PRESS RELEASE
Qatar Airways remains the most favored airline of Hungarian travellers
At the repjegy.hu survey 3 150 respondents voted for airlines
Budapest, 23 January, 2014. – Qatar Airways is again the award winner in the independent survey entitled ’My Airline 2013’ of the largest Hungarian online flight agency. At the request of Weco-Online Ltd. operating the repjegy.hu site Hungarian airline passengers reported their opinion on flights for the second time.
The respondents to the survey at the repjegy.hu site submitted 3 150 votes and 936 respondents shared details related to their flights. The more than 50 % increase in the number of respondents compared to last year confirms just how much travellers appreciate convenient travel and good schedules.
The quality of service provided by airlines could be rated in four categories (flight attendant, onboard catering, schedule, value for money), from zero to five.
Similarly to last year the majority of respondents favored the leading low cost airlines: Wizz Air and Ryanair were favored by 697 and 405 respondents respectively, followed by German Lufthansa with 272 votes. All in all the respondents rated the services of 114 airlines.
The survey results were disclosed at the award ceremony held in the SkyCourt Conference Center of Budapest Airport.
“We are very pleased that after the 2012 survey Hungarian travellers were even more eager to participate in the survey in 2013,” started the evaluation Zsolt Habóczki, Managing Director of Weco-Online Ltd. ”It is to be highlighted that the ’My Airline’ vote is the only initiative where travellers can speak their minds directly. Although the majority of votes were cast in favor of low cost airlines, schedules and quality onboard services remain the top priority for Hungarian travellers. Smiling and helpful flight attendants and quality onboard services are more important than low flight ticket prices according to the result of the 2013 survey.”
First the finalists of the four categories were announced. Based on the responses received the nicest flight attendants were met on board Jet2.com (4.70 points), closely followed by Qatar Airways (4.69). Travellers appreciated the Greek hospitality also: Aegean Air (4.63) was ranked third. Zsolt Habóczki presented the awards.
Flexible flight schedules and arrival on time are also important factors. Many times you have to get to the city from airports far away; therefore this is an aspect not to be forgotten when booking flights. The awards of the Best Schedule category were presented by Kam Jandu, Commercial Director of Budapest Airport to the representatives of Finnair and Austrian Airlines that tied for first place with 4.60 points. Quatar, the silver medalist in this category last year was third (4.58).
It may come as a surprise, but similarly to last year, low cost airlines are not favored when it comes to value for money. The category winner of this year is Qatar Airways (4.66), followed by silver medalist Air Malta (4.58), and Turkish Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle (4.44) that tied for third place. J.J. Singh, Central Eastern European Chief Executive Officer of Weco Travel presented the awards to the airline representatives.
The quality of onboard services is also a factor to consider when booking flights, especially if we plan a long-haul flight. Judit Murányi, Sales and Account Manager of Travelport presented the award for the best onboard service to the representative of Emirates. Quatar Airlines (4.69) finished second, followed by Turkish Airlines (4.68), the category award winner last year.
Finally dr. András Simon, Weco Travel Chief Executive presented the awards to the airlines that won in the combined category. He underlined that travellers are fed up with being the guinea pig for testing how long they can stand queuing up, how little they are able to fold themselves up or whether they can run fast with luggage in hand at transfers. Travellers have a very realistic view on the value linked to prices and make the responsible choice. Neither the rock bottom but weak service, nor the overpriced luxury is appreciated by Hungarian travellers. Based on the combined final result of the ’My Airline 2013’ survey Quatar Airways is the gold medalist with 4.65 points. Turkish Airlines finished second (4.54 points) and Emirates is ranked third (4.50 points).
“We say thank you to everyone that participated in the survey and shared their flight experience. Heartfelt congratulations to the winners that offered convincing services to a large number of passengers”, said Zsolt Habóczki.
“In the wake of the success of past surveys in February we start the ’My Airline 2014’ survey. Besides Budapest Airport and Travelport, the travel site Travelo and the travel section of Index.hu will be our strategic partners, therefore more travellers will be able to vote at the site www.azenlegitarsasagom.hu.
We are very much interested in how airlines will earn the trust of Hungarian passengers in 2014”, Zsolt Habóczki said when closing the press release.