Emirates airline was tabbed as the world’s best airline in 2016, according to the annual World Airline Awards published by Skytrax.
Emirates’ title came as last year’s winner – Qatar Airways – dropped to second place in the ratings, awarded at a Tuesday ceremony on the grounds of the Farnborough Airshow.Virgin America was the top ranked U.S. carrier, placing 25th overall in the global rankings.
The Skytrax awards are one of several annual consumer-focused rankings covering the airline industry. Earlier this month, Travel + Leisure magazine tabbed Singapore Airlines as the world’s top carrier. Emirates was the runner-up in those ratings. In May, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines continued their stranglehold atop the annual J.D. Power customer service satisfaction survey of North American carriers. A month before that, Virgin America took the top spot in another ranking – this one the 2016 Airline Quality Rating report.
As for the Skytrax awards, the win was the fourth overall title for Emirates since the ratings launched in 1999.
“We are honored to be recognized by the prestigious Skytrax awards,” Emirates president Tim Clark said in a statement.
“Emirates has always put our customers at the heart of what we do, and we work hard to deliver the very best experience possible to our customers at every touchpoint, every day, all around the world,” Clark added. “The fact that these awards are based on the direct feedback from passengers is gratifying and wonderful recognition for all of the hard work that’s gone into creating the Emirates experience.”
Following No. 2 Qatar Airways were Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and All Nippon Airways. The full top 25 (2015 rankings in parenthesis):
1. Emirates (5)
2. Qatar Airways (1)
3. Singapore Airlines (2)
4. Cathay Pacific (3)
5. All Nippon Airways/ANA (7)
6. Etihad Airways (6)
7. Turkish Airlines (4)
8. EVA Air (9)
9. Qantas Airways (10)
10. Lufthansa (12)
11. Garuda Indonesia (8)
12. Hainan Airlines (22)
13. Thai Airways (19)
14. Air France (15)
15, Swiss International Air Lines (14)
16. Asiana Airlines (11)
17. Air New Zealand (17)
18. Virgin Australia (16)
19. Austrian (13)
20. Bangkok Airways (23)
21. Japan Airlines/JAL (21)
22. Dragonair (18)
23. AirAsia (25)
24. KLM (28)
25. Virgin America (26)
[Source:- USA Today]
