Best World Airlines 2019 At Skytrax Awards

Qatar Airways has been named the world's best airline for 2019 at the annual World Airline Awards, announced at the Paris Air Show on Tuesday.

It's the fifth time the Middle East carrier has taken out the top gong at the awards run by research firm Skytrax, the first airline to win the world's best award five times since the rankings began in 1999.

As usual, the top 10 was dominated by Asian and Middle Eastern airlines.

Last year's winner, Singapore Airlines, dropped to second place, with Japan's All Nippon Airways remaining in third. Cathay Pacific climbed from sixth position to fourth, while Emirates dropped one spot to fifth.

Qantas continued to climb in the rankings, hitting eighth spot after climbing from 13th to 11th last year. However, Virgin Australia continued to drop on the list, falling to 25th position from 22nd last year. In 2017 the airline was ranked 13th.

Qantas dominated the regional awards, taking out best airline, first and business class for the Australia/Pacific, while Air New Zealand won best premium economy and best cabin cleanliness. Jetstar won best low-cost airline in the region.

It was a big year for Qatar Airways with the airline also winning for World's Best Business Class, Best Business Class Seat and best Middle Eastern Airline.

The airline unveiled its revolutionary new business class seats, the "QSuite" in 2017. The seats featured the world's first double-bed in business class, as well a face-to-face "party of four" configuration. Qatar Airways introduced the class on Australian routes in June last year.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker described the results as a proud moment.

Becoming the first airline to be named as 'Airline of the Year' for the fifth time is a landmark achievement, he said.

Edward Plaisted of Skytrax said: To be named as the World's Best Airline is a great recognition of Qatar Airways high standards, and recognises the hard work and dedication from every member of staff to satisfy customers.

In other key awards, Singapore Airlines took out the award for best cabin crew and best first class, Japan Airlines won best economy class, Emirates best inflight entertainment and AirAsia was named best low-cost carrier,

The World Airlines Awards are based on customer surveys conducted by Skytrax. According to Skytrax, more than 20 million survey entries were recorded between September 2018 and May 2019 for this year's awards, with voters coming from more than 100 different countries.

The World's Top 10 Airlines of 2019.

