Cathay Pacific Airways picked up the 2009 Airline of the Year award at the first live SKYTRAX World Airline Awards ceremony held in Hamburg, Germany on 1st April 2009.

  World Airline Awards : FULL Results

The SKYTRAX World Airline Awards celebrated their tenth anniversary with around 500 people attending the 2009 Awards ceremony in Hamburg to see the winning airlines receive their accolades. Edward Plaisted (CEO of Skytrax) handed out awards in 34 categories - the winners being selected by the airline industry's most important audience, it's customers.

More than 16 million air travellers drawn from over 95 different nationalities took part in the 8 month long survey. The awards are recognised around the world for being the only true global independent passenger survey of airline standards. The survey does not receive any third party sponsorship and is entirely funded by Skytrax.

Edward Plaisted said: "the Cathay Pacific victory this year is the third occasion in the last ten years they have won this prestige title. 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".
 

Malaysia Airlines took the title of Worlds Best Cabin Staff, this being an amazing achievement and represents the 6th time they have secured this top Award in ten years. To have achieved such continuous success is a proud moment for Malaysia Airlines and bears great testament to the hard work of all their front line staff.

Malaysia Airlines CEO, Idris Jala, was delighted and proud of his cabin crew, stating that "they have showcased Malaysian hospitality at its best, treating our customers as valued guests in our own home".

Another repeat winner in the Airline Awards, was Emirates who were named winner of Best Airline Inflight Entertainment - for the 6th time in ten years. Edward Plaisted said: "in recent years the importance of inflight entertainment across the typical air travel experience has grown considerably and this repeat win demonstrates that Emirates remain at the forefront in delivering exceptional standards of entertainment options to their customers".

Singapore Airlines won two key awards, taking the Best Airline First Class and Best First Class Airline Catering titles. "Singapore Airlines always puts up a strong performance in the World Airline Awards" said Plaisted, "and in winning these categories, Singapore Airlines has had to meet the expectations of some of the most demanding customers in this premium market".

Qatar Airways proved to be a popular winner, being named the Best Airline in the Middle East and also walking away with the award for Best Economy Class. "As a well established 5-star airline, Qatar Airways achieved success in the Economy Class section, which was one of the most closely contested survey categories" said Plaisted. "In the Middle East there is Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways all vying for the Best in Region title, and Qatar Airways achieved a strong performance to take this Award".

Etihad Airways was named as Best Business Class, also taking the award for Business Class Catering.

"Turkish Airlines success being named Best Airline Southern Europe met with a resounding level of approval amongst the audience at our awards" commented Edward Plaisted. "It is always a great pleasure to see such success being greeted by genuine support from their rival airlines, and they were a popular winner".

Elsewhere in Europe, success was enjoyed by Swiss International Air Lines who were voted the Best Airline Europe for 2009, British Airways taking the accolade as Best Transatlantic Airline and CSA Czech Airlines as Best Airline Central Europe.

"Aegean Airlines leapt up the rankings this year, and it was a delight to see them named as the winner of the Best Regional Airline Europe title" said Edward Plaisted. "The regional airline market in Europe has become very competitive in recent years, and Aegean Airlines are clearly satisfying their customers to have secured this 2009 accolade".

Across the airport environment, honours were shared amongst Virgin Atlantic and Thai Airways. It was a double celebration for Virgin Atlantic, with their London Heathrow Clubhouse enjoying a successive win as Best Business Class lounge, whilst Virgin also took the title as Best Premium Economy Class airline.

Thai Airways First Class Lounge at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport take the honour as Best First Class Lounge. In addition to lounge facilities and amenities that many lounges provide, this Thai Airways facility is well known for its Royal Orchid Spa offering a full ranges of service including Foot-massage and traditional Thai massage, 3 Spa Suites with Jacuzzi.

Further success in Thailand was enjoyed by Bangkok Airways winning the 2009 award as the Best Regional Airline Asia.

In the Southern Hemisphere, Qantas was named Best Airline Australasia with the Best Low Cost Airline Australasia award going to their subsidiary, JetStar Airways.

Korean based Asiana Airlines were in triumphant mood, walking away with the title of Best Transpacific Airline, and in the culinary sector being named winner of the Best Economy Class Catering award.

Continental Airlines enjoyed success for a consecutive year after being named winner of the Best Airline North America category, proving to be a popular win at the awards ceremony. LAN Airlines took the title as Best Airline South America in the 2009 awards, and South African Airways maintained their grip across the African continent, being named the Best Airline Africa.

The Skytrax World Airline Awards recognise the importance of the low cost airline sector, and this was a major part of the passenger survey. AirAsia was named the Worlds Best Low Cost Airline for 2009, ahead of Air Berlin (2nd) and easyJet (3rd).

"AirAsia is not only one of the pioneering low cost airlines in Asia, but also the first pure low cost to launch long haul operations (having recently started flying between Malaysia and the UK) and many will be watching this carefully to see if such transformation can be successful" said Plaisted.

Although missing the top spot on a global basis, Air Berlin enjoyed success being named as the Best Low Cost Airline in Europe, this being the most competitive low cost airline market in the world.

With the last 12 months seeing each of the major airline alliances all adding new member airlines, the 2009 award for Best Airline Alliance was won by Star Alliance.


2nd April 2009

  Click HERE for 2008 Worldwide results breakdown

Further enquiries should be directed to:

Mr Peter Miller
Marketing Director
SKYTRAX RESEARCH
E-mail: miller@airlinequality.com