For the fifth time, Qatar Airways has won the title of
world's best airline in the Skytrax World Airlines Awards.
The carrier regained the top spot from Singapore Airlines
after a one-year hiatus. Singapore dropped to second and Japan's All Nippon
Airways held onto its third-place ranking.
Skytrax top 10
1. Qatar Airways
2. Singapore Airlines
3. All Nippon Airways
4. Cathay Pacific
5. Emirates
6. EVA Air
7. Hainan Airlines
8. Qantas
9. Lufthansa
10. Thai Airways
JetBlue was the top-rated U.S. carrier, but was ranked just
40th worldwide.
The Skytrax rankings, which are regarded as among the most
credible in the airline industry, are based upon the results of an online
survey that operated from September of last year to May of this year. The 21.65
million participants were from more than 100 countries and more than 300
airlines are featured in the survey results.
Survey participants are queried on a broad range of subjects
related to the airlines' cabin service, onboard product and airport services.
Qatar topped the Skytrax awards by offering a top-shelf
product throughout its aircraft. The carrier won the Skytrax award for world's
best business class. Its economy class was ranked third and its first class
came in fifth.
Singapore Airlines, long renowned for its service, won the award
for best airline cabin crew and best first class.
As usual, Asian carriers dominated the overall ranking,
gathering nine of the top 10 spots. The only interloper was Lufthansa, which
finished in ninth. In addition, Air Asia took the Skytrax award for top
low-cost carrier in the world. Southwest finished fourth in that category
behind EasyJet and Norwegian Air.
Along with JetBlue, U.S. carriers in this year’s Skytrax top
100 include Delta (41), Southwest (47), Alaska (54), United (68), American (74)
and Hawaiian (83).
United, which saw its rank rise from 88th, was the seventh
most improved airline in the world in the past year. Spirit came in tenth in
that category.