A seasoned traveller who has flown more than 700 times has revealed the best airline for long-haul journeys in economy.
Dennis Bunnik, from Australia, has visited 100 countries over the last three decades, but in recent years has tapped into his love for aviation by posting flight reviews and behind-the-scenes airline insights on his YouTube channel, DennisBunnik Travels.
The self-confessed ‘avgeek’ (aviation geek) is the joint-chief executive of small-group tour operator, Bunnik Tours, which he helped his mother to launch in the 1990s.
Since then, he’s built a following of 139,000 fans on YouTube by sharing his experiences on hundreds of flights across dozens of airlines.
Though he admits he prefers to fly travel in business and first class, Bunnik has also had his fair share of trips in standard economy – and he’s now revealed which airlines money-savvy travellers should choose to ensure a comfortable, long-haul flight.
The experienced flyer recommends Emirates Premium Economy for international journeys – most specifically in the retrofitted four-class A380 aircraft.
Bunnik praised carriers such as Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qatar and Qantas, all of which provide passengers in economy with a ‘comfortable seat, good entertainment system, an attentive crew, and snacks and water.’
He also shared his top tips for long-haul travel, such as wearing loose comfortable clothing, drinking plenty of water, and avoiding going to the bathroom with ‘bare feet.’
Sharing his favourite airline for in-flight meals and snacks, he went into detail about a the ‘phenomenal’ five-course experience he had whilst flying Air France’s First Class La Premiere.
As reported by The Australian, he said: ‘They served three types of bread, each of which had a story behind it.
‘For the main course I had pigeon pie, which was divine. I had mentioned that I was interested in trying some of the French cognacs; the flight attendant came and poured a taste of every cognac they had for me to try with my dessert.’
It comes as a new survey has revealed which airlines have the best and worst food for passengers.
Emirates has the best snacks and drinks and the best inflight meals, according to the survey by YouGov, which found that 84 per cent of passengers rate the airline’s snacks and drinks positively while 85 per cent are impressed with the meals.
Nearly half (43 per cent) of those surveyed rated the airline’s snacks as ‘very good’.
Qatar Airways, which was named the world’s best airline in 2024, comes second on the list with 83 per cent of passengers giving its snacks a positive rating and 82 per cent pleased with its inflight meals.
Virgin Atlantic rounds off the top three with almost three quarters (74 per cent) of passengers rating its drinks and snacks well and 73 per cent happy with the inflight meals.
When it comes to UK airlines, it’s British Airways that tops the ranking with 61 per cent of its passengers prating the airline’s snacks and drinks positively.
It does even better when it comes to inflight meals with positive scores from 63 per cent of passengers.
At the other end of the scale, it’s bad news for Ryanair which has the worst-rated food of the airlines surveyed.
Just 21 per cent of Ryanair passengers felt the airline’s snacks and drinks were good and more than four in 10 (41 per cent) considered its offering to be bad.
