievable prices that the <BR>flight attendants charge for the drinks <BR>and snacks.

marge

My vote goes to Aer Lingus - the nicest air crew I've encountered on my travels todate

Lori

I have to agree with Igor and I'm not kidding either. We've never had a bad flight (or even food) with BA. Their Flight Attendants are always extremely polite and pleasant (but then again, we are always nice to the Flight Attendants too so that works two ways). We've flown them from LA many times and within Europe. They also have one of the best Frequent Flyer programs around.

Mary

My vote also goes to Aer Lingus--nice crews, decent food, good safety record, etc. --though I was surprised when, recently, I flew Lufthansa to/from/within Europe, and all went extremely well. In an earlier thread in this Forum, Lufthansa drew a lot of criticism. Guess someone in the company was reading, or I got lucky. Even the food was pretty good (for airline food). <BR> <BR>The absolute worst airline I ever flew to Europe was Pan Am, years ago. Thank goodness it's no longer around.

Jan

Another vote for British Airways, never had a bad flight with them either. Only flown with Virgin once, never again, snotty flight attendants, dirty plane and water dripping down on us from the air conditioning unit overhead. That in itself did not fill us with cofidence i can tell you.

Paul

Worst airline - Lufthansa. Almost stranded me in Europe by cancelling a non-cancellable ticket, and were most unhelpful or caring. <BR> <BR>Best airline - Air France.

richardab

I love these questions! <BR> <BR>Best Airline - Air France, I just flew them in Business Class and the food, wine and service were excellent. Too bad they aren't part of the Star Alliance (I am a dedicated flyer of the Alliance, whenever possible). <BR> <BR>Worst Airline - KLM, Cold service, bad food and old jets. <BR> <BR>Actually I also like Lufthansa, the food isn't great and the service is typical German, but when they say they are leaving at 8:00, they leave at 8:00! <BR> <BR>FYI, I think the worst airline I ever flew on was ANA (All Nippon AIrlines) to Japan. Bad service, horrid food.

richardab

I missed one of the airlines I also hate, VIRGIN ATLANTIC. I find the colors on the plane too bright, Flight Attendants too dumb and the food make McDonald look like a gourmet treat. On a recent UPPER DECK flight they served me 6 Doritos as an appetizer. Doritos? The rest of the food was Tex_Mex. Tex-Mex on a British Airline? What were they thinking. It was almost as bad as the Italian Pasta served on Lufthansa. Leave the pasta to Alitalia and the Tex Mex to Mexicana Airlines!

jane

Anniel - <BR>I agree that the likes of Easyjet and Buzz are great on value - but aren't Buzz and KLM the same company? <BR> <BR>My fave has to be Swiss Air - mainly for all the chocolate they gave out when I flew with them!For me, the worst airlines are the charter companies that are delayed for hours at a time every time I (or anyone I'm meeting at an airport) have had the misfortune of using them

John

I think more and more it depends on a bit of luck, and it's dangerous to overgeneralize. I once had to fly 12 hours next to a drunk American oil worker on his way back to the middle east while he literally spewed ethnic insults and hatred toward the Arab family sitting across the aisle from us. The entire Pan Am cabin and flight crew did nothing to stop him, even though I and others asked politely. For that flight, at least, Pan Am was the worst. <BR> <BR>Until I flew a few segments on Aeroflot. Glad to be alive. <BR> <BR>For best, I like SAS, and personally have always had great service on British, even though a couple of times the airplanes could use a good cleaning and sprucing up. I've found KLM okay, but once was on one of their long haul flights (not transatlantic) where we swore we were expecting live chickens to fall out of the overhead bins. <BR>

Linda

You don't know what bad is until you've flown " Air Pakistan". If there is anyone who's reading this and has flown this gem, please respond! Too bad the NYC/Paris route has been cancelled because it is not to be believed. Children were running up & down the aisles during TAKE OFF and LANDING (not kidding), staff only appeared during meal time, the worst smelling/looking WC (actually the whole plane stank), and you could smoke wherever and whenever you pleased (I smoke & this bothered me) BUT they do not serve alcohol (Muslim). Funny story..I know someone who bragged about being able to finance his airline trips to Paris via Air Pakistan by selling $5 shots of cheap scotch at the back of the plane! <BR>It was cheap though, US$290 RT NYC/Paris and their meals were the best I've ever had on any airline. <BR>Best airline would be any you can fly 1st class. <BR>

tom

reading about 'Air Pakistan' gives me the creeps. I'd think the airlines of of any 3rd world, and many 2nd world countries, should be avoided. <BR> <BR>Human life is cheap & inconsequential in many of those countries; that attitude carries over into how they run their airlines.

deb

Can't say a bad thing about Lufthansa, <BR>excellent service, plenty of food and drink. Just wish we flew business or lst class.

Denise

I can't believe anyone hasn't mentioned Alitalia! I can't believe that a country that produces such great food can serve such crap! We took our son and he asked with such a worried face "Mom, is the food in Italy like this?" The pasta was mush that tasted like fish. The beef was so tough you couldn't cut it without the tray flying off. Thank God for the rolls! They also ran out of toilet paper both ways. <BR>The best airline we've been on has to be either Lufthansa or Austrian Air. We didn't like Air France that much-not very friendly. <BR> <BR>Denise