An airline and airport survey released on Friday by consumer advocacy group Choice found passengers rated Jetstar lowest or equal lowest in six of nine categories including punctuality, comfort and meals.

Jetstar claimed the survey was flawed because it did not include ratings for Virgin Australia-owned rival Tiger Airways.

Choice said it did not receive enough responses from Tiger passengers to merit inclusion.

“Choice seem to enjoy criticising airlines without understanding the safety standards we operate to or recognising the role of low cost carriers in making travel more affordable for millions of Australians,” Jetstar said in a statement.

Choice said it stood by the results of the survey, which garnered 11,273 responses from 822,000 postal and online questionnaires – including 745 from 75,000 in Australia.

Jetstar was named as the worst airline for boarding procedure, and joint worst for on board staff, punctuality, check in procedure, comfort and meals.

No other carrier finished last in as many categories, with France’s second-largest carrier, Aigle Azur, taking five last-place finishes to make it the next most unpopular airline.

However, Jetstar owner Qantas was one of 14 airlines ranked highest for a feeling of safety.

Jetstar said the region in which it operates meant weather was often the source of delays and that it “always put safety before schedule.”

It pointed out it had been named Asia-Pacific’s best low-cost carrier for six years running by SkyTrax, a UK-based airline and airport ranking site, but acknowledged there was still work to be done.

“We know how important it is to get customers to their destination on time, and we recognise there is room for improvement and our team is doing a lot of work behind the scenes,” Jetstar said.

– AAP