Third Place: Easyjet

They do what they say on the tin, get you to and from where you want to go for cheap. Ryanair do the cheap bit, but never to where I really want to go. Cabin crew are always very good as well, however they still use slightly more remote airports than other rivals, particularly BFS instead of BHD in Belfast. Couple that with very uncomfortable new A319s, and BA and FlyBe both still come ahead.

Second Place: British Airways

Not flown with them for some time now as I’ve not had much chance to go into Europe, but consistently high levels of service always keep them high on my list of airlines. They are first on my list for price comparisons, but rarely work out too well for me as a student.

First Place: FlyBe

I’ve flown FlyBe more than I have any other airline, and also flown in the Q400 more times than any other aircraft type. They are consistently reliable, and cheap prices can nearly always be found. The best thing about them is they really do go exactly where I want to go. Their internal UK services are second to none, and are extremely useful for business and pleasure. Because of this they seem to be doing very well, with strong loads on most of the flights I travel on. Long may it continue.

Nice stuff mate, looking forward to my EMXing next month. The old horror stories from them are nothing compared to what bmi put me through this weekend!

No, I’d risk it at the airport, its a small enough mistake so as not to be noticed by the ground staff. If they say on the day to pay the £45, then so be it, but I can’t see any consequence in leaving it to the day and hoping noone realises.

Nice shots, that Challenger biz had come all the way from Detroit on its first foreign trip since October. It was planned to go into Durham first, not sure if it did or not?

Very nice indeed. My new years resolution is to get a few more photos from the LBA this year, I only paid one proper visit last year!

Not really, because there is a huge supply of them to the market. The demand is pretty average really (nowhere near as high as for New Generation aircraft) and as such the price is going to remain largely low to average.

Every airline has its fair share of incidents, most are rarely worth commenting on, they just happen. What the AAIB seem to have identified here is a systemic problem within the BA engineering department which means things are not being done that should be done.

There is always a chance a component will fail within an engine during flight for example, there is nothing anyone can do to prevent that component from failing, and any incident that ocurrs is just down to probability. However when it comes to parts being missed off, insufficient oil quantities etc, then there is clearly a problem which can be adressed within the engineering department.

The AAIB has identified this within BA due to the high number of preventable incidents due to mechanical failure. Recent Ryanair incidents eg, high bank angles, unstable approaches, incorrect flap settings, fast taxi speeds etc etc (just have a brief look on pprune and you will see what I mean) may well see an investigation by the Irish Aviation authorities into them, but I cant recall hearing about preventable technica failures in the same way as is being talked about here with BA.