Asian and Middle Eastern Airlines dominated the worldwide award categories in the 2006/7 World Airline Survey conducted by Skytrax. In the survey, Singapore Airlines was named Airline of the Year. Thai Airways came in second, while Cathay Pacific was third. Qatar Airways took fourth, with Qantas following in fifth place.
“The jostle for Airline of the Year title was fairly constant throughout the survey period, and in particular the top five positions fluctuated on quite a regular basis“, according to Edward Plaisted CEO of survey organization, Skytrax.
While Qatar also won Best First Class, Singapore Airlines took a second worldwide award by winning Best Business Class. Korean Air claimed Best Economy Class and another Asian carrier, Malaysian Airlines, won the Best Cabin Staff award.
For the Onboard Catering Awards, Gulf Air received the Best First Class Catering award. Awards for business and economy class catering went to Austrian and Etihad Airways, respectively.
Emirates continued its hold on the Best Inflight Entertainment spot. Korean Air gained a second worldwide award by taking fourth place in the same category. Thai Airway’s Royal First lounge at Bangkok’s new Suvarnabhumi Airport took the honors for Best First Class Lounge.
In the expanding economy field, Australia’s Jetstar was named the Best Low-Cost Airline in the world.
In regional awards, Qatar received two awards for the Middle East Region, winning both Best Cabin Staff and Best Airline. Asiana Airlines was named as the Best Airline in Northern Asia. The Best Low-Cost Airline award for Europe went to Air Berlin.
“The 2006/7 World Airline Survey was our longest running and largest passenger survey ever” said Plaisted . “We received over 14 million eligible nominations around the world during the 11 month survey, further underlining the project’s title of being the World’s Largest Passenger Survey.”
