World's best airline for 2017 named in annual Skytrax World Airline Awards

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World's best airline for 2017 named in annual Skytrax World Airline Awards

By Craig Platt
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Qatar Airways has been named the world's best airline for 2017, taking the title from fellow Middle-Eastern carrier Emirates, who dropped from first to fourth place in this year's World Airline Awards announced at the Paris Air Show.

Qantas, meanwhile, dropped out of the top 10 for the third time in the awards' history, down to 15th place - it's lowest ranking ever - and dropping behind Virgin Australia (13th) for the first time. The airline ranked 9th in 2016. Qantas peaked in the rankings in 2008, when it was named the world's third-best carrier.

Qantas did not come away empty handed though, receiving the awards for Best Premium Economy Class and for Best Premium Economy Seat. Virgin Australia won awards in the Australia-Pacific region for Best Airline and Best Airline staff.

A pilot uses a smartphone to take a photograph from the cockpit of a Qatar Airways Airbus A350 aircraft.

A pilot uses a smartphone to take a photograph from the cockpit of a Qatar Airways Airbus A350 aircraft.Credit: Bloomberg

Jetstar came in at number 44 with Tigerair way down at 90. Jetstar was named Best Low-Cost Airline for the Australia-Pacific region.

As usual, Asian and Middle Eastern airlines dominated the top 10. Singapore Airlines moved up one slot to second place, followed by Japan's ANA, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Taiwan's EVA Air, Lufthansa, Etihad, China's Hainan and Indonesia's Garuda. See below for the full rankings.

Qatar Airways took out the top position for Airline of the Year for the fourth time, having previously won in 2011, 2012 and 2015. But the win comes at a difficult time for the airline, where it has faced chaos with its air routes due to other Middle Eastern states, lead by Saudi Arabia, cutting ties with the tiny nation.

The airline has had to cease flights to 18 destinations as a result, affecting about 50 flights a day. The United Arab Emirates has denied Qatar access to its airspace, causing other flights to be re-routed.

Qatar has scheduled more flights to other destinations to make up for the lost routes.

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Commenting on the award coming at this time, Qatar Airways group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said Qatar was being bullied.

"At these difficult times of illegal bans on flights out of my country by big bullies, this is an award not to me, not to my airline, but to my country," he said.

The airline also won World's Best Business Class and World's Best First Class Airline Lounge at this year's awards. Earlier this year Qatar unveiled its new QSuite business class seats, the first seats in business class that can be converted into a double bed for two passengers. (Take a look at the seats in the gallery above)

Other notable wins included Garuda Indonesia for best cabin crew, Emirates for best inflight entertainment, Japan Airlines for best economy class seat and Thai Airways for best economy class food.

The World Airline Awards by consultancy Skytrax survey millions of passengers each year to come up with the rankings. Skytrax says the awards are the world's largest airline passenger satisfaction survey and the process is transparent and independent.

The World's Top 20 Airlines 2017 (click on the links to read our most recent reviews of the airlines)

  1. Qatar Airways (Review: Business class)
  2. Singapore Airlines (Review: Economy class)
  3. ANA All Nippon Airways (Review: Premium economy class)
  4. Emirates (Review: Business class)
  5. Cathay Pacific (Review: Economy class)
  6. EVA Air
  7. Lufthansa (Review: Economy class)
  8. Etihad Airways (Review: Economy class)
  9. Hainan Airlines
  10. Garuda Indonesia (Review: Business class)
  11. Thai Airways (Review: Economy class)
  12. Turkish Airlines (Review: Economy class)
  13. Virgin Australia (Review: Business class)
  14. Swiss Int'l Air Lines
  15. Qantas Airways (Review: Economy class)
  16. Japan Airlines (Review: Premium economy)
  17. Austrian (Review: Economy class)
  18. Air France
  19. Air New Zealand (Review: Premium economy)
  20. Asiana Airlines

See also: The world's worst airlines named

World's Best Cabin Staff

  1. Garuda Indonesia
  2. ANA All Nippon Airways
  3. EVA Air
  4. Thai Airways
  5. Singapore Airlines
  6. Qatar Airways
  7. Asiana Airlines
  8. Japan Airlines
  9. Cathay Pacific
  10. Hainan Airlines
  11. Austrian
  12. Lufthansa
  13. Oman Air
  14. Etihad Airways
  15. Emirates
  16. Malaysia Airlines
  17. KLM
  18. Virgin Australia
  19. Swiss Int'l Air Lines
  20. Turkish Airlines

See also: 11 things I learnt about flying by becoming a flight attendant

World's Best Inflight Entertainment

  1. Emirates
  2. Qatar Airways
  3. Singapore Airlines
  4. Turkish Airlines
  5. Virgin Atlantic
  6. Lufthansa
  7. Qantas Airways
  8. Etihad Airways
  9. Delta Air Lines
  10. Thai Airways

See also: Film critic names the top 10 greatest airline safety videos

World's Best Airline Cabin Cleanliness

  1. EVA Air
  2. ANA All Nippon Airways
  3. Japan Airlines
  4. Asiana Airlines
  5. Cathay Pacific
  6. Hainan Airlines
  7. Korean Air
  8. Qatar Airways
  9. Singapore Airlines
  10. Lufthansa

See also: Air quality and dirty toilets: Why flying can make you sick

World's Best Low-Cost Airlines

  1. AirAsia
  2. Norwegian
  3. jetBlue Airways
  4. easyJet
  5. Virgin America
  6. Jetstar Airways
  7. AirAsiaX
  8. Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras
  9. Southwest Airlines
  10. Indigo

See also: Budget airlines aim to do just one thing, so stop whingeing about them

World's Best First Class

  1. Etihad Airways
  2. Emirates
  3. Lufthansa
  4. Air France
  5. Singapore Airlines
  6. ANA All Nippon Airways
  7. Cathay Pacific
  8. Qatar Airways
  9. Japan Airlines
  10. Qantas Airways

See also: Why no one's flying first class any more

World's Best Business Class

  1. Qatar Airways
  2. ANA All Nippon Airways
  3. Singapore Airlines
  4. Etihad Airways
  5. Lufthansa
  6. Turkish Airlines
  7. Garuda Indonesia
  8. Cathay Pacific
  9. Emirates
  10. EVA Air

See also: 'Golden age': The future of business class looks like this

World's Best Premium Economy Class

  1. Qantas Airways
  2. Air New Zealand
  3. Lufthansa
  4. Singapore Airlines
  5. Air France
  6. Japan Airlines
  7. Virgin Australia
  8. China Airlines
  9. Aeroflot Russian Airlines
  10. ANA All Nippon Airways

See also: Is flying premium economy worth the price?

World's Best Economy Class

  1. Thai Airways
  2. Qatar Airways
  3. Asiana Airlines
  4. Garuda Indonesia
  5. Singapore Airlines
  6. Japan Airlines
  7. Emirates
  8. ANA All Nippon Airways
  9. EVA Air
  10. Lufthansa

See also: How to feel like you're in first class, when you're actually in economy

Which airline do you rank as the best? Vote in our poll below or leave a comment

See also: 20 hours in economy? New planes will fly further than ever before

See also: World's biggest passenger plane just go even bigger

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