Singapore Airlines swept the board at this year’s Skytrax World Airline Awards, winning the coveted Airline of the Year award.
The Asian carrier also won World’s Best First Class, Best Airline in Asia and Best First Class Airline seat in the aviation industry’s equivalent of the Oscars, which began in 1999.
EasyJet scooped the Best Low Cost Airline in the UK award, while Lufthansa was ranked the Best Airline in Europe. Lufthansa was the only European carrier to make the top 10 Best Airlines list, coming in seventh place.
Award categories, which included Best Low Cost Airline, Best Cabin Crew, Best Onboard Catering and Best First Class Airlines, were broken down by region and class.
In the World’s Top 100 Airlines ranking, British Airways came 31st, EasyJet 43rd and Ryanair 64th.
AirAsia came first in the overall Best Low Cost Airline award, with Norwegian following in second place and Ryanair at number 11.
Aegean Airlines came top in the Best Regional Airlines in Europe category, while popular budget carrier Ryanair failed to win a single award.
The awards were dominated by Asian and Middle Eastern carriers, with UK and US based airlines faring less favourably.
Emirates came first for Best Inflight Entertainment, while Garuda Indonesia’s cabin crew were ranked the best in the world.
Heathrow’s terminal two Plaza Premium Lounge won the World’s Best Independent Airport Lounge award. Operated by dedicated lounge services, these often provide pay-to-use access for all passenger classes.
The awards are based on the surveys of more than 20 million travellers, who rated more than 335 airlines between August 2017 and May 2018.
There are no survey entry fees and the process aims to be independent, impartial and global in outlook, with more than 100 nationalities participating.
The world’s top 10 airlines 2018
- Singapore Airlines
- Qatar Airways
- ANA All Nippon Airways
- Emirates
- Eva Air
- Cathay Pacific Airways
- Lufthansa
- Hainan Airlines
- Garuda Indonesia
- Thai Airways
The world’s best low-cost airlines 2018
- AirAsia
- Norwegian
- EasyJet
- Jetstar Airways
- AirAsia X
- WestJet
- IndiGo
- Southwest Airlines
- Eurowings
- Scoot
