CATHAY PACIFIC WINS THE 2009 AIRLINE OF THE YEAR AWARD

For the 3rd time in 10 years, Cathay Pacific has been named World's Best Airline, winning the 2009 Airline of the Year title in the latest World Airline Awards - Cathay Pacific being a previous winner of this prestige global title in 2003 and 2005.

Edward Plaisted (CEO of Skytrax) 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. At a time of considerable difficulty across world economies and of course the airline industry itself, it is nice to have some truly good news to spread in announcing the 2009 World Airline Airline Awards. We extend our congratulations to Cathay Pacific Airways on their crowning as 2009 Airline of the Year. These Awards represent the voice and opinions of the travelling public, and bears great testimony to the quality of service being delivered in the front-line".


View Results summary & Press Release

AIRLINE OF THE YEAR 2009
Rank	Airline	2008
1	Cathay Pacific Airways	2
2	Singapore Airlines	1
3	Asiana Airlines	5
4	Qatar Airways	7
5	Emirates	9
6	Qantas	3
7	Etihad Airways	10
8	Air New Zealand	8
9	Malaysia Airlines	6
10	Thai Airways	4
© Skytrax
Result publication allowed with prior consent of Skytrax

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

The survey was operated over an 8 month period (August 2008 to March 2009), during which time 16.2 million air travellers completed a wide range of survey nominations - for the Airline of the Year title, together with regional and other award categories. The Survey data is collated from a variety of input sources, including:

Passenger Interviews completed online & via e-mail

Business Research Group / Travel Panel Interviews

Corporate Travel Questionnaire / Interviews

Telephone Interviews

Selective Passenger Interviews


Product and Service factors ranked by customers in the survey included :

GROUND / AIRPORT

Standard of Airline web site

Online Booking service

Online check-in services

Airport Ticket Counters

Waiting times at Check-in
Quality of Check-in service
Self Check-in options
Boarding Procedures
Friendliness of Ground staff
Efficiency of Ground Staff
Transfer services
Arrival services
Baggage Delivery
Handling Delays

ONBOARD : PRODUCT

Cabin Seat comfort
Cabin Cleanliness
Toilet Cleanliness
Cabin Lighting / Ambience
Cabin Temperatures
Cabin Comfort amenities
Reading Materials
Airline magazine
Inflight Entertainment standards
Audio / Movie programming
AVOD options
Quality of Meals
Quantity of Food served
Meal Choices
Selection of Drinks / Pay bar formats

ONBOARD : STAFF SERVICE

Assistance thru Boarding
Friendliness of Staff
Service Attentiveness / Efficiency
Consistency of Service across different flights
Staff Language skills
Meal service efficiency
Availability thru Flight / Cabin presence
PA announcements
Problem solving Skills
General Staff Attitudes
Staff Grooming

Further enquiries should be directed to:

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

The winners of 2009 Skytrax World Airline Awards include Aegean Airlines, Air Arabia, Air Berlin, Air New Zealand, Air Tahiti Nui, AirAsia, Asiana Airlines, Bangkok Airways, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, China Southern Airlines, Continental Airlines, CSA Czech Airlines, easyJet, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Finnair, Jet Airways, jetBlue Airways, JetStar Airways, Kingfisher Airlines, Kingfisher Red, Kulula.com, LAN Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Porter Airlines, Qantas Airways, Qatar Airways, SilkAir, Singapore Airlines, Skymark Airlines, South African Airways, Spring Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, TACA, Thai Airways, Transero Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic Airways, Volaris, Webjet, Wizz Air

The World Airline Awards are the most recognised global recognition of airline excellence for front-line product and customer service