01 - Qatar Airways

02 - Singapore Airlines

03 - ANA All Nippon Airways

04 - Cathay Pacific

05 - Emirates

06 - EVA Air

07 - Hainan Airlines

08 - Qantas Airways

09 - Lufthansa

10- Thai Airways

World's Best Cabin Staff 2019

01 - Singapore Airlines

02 - Garuda Indonesia

03 - ANA All Nippon Airways

04 - Thai Airways

05 - EVA Air

06 - Cathay Pacific

07 - Hainan Airlines

08 - Japan Airlines

09 - Qatar Airways

10 - China Airlines

Best economy class

01 - Japan Airlines

02 - Singapore Airlines

03 - Qatar Airways

04 - Thai Airways

05 - ANA All Nippon Airways

06 - Emirates

07 - Cathay Pacific Airways

08 - Hainan Airlines

09 - Lufthansa

10 - EVA Air

Best business class

01 - Qatar Airways

02 - ANA All Nippon Airways

03 - Singapore Airlines

04 - Emirates

05 - Qantas

06 - Hainan Airlines

07 - Thai Airways

08 - Etihad Airways

09 - Cathay Pacific Airways

10 - Garuda Indonesia

Best premium economy

01 - Virgin Atlantic

02 - Singapore Airlines

03 - Air New Zealand

04 - Austrian Airlines

05 - Air Canada

06 - Qantas Airways

07 - Lufthansa

08 - Virgin Australia

09 - Aeroflot

10 - Air France

World's Best Low-Cost Airlines 2019

01 - AirAsia

02 - easyJet

03 - Norwegian

04 - Southwest Airlines

05 - AirAsiaX

06 - Jetstar Airways

07 - WestJet

08 - Indigo

09 - Ryanair

10 - Eurowings

The World's Cleanest Airlines

01 - EVA Air

02 - Japan Airlines

03 - ANA All Nippon Airways

04 - Singapore Airlines

05 - Asiana Airlines

06 - Hainan Airlines/

07 - Swiss Int'l Air Lines

08 - Cathay Pacific

09 - Qatar Airways

10 - Lufthansa

Best inflight entertainment

01 - Emirates

02 - Qatar Airways

03 - Singapore Airlines

04 - Virgin Atlantic

05 - Delta Air Lines

06 - Qantas Airways

07 - United Airlines

08 - Lufthansa

09 - Turkish Airlines

10 - American Airlines


Tourism Observer

Azerbaijan Airlines To Purchase Four 787-8 Dreamliners At The Paris Air Show.

Azerbaijan Airlines, the flag carrier of Azerbaijan, announced a commitment to purchase four 787-8 Dreamliners at the Paris Air Show.

The value of the order is $918 million dollars. Azerbaijan Airlines currently has two 787s in service. The new aircraft will grow the Azerbaijan 787 fleet to six aircraft total.

The decision to order additional 787 Dreamliners represents significant growth opportunities for Azerbaijan Airlines, said Jahangir Askerov, president of AZAL. As one of the leading CIS carriers, we look forward to expanding our network with proven performance capabilities that the 787 provides.

Continuing the dream! Thanks to @azalofficial for committing to 4 more #Boeing 787 #Dreamliner airplanes! https://t.co/GHRntwOlIp #PAS17 pic.twitter.com/gj2y4M6BM4

— Boeing Airplanes (@BoeingAirplanes) June 20, 2017

While Azerbaijan plans to use these 787s to expand its long-haul operations, it may use the new aircraft to replace two A340-500s that it operates.

Today’s commitment opens a new chapter in our partnership with Azerbaijan Airlines, said Marty Bentrott, vice president of Sales, Middle East, Turkey, Russia and Central Asia, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

We are confident that the market-leading efficiency and comfort of their new 787 Dreamliners will contribute to Azerbaijan’s fleet modernization plans and build onto their long-term success for many years to come.

Azerbaijan Airways is an aviation leader in the CIS region. The airline currently operates 23 aircraft in its commercial division out of its Baku hub.

The order is one of many announced by Boeing at this week’s Paris Air Show. On Monday, Boeing announced it sold 30 787-9s to AerCap.

United Airlines Paris Air Show Ordered 100 Boeing 737 MAX 10

United Airlines made a blockbuster announcement Tuesday at the Paris Air Show, shifting 100 of its outstanding 737 MAX orders to Boeing’s newly launched 737 MAX 10.

United also announced an incremental order for 4 Boeing 777-300ER widebodies, growing its 777-300ER order book to 18 frames, just two short of rival American Airlines and one short of Air Canada for the biggest fleet of 777-300ERs in North America.

The 737 MAX 10 is the newest and largest variant of Boeing’s re-engined 737 MAX family and was launched Monday at the Paris Air Show in a brief press conference. The 737 MAX 10 adds two additional rows of seating relative to the 737 MAX 9 (the previous largest member of the MAX family).

It seats as many as 230 passengers in a single class configuration and will seat approximately 188 passengers in a typical two-class configuration. For United, the aircraft will probably be configured in a three-class configuration with Economy Plus so the seating capacity might be smaller.

United currently has 161 737 MAX jets on order; 100 from an order placed back in July 2012 for 100 737 MAX 9s, and 61 conversions from United’s multiple orders for the 737-700 placed under prior management teams. Its order book now consists of 61 737 MAX 9s and 100 737 MAX 10s. United expects to take delivery of its first MAX 10 in 2020.

With the announcement, Boeing has now revealed 290-310 orders and commitments for the 737 MAX 10 from 11 customers. Both figures are actually higher than the 240 from 10 customers promised by Boeing at the opening of the show.

The order was announced at a press conference featuring Boeing’s Global VP of Sales Ihssane Mounir, Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO, and Gerry Laderman, United’s SVP of Finance and Procurement.

