World’s Top 10 Airlines of 2019

The World’s Top 10 Airlines of 2019

1. Qatar Airways

2. Singapore Airlines

3. ANA All Nippon Airways

4. Cathay Pacific

5. Emirates

6. EVA Air

7. Hainan Airlines

8. Qantas Airways

9. Lufthansa

10. Thai Airways

Singapore Airlines has lost its “Best in the World” gong with Qatar Airways back on top after nabbing the coveted title at the prestigious 2019 Skytrax Awards.

Qatar also walked away with World’s Best Business Class, World’s Best Business Class Seat and Best Airline in the Middle East. It’s the fifth time the Middle East carrier has taken out the top gong at the awards, after losing the top spot in 2018 to Singapore.

Singapore Airlines slipped into second place, while Japanese airline ANA All Nippon Airways received the bronze medal.

Known as the Oscars of the aviation world, the World Airline Awards are handed out annually by Skytrax, the leading global authority on airline and airport service quality.

In its 19th year, the ratings are based on the world’s largest passenger satisfaction survey, which took place from September 2018 to May 2019 with online voting in English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese and Russian.

This year passengers from over 100 countries voted on 300 airlines from around the globe, while Skytrax said there were 21.65 million eligible entries.

Australian airline Qantas made a return to the top 10 list for the first time in three years, after coming in at 11th spot in 2018 and slipping to 15th position in 2017.

Virgin Australia came in at 25th, down from their 22nd ranking in 2018.

In a statement, Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted admitted not everyone would agree with the rankings’ assessment.

We operate the survey and awards in a 100 per cent independent and impartial format according to the commitment we gave back in 1999, he said during the awards ceremony at the Paris Air Show.

While every winner may not be the favourite of everyone, those that disagree should understand that these are the Passenger’s Choice Awards.

Jetstar came in at 53rd overall, dropping from 46th position in 2018, while Air New Zealand was ranked 16th.

Jetstar however ranked third in the ‘World’s Best Long Haul Low-Cost Airlines’ and sixth in the ‘World’s Best Low-Cost Airlines’ for 2019.

Fiji Airways was awarded first place in the “Best Airline Staff in Australia Pacific” category, which recognises the combined airline staff service for both on-board and ground staff, in the Australia Pacific region through passenger feedback and Skytrax evaluation.


Tourism Observer

Turkish Airlines CEO Temel Kotil Named Best CEO

Turkish Airlines CEO Temel Kotil, has been named as Turkey’s best performing CEO by Harvard Business Review Turkey.

Turkish Airlines has an extensive global network. We are flying to more international destinations than any other airline in the world. We have 236 international destinations and 49 domestic destinations in 113 countries. We have 109 European airports in our network which are feeding our Middle Eastern, Africa and Asia routes.

We have been offering largest number of origin destination choices for our passengers flying to Africa, Middle East and Europe. We fly to 48 airports in Africa, 34 in Middle East and 34 in Asia. We differentiate ourself among other carriers with the strength of our network. This extensive network is planned to feed transfer and local passengers.

We will continue to add new destinations to our network that will improve our transfer and local passenger numbers. We will have new destinations in Americas and Asia: Atlanta, Bogota, Panama, Hanoi are some of our destinations that will be open in the following months. Dubrovnik is also in the list. We also continue to add new frequencies to our current destinations through SAW hub to strengthen our network also from there.

Turkish Airlines makes the whole world more accessible for its passengers by flying to largest number of international destinations and also countries in the world. In recognition of this significant feature, we have adopted a new branding that emphasizes our global reach: “Widen Your World”, and which emphasizes Istanbul’ linking character/ its unique position between two continents.

Our new brand strategy aims to develop new applications at each phase of the travel to offer memorable surprises to our passengers and to bring them together with international innovation and distinctive services to make them feel special and cherished.

Our passengers’ satisfaction and their trust in our brand are the backbone of our growth and also the primary success and a core value of our Company. As a result of our continuous efforts to serve our passengers at best in order to ensure their satisfaction and win their trust, we have been awarded the Skytrax awards for Europe’s Best Airline for the fifth time in a row.

The awards were based on the results of over 18 million passenger surveys, with more than 105 nationalities participating and covering 245 airlines. We also have been awarded World’s Best Business Class Airline Lounge and World’s Best Business Class Lounge Dining awards for the second time in a row. These awards are clear indications of our consistent high quality of our products.

We have been closely following the developments of the new airport. Since the new airport will certainly meet our growing needs, we have been relying upon the new airport to further improve our passenger satisfaction and efficiency of our operations. We will have state of the art facilities there that would improve our service quality further. With this new airport, we will be able to further speed up the growth of Istanbul hub as a high quality and seamless transfer point.

This is a different business model, in short term we are not planning to invest in such operations.

QATAR: Qatar Airways To Commence Doha-Armenia Flights From May 15

Qatar Airways (QA) has announced that it will offer four-times weekly non-stop flights between Doha and Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, from May 15.

At the launch of QA’s new scheduled service to Los Angeles this month, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said passengers on the new direct service to and from Yerevan will benefit from easier access to the rest of the world via QA’s global network.

QA’s expanding global reach, including its newest US destinations of Los Angeles, Boston and Atlanta this year and significant growth of its modern fleet has enabled the airline to offer the new service to Armenia.

Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural and industrial centre of Armenia and offers visiting business and leisure passengers a rich and diverse history. With a city backdrop of the snow-capped Caucasus mountain range, Yerevan is one of the world’s oldest continuously-inhabited cities and its diverse architecture and atmosphere is easily explored on foot.

Al Baker said: “QA has seen unprecedented growth in recent years, launching new destinations around the globe while establishing our new home and hub Hamad International Airport (HIA).

“With the new service to Yerevan, QA is enhancing its worldwide footprint and expanding travel opportunities for business and leisure passengers.”

Passengers flying from Yerevan and onwards to any of QA’s more than 150 destinations will enjoy a quick and convenient transfer at HIA, the newest airport hub in the world. Offering over 100 retail and dining options and unique services such as a swimming pool, hotel and spa for those in transit, the airport is sure to further enhance passengers’ overall travel experience.

CITY OF YEREVAN

QA will fly the A320 aircraft direct to and from Yerevan on the four-weekly schedule, featuring a two-class cabin configuration comprising 12 seats in Business Class and 132 in Economy Class.

QA is one of the fastest growing airlines operating one of the youngest fleets in the world.

Now in its 19th year of operations, QA has a modern fleet of 175 aircraft flying to over 150 key business and leisure destinations across six continents.

QA has won awards, including being voted by passengers as the Airline of the Year for the third time and Best Airline in the Middle East for the ninth time at the 2015 Skytrax Awards in June.

Schedule: Non-stop Doha to/from Yerevan (all times local)

Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays: QR 285 departs Doha at 20:25 and arrives in Yerevan at 00:40+1

Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays: QR 286 departs Yerevan at 03:25 and arrives in Doha at 05:30.