Analysis of 20 airlines which connect the UK to the Philippines

[Ako Si Jamie]

The airlines researched are -

Air China
Asiana Airlines
Cathay Pacific
China Airlines
China Eastern
China Southern
Emirates
Etihad (omitted from Part 1 due to insufficient data)
Gulf Air
KLM
Korean Air
Kuwait Airways
Malaysian Airlines (omitted from Part 1 due to insufficient data)
Oman Air
Philippine Airlines
Qatar Airways
Royal Brunei
Saudi Arabian Airlines
Singapore Airlines
Thai Airways

Oman Air was included as flights with this airline to Manila from the Middle East will commence in December due to high demand.
http://www.timesofoman.com/News/41670/Article-Big-demand-for-Oman-Air%E2%80%99s-Manila-Jakarta-seats

I did see return flights in January going for £525 with Oman Air so this could be another cheapish option for travel to the Philippines.

PART 1

The data researched for this part was taken from http://www.airlinequality.com/, a website owned by a U.K based airline rating organisation called Skytrax which compiles data from millions of travellers.

According to Skytrax, Cathay Pacific is currently the world's best airline but I'm not convinced so I've done my own research based just on long haul flights in economy class with 20 different factors involved.

They are -

AIRPORT SERVICES
Check-In Services
Transfer Services
Arrival Assistance
Baggage Delivery

ONBOARD PRODUCT
Seat Comfort
Blankets/Pillows
In-Flight Entertainment
Washroom Cleanliness
Cabin Cleanliness
Quality of Meals
Quality of Food
Newspapers/Magazines

CABIN STAFF
Service Efficiency
Enthusiasm/Attitude
Interaction with Passengers
Staff Presence through Flight
Responding to Requests
Language Skills
Staff Consistency
Friendliness/Hospitality

For each factor Skytrax gave a maximum score of 5 meaning a total of 100 could have been achieved. Here's how they fared:

1. Singapore Airlines 85.5

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQg8tueCf82fPDSKTNz7sSdzPVwVI2A6q8aHLJjFvkpMBLCSvMs

2. Asiana Airlines 83.5

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQhmMJIAAtDu7evdFDbKPm4Oc6_KYBdutraRfKC5j73skJSZm8V

3. Qatar Airways 81.5

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSTda1OsGABWlcLTl3kEUIcCBmxais83PYSqwynA-vXWCAdxV8U

4. Thai Airways 79.0

5. Cathay Pacific 78.5

6. Oman Air 77.0

7. China Airlines 73.0

8. KLM 72.5

9. China Southern 71.5

10. Korean Air 71.5

11. Saudi Arabian Airlines 70.5

12. Emirates 69.0

13. Air China 66.0

14. China Eastern 63.0

15. Royal Brunei 60.5

16. Philippine Airlines 58.5

17. Gulf Air 57.0

18. Kuwait Airways 55.5


Top rated in each category


Check-in Services
Thai Airways 4.5

Transfer Services
Asiana Airlines 4
Cathay Pacific 4
China Airlines 4
Singapore Airlines 4
Thai Airways 4

Arrival Assistance
Asiana Airlines 4
Singapore Airlines 4
Thai Airlines 4

Baggage Delivery
Air China 4
Asiana Airlines 4
China Airlines 4
China Eastern 4
Gulf Air 4
KLM 4
Korean Air 4
Oman Air 4
Qatar Airways 4
Singapore Airlines 4
Thai Airways 4

Seat Comfort
Asiana Airlines 5
Qatar Airways 5

Blankets/Pillows
Oman Air 4.5

In-Flight Entertainment
Cathay Pacific 5
Emirates 5
Qatar Airways 5
Singapore Airlines 5

Washroom Cleanliness
Singapore Airlines 4.5

Cabin Cleanliness
Singapore Airlines 5

Quality of Meals
Qatar Airways 4.5

Quality of Food
Oman Air 4.5

Newspapers/Magazines
Oman Air 4
Qatar Airways 4
Singapore Airlines 4

Service Efficiency
Asiana Airlines 5
Singapore Airlines 5

Enthusiasm/Attitude
Asiana Airlines 5
Qatar Airways 5

Interaction with Passengers
Singapore Airlines 4
Thai Airways 4

Staff Presence through Flight
Asiana Airlines 5

Responding to Requests
Asiana Airlines 5

Language Skills
Cathay Pacific 4
KLM 4
Qatar Airways 4
Singapore Airlines 4

Staff Consistency
Asiana Airlines 4.5
Singapore Airlines 4.5

Friendliness/Hospitality
Asiana Airlines 4
Cathay Pacific 4
China Airlines 4
China Southern 4
KLM 4
Korean Air 4
Qatar Airways 4
Saudi Arabian Airlines 4
Singapore Airlines 4
Thai Airways 4

Part 2 will involve safety and the number of fatalities occurred during crashes from 1970 onwards concerning the twenty airlines researched. Apart from the two Malaysia Airlines tragedies this year where one was an act of terrorism and the other yet to be determined, only three people have died in a crash using these airlines worldwide in the past eleven years.

To be continued.......

[jimbo23232]

Interesting... Having flown with most of these between UK and RP over the last 7 years ill watch this thread with interest :)

As a one-liner for now - and we all know there are so many pros and cons - best in my opinion are Singapore Airlines... Worst by some way were BA (!)

[Ako Si Jamie]

PART 2

Going by the length of time in service and the number of fatalities caused by crashes, the three top airlines for safety are as follows.

1. Kuwait Airways

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQMtGnNgzmPh7wORs_l-AiEzug-tx2rmGgc4LmEz713StothmkryA

2. Royal Brunei

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT5vv5Yo7Q6SPtPKZ7hilCjpVZXHbdiNjQ0uWlHdxBNMw-0YonHAw

3. Emirates

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTSOpTRTRtNBM7pjD0HRiPIAbkIESGqFBqzKhZTKWdtXRE1IFe4GQ

Click the attachment for all twenty airlines

9211

[London_Manila]

I used Philippine Airlines again this week and thought they were great, the idea of giving everyone ipads is probably better than the normal IFE, smooth check in edible food and and an on time flight. No metered taxi at terminal 2 arrivals was quoted 1900 to Makati i just laughed and took the elevator upstairs and got a taxi there for 400 pesos

[Ako Si Jamie]

No metered taxi at terminal 2 arrivals was quoted 1900 to MakatiWhat colour taxi was it?

[Ako Si Jamie]

Providing the price was right and the connection times were no more than 24 hours, I'd consider all of them, apart from maybe Malaysia Airlines for superstitious reasons, and Saudi, only because I've flown with them previously and the FA's didn't give a toss about my TV monitor not working when I told them.

[grahamw48]

There must be some right nit-pickers out there is all I can say. :NoNo:

In 25 years flying to Hong Kong/Philippines, can't say I've noticed any difference worth a mention between all the (many) airlines I've flown on.

I just buy the cheapest ticket, with max 21 hours total journey time.

[Trefor]

Oman Air - great, they are very good from my experience (used to have a place in Muscat). We will be able to combine 2 holidays in one trip with no stopovers!