Once again, Mounir kicked off the press conference with a half-attempt at humor:

Apologies the room is a little hot, but the announcement makes it a little hotter. Jerry is the godfather of economics, and their order is all about economics. They have elected to purchase 100 MAX-10s and four additional 777-300ERs.

McAllister also spoke fondly of the deal.

This is a very special day for all of us at Boeing, and I have to say on bahalf of all, this means a lot to us. This order is not only a launch customer, it makes them the largest MAX-10 customer in the world. They have a very talented team who participated in this assessment. We are simply honored with the confidence United places in the MAX-10. This makes United’s 11th launch with Boeing, beginning in the 1920s.

Laderman was similarly nostalgic:

When I first joined the airline, we [United] were flying 737-100s, and now we’re very excited about the 737 MAX. We have had great success with the stretched models of aircraft, including the 757-300. Today we launch the MAX-10 which we hope will be as successful as those other models.

These 100 737 MAX 10s will be used by United to grow domestic capacity, whether through direct capacity growth or through United’s typical cascade of replacing regional jets indirectly with large narrowbodies.

In this model United uses smaller narrowbodies (the 737-700/800 or Airbus A319/A320) to replace regional jets, and then uses larger narrowbodies (the 737-900ER mostly) to replace the routes that had been flown by the smaller 737 and A320 family jets.

Sometimes the first step in this chain is actually to replace a small, 50-seat regional jet with a larger 76-seat one in which case the cascade just moves down a level.

In particular, the MAX 10 will be very useful for United at its space constrained Newark and San Francisco hubs, as well as for high-density routes from the Denver hub. It may also fly to Hawaii and other leisure destinations. Essentially it will play the same role that the 757-200 used to domestically and a similar role to the 737-900ER.

Another role will be to perhaps replace the 21 757-300s in United’s fleet. While these aircraft about 25 seats larger than the MAX 10, they are also getting up there in age, and the MAX 10 should have comparable seat mile economics as it is basically two generations newer.

Another almost certain replacement role will be for United’s transcontinental fleet of premium service (p.s.) Boeing 757-200s. Rival American Airlines has already switched to the Airbus A321, and retiring the MAX 10s would allow United to isolate the 757 fleet to purely a trans-Atlantic mission either replacing these aircraft with the 737 MAX 8 or with a new mid-sized airplane NMA from Boeing.

The 737 MAX 10 was already in good shape after the massive surge of orders announced over days one and two of PAS, but the order from United is validation on a different level even than Lion Air or SpiceJet.

Obviously, one piece of this is the size of the order, but United is a tier 1 global carrier in a way that those two Asian ULCCs simply cannot match. United is the world’s third largest airline (by RPKs) and that gives Boeing’s attempt to address the middle of market (MOM) space real weight from day one.

Between the 737 MAX 10 and the 737 MAX 9, Boeing has now closed the gap to perhaps 2:1 or 2.5:1 in favor of the Airbus A321neo. That still isn’t great but it is much better than the 3-4:1 before the show.

One underrated aspect of this order is the incremental top-up of United’s 777-300ER fleet, growing that subfleet to 18 aircraft by the end of 2018. Three of the four additional orders will be delivered before summer 2018, while the fourth will be in place by the end of 2018.

United has apparently seen strong success with its existing 777-300ER fleet which features the carrier’s new Polaris Business Class product and seats 366 passengers in a three-class configuration (60J / 102Y+ / 204Y).

The 777-300ERs are being used to replace the Boeing 747-400 and in the current environment are highly economical. Boeing no doubt gave United a spanking deal on these 777-300ERs to help bridge its production gap in 2018 as it seeks to transition from the 777 Classic to the re-engined 777X.

The one question that this does bring up for Boeing’s rival Airbus is whether United will further defer at least a portion of its order for Airbus A350-1000s. We are hearing further chatter about delays to United’s order for 35 A350-1000s, and United is no doubt being pitched by Boeing on more 777-300ERs on the cheap followed by 777Xs in the mid 2020s.

