Air travel can be a miserable experience these days — especially when you are flying economy class.
Since nothing is worse than being stuck in a small uncomfortable seat with limited leg room, terrible food, and rude service, we think the in-flight experience is the most important factor in enjoying your flight.
We ranked the 20 worst airlines for flying economy in the world, based on the most unpleasant in-flight experiences.
To compile this list, we looked at dozens of major international airlines that fly long-haul routes and have economy class seats. We looked at ratings (scored on a scale of one to five) from leading airline reviewer Skytrax for seat comfort, in-flight entertainment, cabin cleanliness and condition, quality of meals served, and service efficiency.
We included passenger reviews for each airline (scored out of ten) also from Skytrax.
We adjusted each measure to be out of 100, and averaged them to produce a final score that reflects the overall in-flight experience. Ratings are out of 100 points.
20. Sky Express
Rated 50 out of 100 for economy class.
Air Algerie flies a fleet of 45 Airbus and Boeing planes, with orders placed for 16 more.
In 2012, it started leasing Boeing 747 jumbo jets to cope with extra demand during the Hajj and Umrah Muslim pilgrimages.
Its passenger review score of 60 was quite good, but poor Skytrax ratings for in-flight entertainment, cabin cleanliness, and staff response to passenger requests make it the 20th worst airline in the world for flying economy.
In-flight experience score is an average of ratings for seat comfort, in-flight entertainment, cabin cleanliness and condition, quality of meals served, service efficiency, and passenger reviews, provided by Skytrax.
18. Ryanair (tie)
Rated 49.2 out of 100 for economy class.
This "ultra-low-cost" airline is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and has a fleet of over 300 aircraft.
Although the no-frills carrier has non-reclining seats and lacks seat-back pockets, it carries a surprising number of business travelers, and it may have figured out how to save Greece's tourism industry.
Now, Ryanair has plans to reduce the number of toilets on each plane from three to one, with the benefit of fitting six more paying passengers on each flight.
In-flight experience score is an average of ratings for seat comfort, in-flight entertainment, cabin cleanliness and condition, quality of meals served, service efficiency, and passenger reviews, provided by Skytrax.
18. Merpati Nusantara Airlines (tie)
Rated 49.2 out of 100 for economy class.
Merpati Nusantara Airlines is an Indonesian airline based out of Jakarta.
It operates domestic and international flights, but it — along with 286 other airlines — is deemed "unsafe" by the EU, and is banned from flying in European airspace.
Skytrax gave the carrier just one star out of five for in-flight entertainment and interaction with passengers. The food's not terrible, though — it got three and a half stars.
In-flight experience score is an average of ratings for seat comfort, in-flight entertainment, cabin cleanliness and condition, quality of meals served, service efficiency, and passenger reviews, provided by Skytrax.
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