QATAR Airways was named the world’s best airline at the recently concluded Skytrax World Airline Awards held at the French Air and Space Museum, as part of the Paris Air Show.
Over 150 senior management executives from 40 airlines around the globe attended the ceremony that named 10 different airlines as this year’s best of the best. Among the countries represented were Brazil, the United States, Oman, South Africa, Canada, China, Japan, Australia, El Salvador, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Turkey, Germany, Greece, Finland, India, Malaysia, South Korea, Dubai, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
Some 18 million passengers from around the world voted for their favorite airline across dozens of airline categories—from the airline with the best economy class to the best airline for in-flight entertainment. Forty of the 42 winning airlines were able to personally claim their awards at the ceremony.
“We express our sincere thanks to all the guests that attended the awards ceremony in Paris. The event was a great success and after much hard work it is very satisfying for our Market Research team to see the winning airlines receive their awards," said Edward Plaisted, chairman and chief executive officer of Skytrax.
The World Airline Awards, known as the Passengers Choice Awards, are recognized as the primary benchmarking tool for passenger satisfaction levels for airlines across the world—constituting a unique survey format based on analysis of business and leisure travelers and across all cabin classes—first, business, premium economy and economy.
Qatar Airways brought home the title of World’s Best Airline after placing third last year. The airline also received the “Best First Class Lounge” accolade for its Premium Terminal at the carrier’s Doha hub—a facility for exclusive use by Qatar Airways’ first and business class passengers. The award further cements the Premium Terminal’s stature as a world-class luxury facility for passengers to unwind and relax before their flight.
Last year’s world’s best airline South Korea’s Asiana Airlines fell to third place. However, it was awarded Best Cabin Staff and Best Economy Class.
Cathay Pacific, an international airline based in Hong Kong, placed fourth in the rankings. The airline’s operations include scheduled passenger and cargo services to 114 destinations in 36 countries worldwide, including codeshares and joint ventures. It was also named as the Best Transpacific Airline for customer product and service quality.
Also in the top 10 of the world’s best airline list is Emirates, the flag carrier of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with its largest airline in the Middle East, operating over 2,400 passenger flights per week to 111 cities in 62 countries across six continents. The Middle Eastern airline also bagged the World’s Best Airline In-flight Entertainment award.
Six other airlines also made to the list of Skytrax World’s Best Airlines. Singapore Airlines placed second. Thai Airways International and Etihad Airways secured the fifth and sixth spots, respectively. Air New Zealand followed at seventh; Qantas Airlines, eighth; and Turkish Airlines at ninth.
Eight out of the 10 winners are all Asia-based airlines. Skytrax gave away over 60 awards to 42 different airlines at the event.
In Photo: AKBAR Al Baker (right), CEO of Qatar Airways, receives the 2011 Best Airline Middle East award at the World Airline Awards from Edward Plaisted, Skytrax’s CEO.
