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Farnborough, England -The world’s best airline for 2016 is Emirates, according to a survey of millions of airline passengers conducted by Skytrax.
The international airline, based in Dubai, won the top honors at Tuesday’s Skytrax World Airline Awards ceremony at the Farnborough International Airshow in England.
As jet engines screamed from the Farnborough airfield and thousands of visiting aviation geeks explored the airshow, smiling flight attendants dressed in brightly colored uniforms stepped to the stage as each award was announced.
The survey underscores the consistency of the quality service among the world’s top carriers, said Edward Plaisted, Skytrax CEO.
“The Middle East airlines have continued to dominate,” Plaisted said after the ceremony. “Virgin America continues dominating on the customer side in North America. Turkish Airlines is a big favorite.”
The awards run the gamut from 73 categories from best economy class onboard catering to best airline staff to best seats to best cabin cleanliness.
The top 10 best airlines were named as:
- Emirates
- Qatar Airways
- Singapore Airlines
- Cathay Pacific
- ANA All Nippon Airways
- Etihad Airways
- Turkish Airlines
- EVA Air
- Qantas Airways
- Lufthansa
Other winners included:
- Transatlantic Airline: Lufthansa
- Transpacific Airline: Eva Air
- North American Regional Airline: Porter Airline
- Airline Staff in Asia: ANA airlines
- Regional European Airline: Aegean
- Airline lounge: Star Alliance
- Airline in Southern Europe: Turkish Airlines
- Airline in Northern Europe: FinnAir
- Airline in Western Europe: Lufthansa
- Airline in Eastern Europe: Aeroflot
- Airline in Africa: South African Airways
- Airline in Australia/Pacific: Qantas
- Airline in Central Asia: Air Astana
- Airline in China: Hainan Airlines
- Airline in Central America/Caribbean: Copa Airlines
- Airline in S. America: LAN Airlines
- Airline in N. America: Virgin America
- Airline in Asia: Singapore Airlines
- Airline in Middle East: Emirates
- Airline in Europe: Turkish Airlines
- Low-cost airline in Australia & Pacific: JetStar Airways
- Low-cost airline in Asia: AirAsia
- Low-cost airline in Central Asia & India: IndiGo
- Low-cost airline in China: Spring Airlines
- Low-cost airline in South America: Azul Brazil
- Low-cost airline in North America: Virgin America
- Low-cost airline in Europe: Norwegian
- Lounge dining business class: Turkish
- First class lounge dining: Air France
- Airline staff service Africa: Ethiopia Airlines
- Airline staff service Aus Pac: Qantas
Source: edition.cnn.com