The Hong Kong airliner, Cathay Pacific, was not the only Asian airline honored.  In fact, carriers from Asia and the Pacific were overwhelmingly present.  Singapore Airlines, Asiana Airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates, Qantas, Etihad Airways, Air New Zealand, Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways round of the top 10, respectively. 

This award marks Cathay’s third win in this category, they previously won in 2003 and 2005.  The airline was noted for their consistency of product and customer service as mentioned in the media release by Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted:

“A factor behind the Cathay Pacific win is clearly the consistency of product and service that they provide to their customers. Not only are Cathay Pacific satisfying their passengers onboard flights, but the ratings they achieved for their airport operations in Hong Kong also played a considerable part in this success.”

Skytrax hands out awards in 13 different categories such as best cabin staff, in-flight entertainment, and business class lounge.  They also give an award for the best airlines by region.  Continental Airlines was tops for North America, Swiss Int’l Air Lines for Europe, and LAN Airlines for South America.  Skytrax is a research advisory firm for the air transport industry and has been conducting this survey for the last 10 years. 

I’ve never taken Cathay Pacific myself, so I can’t comment from personal experience, but they seem to have a good thing going here. 

Photo by c o s h i c o