Air New Zealand has been named as the world’s best airline for 2020.
The carrier has scooped the title for a sixth time at the Airline Excellence Awards by AirlineRatings.com – a website that ranks airlines on safety and in-flight experience.
It beats last year’s winner, Singapore Airlines, to the top spot, while Qatar Airways is named best business class for its Qsuite and best for catering and Virgin Australia wins prizes for best economy and cabin crew.
Air New Zealand has been named as the world’s best airline for 2020 by AirlineRatings.com – a website that ranks airlines on safety and in-flight experience
Air New Zealand also picks up the gong for having the best premium economy class, pictured, for a second year running
The awards and the ranking is judged by seven editors and takes into account major safety and government audits, with 12 key criteria that include fleet age, passenger reviews, profitability, investment rating, product offerings, and staff relations.
In the airline ranking, All Nippon Airways is third and the Australian flag carrier, Qantas, is fourth. Coming fifth is Cathay Pacific followed by Emirates in sixth and UK-based Virgin Atlantic in seventh.
Eva Air is eighth, Qatar Airways is ninth and Virgin Australia rounds out the top 10.
The rest of the top 20 is made up of Lufthansa (11th), Finnair (12th), Japan Airlines (13th), KLM (14th), Korean Airlines (15th), Hawaiian Airlines (16th), British Airways (17th), Alaska Airlines (18th), Delta Air Lines (19th) and Etihad Airways (20th).
AirlineRatings.com, based in Australia, said it chose Air New Zealand as its overall winner for 2020 due to its ‘multi-award-winning in-flight innovations, operational safety, environmental leadership and motivation of its staff’.
The airline also picks up the gong for having the best premium economy class for a second year running.
The best first-class cabin award goes to Singapore Airlines yet again due to its ‘impressive’ suites product, pictured
Qatar Airways is named best business class for its Qsuite, pictured, and best for catering
The best first-class cabin award goes to Singapore Airlines yet again due to its ‘impressive’ suites product on its A380s that are ‘designed to be the equivalent of small hotel rooms’.
Qantas is named best for both lounges and domestic flights, while Emirates takes the gong for best in-flight entertainment.
The most improved airline is Philippines-based Cebu Pacific, which is praised for ‘expanding its global footprint using new generation fuel-efficient aircraft’.
VietJetAir takes the title for the best ultra low-cost airline for the third year running for its ‘exceptional business model’.
Virgin Australia wins prizes for best economy cabin and best cabin crew, pictured
Qantas is named best for lounges. Pictured is the international transit lounge at Perth International Airport
The winners in the best low-cost category are JetBlue (Americas), Wizz (Europe), AirAsia/AirAsia X (Asia/Pacific) and Air Arabia (Middle-East /Africa).
Delta Air Lines (Americas), Lufthansa (Europe), Emirates (Middle East/Africa) and Cathay Pacific (Asia) are named as the top long-haul carriers.
Editor-in-Chief of airlineratings.com, Geoffrey Thomas, said: ‘In our analysis Air New Zealand came out number one in most of our audit criteria, which is an outstanding performance when it is up against carriers with more resources and scale.
‘Air New Zealand’s commitment to excellence in all facets of its business starts at the top with outstanding governance and one of the best executive teams in aviation through to a workforce that is delivering consistently to the airline’s strategy and customer promise.’