Thomas Cook named worst airline in world in 2019 rankings - here’s the full list

Thomas Cook ranked as the worst airline in the world

The research, conducted by air passenger rights organisation AirHelp, marks bad news for British travellers, with some of the UK's biggest airlines falling way down the rankings.

UK airline rankings

The research assessed 72 global airline carriers and found Thomas Cook ranked as the worst in the world, dropping down 21 places compared to last year.

Thomas Cook ranked as the worst airline in the world

EasyJet didn't fare much better in 71st place, with Ryanair also among the bottom rankings as the fifth worst performing in the world.

The best ranked among UK carriers was budget airline Flybe, which came in at 11th place, followed by Virgin Atlantic in 15th.

British Airways also ranked quite highly in 23rd place, while Jet2.com took 54th.

How were airlines assessed?

Bristol Airport was rated as the best performing in the UK, taking 70th place out of a total of 132

To produce the rankings, AirHelp analysed key performance indicators from 2018, including how often flights were on-time, along with quality of service and the speed of processing claims in the event of delays or cancellations.

Henrik Zillmer, CEO and co-founder of AirHelp, said: "The AirHelp Score 2019 must serve as a wake-up call to the UK's aviation industry, which is continually failing those that matter the most - the passengers.

"It's crystal clear that more needs to be done to adapt to ever-changing demands, whether it's airports adding and extending runways to cope with the influx, to airlines focusing on the industry-wide lack of pilots and often poor cabin-crew conditions.

"Action is needed and it is needed now to ensure passengers are not the innocent casualties of the UK's floundering aviation industry."

The best airlines in the world 2019

1. Qatar Airways

2. American Airlines

3. Aeromexico

4. SAS Scandinavian Airlines

5. Qantas

6. LATAM Airlines

7. WestJet

8. Luxair

9. Austrian Airlines

10. Emirates

11. Flybe

12. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines

13. Singapore Airlines

14. Garuda Indonesia

15. Virgin Atlantic

16. United Airlines

17. Delta Air Lines

18. Turkish Airlines

19. Air France

20. LOT Polish Airlines

21. Brussels Airlines

22. Wizz Air

23. British Airways

24. Lufthansa

25. Oman Air

26. Etihad Airways

27. China Southern Airlines

28. Kenya Airways

29. Azul Airlines

30. El Al Israel Airlines

31. Olympic Air

32. Aeroflot

33. Pegasus Airlines

34. Icelandair

35. Iberia

36. Swiss International Air Lines

37. Air India

38. Croatia Airlines

39. Air Canada

40. Air China

41. airBaltic

42. Air Europa

43. Thai Airways International

44. Air Transat

45. Eurowings

46. Ethiopian Airlines

47. Aer Lingus

48. Aegean Airlines

49. Saudia

50. Air Dolomiti

51. Air Malta

52. Finnair

53. Avianca

54. Jet2.com

55. Tarom

56. Asiana Airlines

57. China Eastern Airlines

58. Gol Intelligent Airlines

59. Czech Airlines

60. Air Mauritius

61. TAP Air Portugal

62. Vueling Airlines

63. Adria Airways

64. Aerolineas Argentinas

65. Transavia

66. Laudamotion

67. Norwegian

68. Ryanair

69. Korean Air

70. Kuwait Airways

71. easyJet

72. Thomas Cook Airlines

UK airport rankings

AirHelp also assessed the best and worst airports in the world, with the UK again faring badly as several of the country's airports fell into the bottom half of the list.

Bristol Airport was rated as the best performing in the UK, taking 70th place out of a total of 132.

London Heathrow Airport came in second, ranked in 73rd place, followed by Birmingham Airport (78th) and Dublin Airport (81st).

Hamad International Airport in Qatar was named as the best airport in the world.

UK airport rankings 2019 (out of 132)

1. Bristol Airport - 70th place

2. London Heathrow Airport - 73rd place

3. Birmingham Airport - 78th place

4. Dublin Airport - 81st place

5. London City Airport - 104th place

6. London Stanstead Airport - 109th place

7. Edinburgh Airport - 122nd place

8. London Gatwick Airport - 123rd place

9. Manchester Airport - 127th place