A new survey has revealed the worst airline, with one Belfast woman describing her experience with the carrier as “dreadful” – and it’s not one of the cheaper companies.

The annual Which? airline satisfaction survey found that British Airways (BA) has plummeted in reputation, finishing joint-bottom with Air Canada out of 19 airlines for long haul flights.

With regard to short-haul travel, BA ranked 12th out of 16 carriers, with Ryanair at the bottom of the league.

BA and Air Canada scored a measly two stars out of five across several categories including value for money, seat comfort and cabin environment.

The airline was found to have high levels of last-minute cancellations, with around 2% of flights cancelled within 24 hours of departure, according to CAA data.

Although BA performed better than Ryanair when it came to overall customer satisfaction, they did suffer when it came to direct communication – customers scored it 40, well below the average of 52.

One woman who was left feeling ignored by BA told Which? she struggled for months to secure a refund.

BA customer Joanne Anderson, 76 said the airline’s customer service team had told her on numerous occasions that she could expect to receive a refund within 7-10 days, but it took nine weeks to arrive.

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

“To think British Airways is supposed to be the flag carrier – now they are absolutely dreadful. I will never fly with them again if I can possibly avoid it.”

A passenger from Ryanair, one of the other low-scoring airlines said: “You think you are getting a fairly cheap flight only to find that you have to pay extra for everything. I would rather the price was higher but not have to pay to take on a cabin bag. The plane was not clean and the seats were very uncomfortable.”

A Ryanair spokesperson said: “Ryanair this year will carry 200m passengers…Not one of our 200m passengers wish to pay ‘higher prices’ as Which? falsely claim.”

A spokesperson from BA denied the claims from Which?, saying: “This research from Which? is entirely at odds with comments from the hundreds of thousands of customers who we know do travel with British Airways and then tell us about their experience.

“Their feedback tells us customers are seeing the benefit of our £7bn investment programme, with operational performance improving by 18 per cent over the last 12 months, partnered with the introduction of new aircraft, the unveiling of our new First seat, free Wi-Fi messaging on flights and upgrades to nine of our lounges.

“This is also reflected in a recent independent study from Newsweek, which surveyed 17,000 people who voted us their Most Trusted Airline Brand.

“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 and will continue to focus on delivering the best possible service for our customers.”