Air Busan topped other low-cost carriers in customer satisfaction in the National Customer Satisfaction Index survey, the company said on March 19.

The carrier beat five rivals to earn the highest scores in most of the six categories, which mainly cover customer satisfaction, recognition, and loyalty, the corporate statement said.

The Korea Productivity Center conducts the NCSI survey annually to evaluate the quality of services by companies in each business sector.  

The five other budget carriers are Jeju Air, Jin Air, Air Seoul, Eastar Jet and T’way Air.

Early this month, the Transport Ministry issued business licenses to three new budget carriers -- Fly Gangwon, Air Premia and Aero K Airlines.

Asiana Airlines owns a 44.17 percent stake in Air Busan, with the Busan Metropolitan City government and companies in Busan controlling 4.82 percent and 40.79 percent, respectively, and the remainder being owned by others. 

In the same NCSI survey, Asiana topped all other airlines in the customer satisfaction rating, even outpacing No. 1 flag carrier Korean Air. The full-service airline got high marks for its strengthened fleet and improved services, the company said in a statement.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)