Qatar Airways named ‘Best Airline in the World’ at World Airline Awards

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Qatar Airways was named the world’s best airline at the annual Skytrax World Airline Awards ceremony in Paris on Tuesday, held as part of the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget.

The coveted awards cover 550 airports worldwide and were voted on by nearly 19 million passengers from over 110 countries during the period between May 2014 and January 2015. Participants judge airlines on everything from the quality of their inflight entertainment to the friendliness of their cabin crew.

This is the third year that Qatar Airways has taken home the top award, having also won it in 2011 and 2012.

In addition, the airline also won the award for best airline in the Middle East, as well as best business class seat.

Speaking to CNN after the ceremony, CEO Akbar Al Baker said:”It’s a very clear accolade on behalf of the staff — they are the real recipients, I’m just their leader!”

Singapore Airlines came in second place for the award, with Cathay Pacific (last year’s winner) coming in third. Turkish Airlines took fourth place and Emirates fifth.

AirAsia was voted best low-cost airline for the seventh year in a row, six months after one of its planes, QZ8501 crashed into the Java Sea killing all 162 people on board.

Co-founder and group CEO Tony Fernandes said the award “meant a lot, after all we’ve been through.”

Garuda Indonesia’s cabin crew were named as the best in the world, while Air France was hailed as the “most improved” airline.

Last year’s winner of the top prize, Cathay Pacific, took home the award for best transpacific airline, while Germany’s Lufthansa won for the transatlantic route.

Oneworld was rated the best airline alliance, and Emirates won for its entertainment system.

Turkish Airlines also won big during the ceremony, being named best airline in Europe for the fifth year running. The national airline was also named the as having the world’ best business class lounge as well as best business class lounge dining at its lounge at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul.

The Skytrax World Airline Awards were established in 1999 and are seen as a global benchmark of airline excellence, and widely known as the Passengers Choice awards. They represent the world’s largest airline passenger satisfaction survey, and operate “independent of airline involvement, sponsorship or third-party influence,” according to Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted.The survey and awards process is funded by Skytrax, and is not a profit-generating operation.

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