Ryanair says that 91 per cent of its customers rate it as either ‘excellent’, ‘very good’ or ‘good’ 

When MailOnline’s etiquette expert William Hanson reviewed a Ryanair flight, he concluded: ‘There is no doubt with Ryanair that any of the joy of travelling by air has been completely, and purposefully, removed.’

However, this is a minority opinion, because Ryanair has revealed that 91 per cent of its customers rate it as either ‘excellent’, ‘very good’ or ‘good’.

This appraisal comes from the no-frills carrier’s October ‘Rate My Flight’ poll of nearly 45,000 respondents.

It yielded, the airline said, high ratings for crew friendliness (94 per cent), onboard service (92 per cent), boarding (88 per cent) and range of food and drink (86 per cent).

Ireland-based Ryanair also revealed that 97 per cent of its October flights arrived on time.

Ryanair’s Dara Brady said: ‘Ryanair Group Airlines carried 4.1million customers in October, and we are pleased that over 97 per cent of our flights arrived on-time.

‘We’re delighted that 91 per cent of customers surveyed who have been flying with our new health guidelines, rated their Ryanair flight in October as ‘Excellent/Very Good /Good’ using Ryanair’s Rate My Flight feature, which allows all customers to provide real-time reviews of their flights via the Ryanair app and email.

‘This feedback is particularly welcomed during these times of Covid, when we are regularly assessing the effectiveness of our new health measures and as we continue to work with our people to ensure our guidelines are followed.’

Earlier in the week, Ryanair said it is preparing for a ‘hugely challenging’ period to continue as it reported a loss of 197million euro (£178million) in the first half of the year.

In a poll customers rated Ryanair’s crew friendliness 94 per cent, onboard service 92 per cent, boarding 88 per cent and range of food and drink 86 per cent

The airline said it ‘expects to record higher losses’ in the second half of the year, despite having a lower cost base and a stronger balance sheet.

Coronavirus saw 99 per cent of the carrier’s fleet grounded for almost four months between mid-March and the end of June.

The company said traffic in the first half of the year fell from 86million to 17million passengers compared with the same period last year, around 80 per cent.

Its revenue dropped 78 per cent to 1.18billion euros (£1.06billion), while the loss in this half-year contrasts with a profit after tax of 1.15billion euros (£1.04billion) in the first half of last financial year.

With almost no traffic in the first quarter of the year, the ‘vast majority’ of the first half of the year’s revenue was earned in the second quarter, the firm said.

It added: ‘Given the current Covid-19 uncertainty, Ryanair cannot provide FY21 PAT (profit after tax) guidance at this time.

‘The group expects to carry approximately 38million passengers in FY21, although this guidance could be further revised downwards if EU Govts continue to mismanage air travel and impose more uncoordinated travel restrictions or lockdowns this winter.’

It said the pandemic, uncertainties over Brexit, airline pricing, fuel costs, competition from new and existing carriers, actions by governments and the willingness of passengers to travel ‘could significantly impact’ its results for the remainder of the year.

It was critical of what it called a ‘flood of illegal state aid from EU governments’ to carriers including Air France and Lufthansa, which it said would ‘distort competition and allow failed flag carriers to engage in below-cost selling for many years’.