Australian airline, Qantas, is, or was, considered one of the best airlines in the world, but if you’ve been paying attention to the news at all recently, you know that Qantas’ service has been, shall we say, lacking of late. The airline’s poor performance has been noted as they’ve fallen from the top five best airlines to a paltry 17th, according to the annual World Airline Awards.
Last year, Qantas placed 5th, so this isn’t a small drop but a substantial plummet that sees them in their lowest position since the World Airline Awards began in 1999.
It’s no wonder that there are big changes coming to Qantas, the most prominent of which is CEO, Alan Joyce, leaving the company and handing the reins over to Vanessa Hudson.
Well, enough about Qantas. Which airlines took the top spots at the awards?
First place was handed to Singapore Airlines, moving up to replace last year’s winner, Qatar Airways, who placed second. Behind the front-runners were Japan’s ANA All Nippon Airways in third, Emirates in fourth, and Japan Airlines in fifth.
The top 20 are as follows:
- Singapore Airlines
- Qatar Airways
- ANA All Nippon Airways
- Emirates
- Japan Airlines
- Turkish Airlines
- Air France
- Cathay Pacific Airways
- EVA Air
- Korean Air
- Hainan Airlines
- Swiss International Air Lines
- Etihad Airways
- Iberia
- Fiji Airways
- Vistara
- Qantas Airways
- British Airways
- Air New Zealand
- Delta Air Lines
The World’s Best Airline awards are based on the results of an online survey conducted by Skytrax. This is completed by passengers across over 325 airlines making this survey the largest airline satisfaction query in the world.
However, Skytrax’s methodology has been called into question in recent years as they’ve never been transparent about how the Awards actually work. So take these awards with a grain of salt, as they often feature prominently in an airlines marketing should they do well.
Other notable awards handed out were the Best Premium Economy Class award handed to Taiwan’s EVA Air, Best Economy Class was awarded to Japan Airlines, Best Low-Cost Airline went to AirAsia, while Best Regional Airway went to Bangkok Airways.
For the big spenders, Best Business Class went to Qatar Airways while Best First Class went to Singapore Airlines.
