An important question when booking a trip to the UAE is; Which is the Best Airline to Fly to Dubai?
If you’re flying from the UK, flights to Dubai take around 7 and a half hours and if your jetting in from the USA, you’re looking at between 12 and 16 hours. So you are going to want to make sure you purchase with the best airlines!
In our comparison to find out the best airline to fly to Dubai, all major airlines which fly from the UK to Dubai were pitted against one another in multiple categories to determine who provides the best flights. Overall, Emirates and British Airways ranked top for the best airlines to fly to Dubai.
There are many factors to consider when trying to find out the best airline to fly to Dubai and for those who are intrigued to know more; read below to see how each airline performed in Safety, Comfort, Food & Drink, Punctuality, Value for Money and Customer Satisfaction.
Some of the airlines in our comparison are not only great for travelling to Dubai, but are also some of the best airlines in the world. If you’d rather watch about the best airline to fly to Dubai then check our video below.
Best Airline to Fly to Dubai Based on Safety?
Probably the first question which springs to mind when deciding on flights. Which airline has the highest safety rating?
Airlineratings.com assessed over 400 different airlines in January 2019 to deliver its verdict on the safest. Qantas Airways were found to be the safest airline.
However, Qantas are not a UK airline and do not often fly direct into Dubai. The main reason for a Qantas flight to stop in Dubai will be on trips to Australasia. Assessing our options from the list of UK airlines, British Airways and Virgin top the table.
Conclusion: 1 Point to both BA and Virgin.
Best Airline to Fly to Dubai Based on Comfort?
Things to consider here would be; seat pitch, boarding experience and seat comfort. Whats more, boarding experience is an important factor to consider. If you are waiting forever on the stairs, are cramped in taking your seats or are not being assisted with your carry on bags; this can be uncomfortable.
The number 1 airline for seat pitch out of airlines flying to Dubai was Emirates, whilst there were multiple airlines top ranking for seat comfort.
Which.co.uk recently conducted a survey of over 7,500 travellers to find out which airline ranked best for comfort. They found this to be BA, Virgin, Emirates and TUI. British Airways were also the top rated airline for boarding experience with Emirates coming close in second.
Conclusion: 1 Point to BA and Emirates
Best Airline to Fly to Dubai Based on Food and Drink?
Given that Dubai is over 7 hours on a plane, another important aspect to consider is the food and drink.
There were a whole host of international airlines that beat UK airlines to the top at the Skytrax Awards. EVA, Cathay Pacific and Austrian Air to name but a few scoring highest for food and drink standards.
For UK airlines that travel to Dubai, Emirates was the clear winner and still ranked in the top ten in the world for on board food and drink in economy class.
Conclusion: 1 Point to Emirates
Which Airline Has the Best Punctuality Record?
As we can all agree, there is nothing worse than delayed flights. Or worse than that, when your sat on the runway, in the plane, and your flight is delayed taking off at the last moment. Rest assured, we’ve done our research to find the most punctual airline which travels direct to Dubai.
The top rated for punctuality to Dubai was Emirates. Emirates have upped their game recently, as in 2017 they were 4th most punctual, 2018 they were second and in 2019 they’re now top. They have an On Time Performance Rating of 81% according to an article on MSN.
Conclusion: 1 Point to Emirates
Which Airline Provides Best Value for Money Travel to Dubai?
This is an easy one to answer given the above questions we have already answered. If you browse for flights from the UK to Dubai on Kayak.com you will see that most of the time some of the cheapest direct flights come from BA and Emirates.
This is quite impressive considering the many budget airlines on the market today.
Etihad Airways usually present cheap flights too but considering all of the above into a value for money aspect, Etihad haven’t made it.
Conclusion: 1 Point to BA and Emirates
Which Airline has Highest Customer Satisfaction Score?
Stats are available on the internet for how many complaints an airline receives per one million travellers. We’ve consolidated these stats and below compiled a list of UK airlines which travel to Dubai to give you an insight into who has the best customer service.
As you can see from the above table, the worst performing airline which travels from the UK to Dubai was Thomas Cook. As we know Thomas Cook are now no loner (2019). The best performing airline for customer satisfaction is British Airways.
Conclusion: 1 Point to BA
Which is the Best Airline to Fly to Dubai?
Taking into account all of the above we arrive at a conclusion of who we rate to be the best airline to fly to Dubai. Below is a table ranked from 1st to 5th based on all of the categories discussed above.
We’ve given every winner or joint winner of each category 1 point to arrive at this conclusion.
Table Showing the Best Airlines for Travel to Dubai
Thomas Cook and Etihad still make the list as they’re leading and reputable airlines which have a lot to offer. However, they have scored zero in this particular instance when competing with the likes of British Airways and Emirates.
This does not mean that Etihad shouldn’t be used. However, British Airways and Emirates offer that bit more which makes them stand out winners in my quest to find out the best airline to fly to Dubai with.
Conclusion
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