Ryanair Places Firm Order For 10 Additional 737 MAX 200 Jets

European ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC), Ryanair, placed a firm order for 10 additional 737 MAX 200 jets Tuesday at the Paris Air Show, growing its order book to 110 737 MAX 200s with 100 additional purchase options.

Ryanair also has 65 Boeing 737-800s remaining on order and operates an all 737-800 fleet of 397 aircraft. The order is worth $1.1 billion at current list prices.

Ryanair was the launch customer back in 2014 for the 737 MAX 200, a nickname for the 737 MAX 8 certified for a high-density configuration of up to seats, though Ryanair will actually operate its MAX 200s with 197 seats to be precise, in a single-class configuration.

“We are pleased to announce this purchase of 10 additional Boeing 737 ‘Gamechanger’ aircraft, on top of our existing firm order for 100 737 MAXs, with a further 100 options remaining,” said Ryanair’s Chief Operations Officer, Mick Hickey.

“This all-new MAX 737 aircraft has 8 more seats than our current 189 seat Boeing 737-800s and incorporates the latest technology engines and winglets, which reduces fuel consumption and noise emissions, ensuring we remain Europe’s greenest, cleanest airline. Ryanair is proud to partner with Boeing and has operated an all-Boeing fleet since 1994.”

“The 737 MAX with 197 seats provides Ryanair with the perfect solution for its additional capacity requirements as it strives to carry 200 million passengers per year by the middle of the next decade,” said Ihssane Mounir, senior vice president, Global Sales & Marketing, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “The 737 family has been the foundation on which Ryanair has revolutionized low-cost travel in Europe and we are honored that this iconic operator continues to grow in partnership with Boeing.”

Ryanair is Europe’s largest airline, carrying 120 million passengers last year across 1,800 daily flights to more than 200 destinations.

It is the largest Boeing 737-800 customer in the world and is all but certain to order more 737 MAX jets as its MAX 200 order book is barely sufficient to replace a third of the existing fleet.

The carrier also tends to cycle aircraft in and out of its fleet very quickly (selling aircraft within 10-12 years of delivery), so it could very well have a need for 600+ 737 MAX jets when all is said and done, including replacement and growth.

The real question is whether Ryanair will opt for the larger 737 MAX 10, which Boeing launched on Day 1 of PAS 2017 with more than 240 orders from 10 customers.

The larger 737 MAX jet would offer the best operating economics in the Boeing 737 MAX family, and Ryanair certainly has enough high-volume routes at this point to be able to fill 100-150 737 MAX 10s profitably year-round.

The one caveat for Ryanair is that the 737 MAX 200 basically maximizes the number of passengers per flight attendant on its planes (each flight attendant can support a maximum of 50 passengers) while the 737 MAX 10 falls 20 short of that figure at a theoretical maximum single class capacity of 230 seats.

Perhaps in Ryanair’s economic modeling, that counts for more and as a result, the carrier is less enamored with the 737 MAX 10.

It could also be that Ryanair wants to maintain its single variant fleet with the 737-800 and then the MAX 8.

This, however, doesn’t make as much sense, as it will have to operate the 737-800 and 737 MAX 8 simultaneously for years, which defeats the purpose of a single variant offering (the MAX 8 and the MAX 10 are as similar as the MAX 8 and 737-800).

In the end, we do expect Ryanair to buy the 737 MAX 10, but it will not happen immediately.

Top 100 Airlines In 2017

At the World Airline Awards held at Paris Air Show on 20th June 2017, Skytrax announced the world's Top 100 Airlines in 2017, as voted by airline customers around the world.

The awards, described as "the Oscars of the aviation industry", are most coveted Quality accolades for the world airline industry, and a global benchmark of airline excellence.

Qatar Airways reclaimed the No. 1 spot in this year’s Skytrax awards. Second and third position went to Singapore Airlines and ANA All Nippon Airways.

