Qatar Airways named World’s Best Airline for 2019
The Doha-based carrier also won Best Airline in the Middle East, ahead of rivals Emirates and Etihad Airways.
Qatar Airways.
After finishing first and second respectively in 2018, Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways switch places in this latest Skytrax ranking of the world’s best airlines, announced at the 2019 World Airline Awards held at Paris Air Show.
Asian and Middle Eastern airlines soared at the World Airlines Awards — the Oscars of the aviation industry — which is no surprise given how such carriers have monopolised the upper echelons of this kind of ranking in recent years.
The World Airline Awards were launched 20 years ago by Skytrax, a UK-based consultancy operating an airline and airport review and ranking site.
Emirates Airlines has been named best international airline in a new set of travel awards. Picture: Emirates Airlines
Between September 2018 and May 2019, customers of over 100 nationalities took part in the global passenger satisfaction survey used to decide this year’s winners.
At the 2019 awards, Qatar Airways was named World’s Best Airline for the fifth time. The Doha-based carrier also won in the regional category for Best Airline in the Middle East, ahead of rivals Emirates and Etihad Airways, coming second the third respectively.
Qatar Airways was also crowned for its top-quality business class.
Singapore Airlines took second place in the top 10 airlines of 2019, but won awards for World’s Best First Class and World’s Best Cabin Crew.
All Nippon Airways completes the podium lineup in the global airline ranking, taking third place.
Singapore Airlines first class suite. Picture: YouTube
No US airlines and just one European airline, Lufthansa, feature in the 2019 top 10.
The German carrier was also named Best Airline in Europe at the World Airlines Awards, and in regional category, Lufthansa won Best Airline In Western Europe, ahead of Swiss International Airlines (second) and Austrian Airlines (third).
The highest ranking low-cost carrier in the list is Air Asia (20th). Other budget carriers featured include Virgin Australia (25th), Easyjet (37th) and Norwegian (39th).
In terms of comfort, Japan Airlines boasts the World’s Best Economy Class Seat, while Virgin Atlantic offers the World’s Best Premium Economy Class Seat.
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