Wobble2plank
Some interesting assumptions on the methodology of benchmarking a 'market rate' against EU countries - especially when for example, we look at a carrier like Iberia, where it is relatively cheap to live in Madrid or Barcelona compared to the south east of England, there is huge unemployment in Spain, so an abundant pool of 'newbies' who would love to work - yet Iberia crew are still paid more than BA Cabin Crew.
I suppose it just shows that statistics can be worked either way doesn't it.
The top 50 most expensive cities to live in 2009
Base City: New York, US (=100)
SOURCE: Mercer
2009 2008
1 2 TOKYO JAPAN 143.7
2 11 OSAKA JAPAN 119.2
3 1 MOSCOW RUSSIA 115.4
4 8 GENEVA SWITZERLAND 109.2
5 6 HONG KONG HONG KONG 108.7
6 9 ZURICH SWITZERLAND 105.2
7 7 COPENHAGEN DENMARK 105
8 22 NEW YORK CITY US 100
9 20 BEIJING CHINA 99.6
10 13 SINGAPORE SINGAPORE 98
11 10 MILAN ITALY 96.9
12 24 SHANGHAI CHINA 95.2
13 12 PARIS FRANCE 95.1
14 4 OSLO NORWAY 94.2
15 89 CARACAS VENEZUELA 93.3
16 3 LONDON UK 92.7
17 14 TEL AVIV ISRAEL 91.9
18 16 ROME ITALY 91.2
19 21 HELSINKI FINLAND 90.5
20 52 DUBAI UAE 90.1
21 19 VIENNA AUSTRIA 89.3
22 61 SHENZHEN CHINA 89
23 55 LOS ANGELES US 87.6
23 70 GUANGZHOU CHINA 87.6
25 16 DUBLIN IRELAND 87.4
26 65 ABU DHABI UAE 86.7
27 34 DOUALA CAMEROUN 86.1
28 25 ATHENS GREECE 85.9
29 25 AMSTERDAM NETHERLANDS 85.7
30 45 BRATISLAVA SLOVAKIA 84.8
31 89 WHITE PLAINS US 84.7
32 30 LAGOS NIGERIA 84.6
33 74 TEHRAN IRAN 84.1
34 51 ABIDJAN IVORY COAST 82.5
34 41 DAKAR SENEGAL 82.5
34 78 SAN FRANCISCO US 82.5
37 28 MADRID SPAIN 82.1
38 43 LUXEMBOURG LUXEMBOURG 82.1
38 31 BARCELONA SPAIN 82.1
40 57 ALGIERS ALGERIA 81.7
41 77 HONOLULU US 81.6
41 39 BRUSSELS BELGIUM 81.6
41 80 BEIRUT LEBANON 81.6
44 44 ALMATY KAZAKHSTAN 81.5
45 75 MIAMI US 81.4
46 18 ST PETERSBOURG RUSSIA 81.3
47 37 MUNICH GERMANY 81.2
48 40 FRANKFURT GERMANY 80.9
49 38 BERLIN GERMANY 80.8
50 84 CHICAGO US 80.7