In addition to being voted Best Airline by travellers from around the world, Qatar’s national carrier also won a raft of other major awards at the ceremony, including Best Airline in the Middle East, World’s Best Business Class and World’s Best First Class Airline Lounge.
The World's Top 100 Airlines - 2017

2016

1
Qatar Airways 2
2
Singapore Airlines 3
3
ANA All Nippon Airways 5
4
Emirates 1
5
Cathay Pacific 4
6
EVA Air 8
7
Lufthansa 10
8
Etihad Airways 6
9
Hainan Airlines 12
10
Garuda Indonesia 11
11
Thai Airways 13
12
Turkish Airlines 7
13
Virgin Australia 18
14
Swiss Int'l Air Lines 15
15
Qantas Airways 9
16
Japan Airlines 21
17
Austrian 19
18
Air France 14
19
Air New Zealand 17
20
Asiana Airlines 16
21
Bangkok Airways 20
22
KLM 24
23
China Southern 32
24
Hong Kong Airlines 29
25
Finnair 27
26
AirAsia 23
27
Cathay Dragon 22
28
Norwegian 30
29
Air Canada 31
30
Aeroflot 40
31
Malaysia Airlines 34
32
Delta Air Lines 35
33
Virgin Atlantic 28
34
Korean Air 36
35
China Airlines 37
36
Alaska Airlines 60
37
Aegean Airlines 33
38
Aer Lingus 49
39
jetBlue Airways 53
40
British Airways 26
41
easyJet 38
42
Iberia 52
43
Virgin America 25
44
Jetstar Airways 46
45
AirAsiaX 48
46
Air Astana 43
47
Vietnam Airlines 44
48
Ethiopian Airlines 76
49
South African Airways 41
50
Avianca 56
51
Saudi Arabian Airlines 82
52
Azul Brazilian 55
53
Oman Air 42
54
Southwest Airlines 66
55
Porter Airlines 47
56
SilkAir 39
57
Indigo 51
58
WestJet 50
59
LATAM 45
60
Scoot 61
61
Jetstar Asia 54
62
TAP Air Portugal 64
63
Alitalia 58
64
Eurowings 75
65
SAS Scandinavian 62
66
Thomson Airways 65
67
Philippine Airlines 83
68
Brussels Airlines 59
69
Copa Airlines 69
70
Air Transat 88
71
Azerbaijan Airlines 70
72
China Eastern 79
73
Jet Airways 71
74
American Airlines 77
75
Fiji Airways 91
76
Ryanair 108
77
Air Mauritius 73
78
United Airlines 68
79
LOT Polish 92
80
Air Seychelles 63
81
SriLankan Airlines 67
82
Icelandair 81
83
Juneyao Airlines

KUWAIT: Jazeera Airways, Largest Airline Serving Middle East Out Of Kuwait.

Jazeera Airways K.S.C is a Kuwaiti airline with its head office on the grounds of Kuwait International Airport in Al Farwaniyah Governorate, Kuwait.It operates scheduled services in the Middle East. Its main base is Kuwait International Airport. The airline has grown since its launch to become Kuwait's second national airline and has been dynamic in popularizing low-cost carriers in the Middle East. Jazeera Airways is one of the largest operators at Kuwait airport, having handled a quarter of all aircraft movements and passengers at the airport during July 2009. According to the July 2009 report issued by Kuwait Directorate General for Civil Aviation's, Jazeera Airways had the largest number of aircraft movement in the month with 1834 take-offs and landings, overpassing the second largest carrier in aircraft movement by 4%.

In 2004 the Kuwait Government permitted the establishment of the non-governmental airline firm, essentially ending Kuwait’s 50-year old dependency on Kuwait Airways. The 2004 Emiree Decree #89 established Jazeera Airways as the first airline to enter this newly liberalized industry.

Jazeera Airways raised its capital of KD 10 million (USD 35 million) through an initial public offering in Kuwait that was oversubscribed 12 times.The capital was doubled to KD 20 million (USD 70 million) in 4Q 2007 by a second offering to existing shareholders. In May 2009, a share distribution of 10% effectively increased the capital to KD 22 million (USD 77 million).

