QATAR AIRWAYS NAMED BEST ECONOMY CLASS AIRLINE FOR 2009

"the respected Air Travel Awards"

Qatar Airways scooped the award for Best Economy Class airline in the 2009 results, moving up from 2nd place that it held in 2008.

Last year's winner, Asiana Airlines, maintained a strong performance in 2nd position, with Air New Zealand coming into 3rd place, ahead of Singapore Airlines (4th) and Malaysia Airlines in 5th position.

"The typical Economy Class trip experience does not offer the same ability for an airline to serve customers as intensively as would be the case in the Premium cabins of the aircraft" said Edward Plaisted of Skytrax, "but Qatar Airways success in this Economy class category shows that quality consistency can still be achieved in the main cabin".

BEST ECONOMY CLASS AIRLINES : 2009
Rank	Airline	2008
1	Qatar Airways	2
2	Asiana Airlines	1
3	Air New Zealand	7
4	Singapore Airlines	3
5	Malaysia Airlines	4
© Skytrax
Result publication allowed with prior consent of Skytrax

The full listing / classification of Economy Class ranking is available in the 2009 Survey Report

Best First Class

Best Business Class

Best Premium Economy

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

Further enquiries should be directed to:

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

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