The world's best airline is... Emirates according to the annual Skytrax World Airline Awards.
More than 18.2 million passengers in 160 countries around the world voted for the favorite airlines based on several factors such as cleanliness of the cabin to the quality of the food and entertainment on board.
Emirates finally reclaimed the top spot as Airline of the Year for the first time in a decade. It was also voted first in 2001 and 2002. Emirates president Tim Clark is determined to hold onto the title and he believes there were several reasons the Middle Eastern airline was voted the best.
"We've got 200 aircraft, 18,000 cabin crew and ground staff," Clark said according to CNN, admitting that those factors were "not easy, but you work hard at what you're doing, you deliver to people's expectations, and hopefully exceed those expectations."
In addition to taking the top honor overall, Emirates also won the best Middle Eastern airline and it won an award for best in-flight entertainment.
The airline with the world's best cabin staff was the Hong-Kong based Cathay Pacific, which CEO John Slosar says it due to its "fabulous team."
"We work very hard to make sure it's all about the team, not about individuals. We teach our crew not to just follow the rules, but to express themselves through their work, to offer service straight from the heart," Slosar said according to CNN.
The Best Low-Cost Airline was Air Asia. Japan's ANA took the award for cabin cleanliness. The Best Economy Class is on Garuda Indonesia. The Best Premium Economy is on Air New Zealand. The Best Business Class is on Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways took Best First Class. As for food, Malaysia Airlines' Satay Service was chosen as the Best Signature Dish.
The Skytrax World Airline Awards have been conducted every year since 1999 and are considered to be the world's largest airline passenger satisfaction survey.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
