It was once viewed as the world's favourite airline – but British Airways is rated worst for long-haul journeys in a poll today.

The nation's flag-carrier also scored lower than rivals easyJet and Tui in the survey's short-haul list.

Consumer champion Which? asked customers to rate 16 short-haul and 19 long-haul airlines across several categories to produce an overall customer score. 

Data from 9,000 flights focusing on punctuality and last-minute cancellations was also analysed.

BA scored just two stars out of five in multiple areas, such as seat comfort and value for money, for short- and long-haul journeys.

Which? editor Rory Boland said: 'British Airways' poor performance in our survey shows how far it has fallen from the days when it was seen as setting the standards others should aspire to.

'The top performers show it is possible to give passengers good service at a time when delays, cancellations and terrible customer service have become the norm.' 

BA came last for customer communication, with Which? citing the example of Joanne Anderson, 76, from Belfast, who was told to expect a refund within seven to ten days for a cancelled flight but instead faced a nine-week wait. 

She said: 'It feels like they are making a fool of their customers. They want to frustrate them until they just give up and go away.' 

Another passenger complained of cancellations being delivered by text message in the early hours of the morning, leaving no time to change their plans.

The verdict serves yet another blow to BA's reputation in the past few years. In the summer of 2018, a data breach affected nearly 400,000 passengers. The airline was fined £20million by the Information Commissioner's Office as a result.

And in May 2023, 20,000 passengers had their flights cancelled due to a technical glitch.

As recently as this month, a London-bound flight was forced to divert back to Dubai after toxic fumes filled the cabin. A BA spokesman said the Which? survey was 'entirely at odds' with comments they have received from 'hundreds and thousands' of passengers.

He added: 'Customers are seeing the benefit of our £7billion investment programme, with operational performance

improving by 18 per cent over the last 12 months.

'There is always room for improvement and we know we don't always get things right, but we're proud of the progress we're making.'

For the fourth year in a row, Jet2 took first place for short-haul flights. Singapore Airlines topped the long-haul list.