About 26% of the airline is owned by two companies affiliated with the Boodai Group: Wings Finance (9%) and Boodai Projects (17%). 6-7% is also held by Jasem M. al-Mousa Trading, a company owned by a former Minister of Public Works in the first Kuwaiti government established after the end of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. About 17.5% is held by two real estate companies, and the rest is publicly held.

Jazeera Airways started operations on 30 October 2005 with a fleet of brand new Airbus A320 aircraft, all leather seats, flying to several destinations in the Middle East.

In Q2 2009, UAE authorities requested the airline to terminate its hub operations at Dubai. This step was seen as a support to Dubai's upcoming launch of its own low-cost airline, FlyDubai.

Jazeera changed its operation model by concentrating on its Kuwait hub and trying to launch a second hub somewhere else. By Q2 2010, the new model proved unprofitable as the Kuwait hub suffered from overcapacity. The airline changed its plans by cancelling many stations and parking some aircraft which were later returned to lessor.

Jazeera Airways flies to destinations across the Middle East from its base in Kuwait.

The airline's fleet is powered by CFM56-5B engines. The airline has contracted Lufthansa Technik to maintain and service them. All Jazeera Airways aircraft are fitted with 165 leather seats, equipped with In-flight Entertainment, and split into two cabins: Jazeera and Jazeera Plus. When Jazeera Plus is offered, six seats are cancelled to provide 12 Plus seats in addition to 147 Economy seats.

Jazeera Airways ordered 30 Airbus A320s on 18 June 2007. This was announced at the Paris Air Show bringing its total orders up to 35 Airbus A320s.

During 2010, due to the airline's change of operation plans, several aircraft were parked, and eventually five were returned to lessor Sahaab which leased them to Virgin America and SriLankan Airlines.

In April 2011, Jazeera Airways canceled 25 of the 40 A320s it ordered in 2007. Jazeera will take delivery of four A320s still on order from 2012-2014.

The airline offers business and economy class seating.


Jazeera Airways is the largest airline serving the Middle East out of Kuwait. We currently serve 19 destinations across the Middle East and operate a modern fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft all fitted with our signature leather seats and a two-class cabin. Jazeera Airways’ Economy Class amenities include 40 kilograms in free baggage allowance for every passenger, a complimentary selection of on board meals that change every month, so our frequent travelers can always count on a new meal experience when flying with us. Our Business Class travelers get both an upgraded experience and exclusivity, starting with exclusive check-in lines and business lounge access, up to 60 kilograms in free baggage allowance, an exclusive on-board cabin, and in addition to special meals.

In 2011 Jazeera Airways carried 1.2 million passengers in total across our network, which includes high-demand business, leisure, family, and weekend destinations such as Dubai, Bahrain, Beirut, Alexandria, Amman, Damascus, Istanbul, Sharm El Sheikh, Assiut, Aleppo, Deir Ezzor, Luxor, Mashhad, Sohag, Jeddah, Riyadh, Kuwait, and Cairo.

Established in April 2004, Jazeera Airways was first non-government owned airline in the Middle East and continues to be one of the few Middle-East based non-government owned airlines to this day. Today, Jazeera Airways is a publicly-traded company and is listed on the Kuwait Stock Exchange.

Jazeera Airways is an IATA-member.

The Board of Directors
• Marwan Boodai, Chairman
• Jassim Boodai, Vice Chairman
• Mohamed Khan
• Ahmed Abdullah
• Hany Mohamed Shawqy Younes

The Executive Team
• Marwan Boodai, Chairman
• Donald Hubbard, Chief Financial Officer
• Abdullah Al Hudaid, Chief Operating Officer and Accountable Manager
• Razali Idris, VP for Engineering and Maintenance
• Captain Falah Al Shammary, VP for Operations
• Captain Nasser Al Ajmi, VP for Training
• Naser Al Obaid, VP for Ground Operations
• Bader Al Mershed, VP for Industry Affairs
• Martin Aeberli, VP Revenue Management and Network Planning
• Dr. Mohamed Barakat, VP Marketing & Product
• Rafik Boghdady, VP Sales