Singapore Airlines again voted world’s best airline

Singapore Airlines, the national airline of Singapore, has been voted the best airline in the world for the second consecutive year by an annual survey of passengers. Singapore Airlines retained the top position as the world’s best overall airline and also won the award for the best business-class.

The results of the survey, conducted by the consultancy firm Skytrax, based in the United Kingdom, were dominated by Asian carriers and Gulf-Arab carriers, including Qantas Airways.

The Skytrax’s 2008 survey involved over 15 million passengers taking part around the world. The questionnaires were completed by passengers over an 11-month period. The categories included catering, in-flight entertainment, and airport lounges.

Singapore Airlines Limited operates a hub at Singapore Changi Airport and has a strong presence in South-East Asia, East Asia and South Asia. It also operates trans-Pacific flights, including two of the world’s longest non-stop commercial flights from Singapore to Newark (New Jersey) and Los Angeles (California) in the United States, on the Airbus A340-500.

Singapore Airlines is also the first airline to fly the Airbus A380 Superjumbo, the largest passenger airliner in the world.

Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong’s largest airline and its flag carrier, took the second place in overall performance and also received awards for the world’s best first-class and the best first-class catering.

The operations of Cathay Pacific, based at Hong Kong International Airport, include scheduled passenger and cargo services to over 120 destinations worldwide.

Qantas Airways – which was plagued by a series of security scares recently – was   voted in the Skytrax 2008 survey as the 3rd  best airline and best first-class lounge.

Qantas Airways is  the national airline of Australia and the country’s largest airline.

Edward Plaisted, chief executive officer of Skytrax, remarked in a statement: “The global rating for Qantas is interesting. When we look at more localised studies and reporting, we found that Qantas comes under fire from some media that clearly contradicts a more widespread view of Qantas customers.”

In the overall rankings, Thai Airways was voted number 4. Thai Airways also ranked 4th in the ‘best cabin staff’ section.

Asiana Airlines (formerly Seoul Airlines), based based in Seoul, South Korea, achieved one of the  biggest improvements in the Skytrax list – having risen to the number 5 spot worldwide in 2008 from number 12 in 2007. It also won the world’s best cabin staff award and the best economy class award.

Malaysia Airlines, the flag carrier of Malaysia, took the number 6 spot.

The number 7 position went to Qatar Airways, which also won awards for the best airline and best cabin staff for the Middle East as well as for best business-class catering.

Air New Zealand, based in Auckland, New Zealand, and the national flag carrier of New Zealand, was voted 8th worldwide as well as the best trans-Pacific airline.

Emirates airline, of Dubai, retained its position as the world’s 9th best airline as also the carrier offering the best in-flight entertainment.

Etihad Airways, of Abu Dhabi, rounded off the top-10 list in overall performance.