The best budget airlines in the UK have been named

The reality of "low-cost" airlines, as many of us know, can be fraught with hidden fees, confusing baggage allowances, and frequent delays.

However, not all low-cost airlines are the same. To find the best carrier, Yahoo's editorial team compared Wizz Air, Jet2, easyJet, and Ryanair across all key metrics.

The best airlines

Ryanair is Europe's largest low-cost carrier by passenger numbers, with over 17 million people carried in October alone. The company's latest reported fleet size is 565 (as of summer 2023), the largest in our survey, serving more than 240 airports in 40 countries.

Ryanair also has the best connections. It operates flights from 21 UK airports, including lesser-served areas such as Newquay and Teesside, so we rate it as the best airport for the UK. Its routes also include rarer budget destinations such as Jordan, Montenegro, and Casablanca.

easyJet currently operates from 18 UK airports and serves 155 airports in 36 countries. It is the second-largest airline in Europe by passenger numbers (ahead of Ryanair), with a large fleet of 336 aircraft.

In March 2024, easyJet will open a new three-aircraft base in Birmingham, adding 16 new routes to its current 1,024. In terms of connectivity, it ranks second after Ryanair.

In third place is Wizz Air, which serves 73 destinations directly from the UK, as well as more than 100 others via connections, including cities in North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.

Wizz Air has a fleet of 179 aircraft and has hubs in London Luton and Gatwick. It operates flights from six other UK airports: Glasgow, Birmingham, Newcastle, Aberdeen, Leeds, and Liverpool, so it has fair regional coverage.

Jet2 ranks fourth in terms of routes and connectivity. The airline operates flights to more than 65 European destinations from 11 UK airports, with a new base in Liverpool opening in March. Other hubs include Birmingham, Bristol, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, and Stansted.

It operates 119 aircraft and is the third-largest scheduled airline in the UK; well-known destinations include Norway, Morocco, Cyprus, and Iceland.