AIRLINE OF THE YEAR 2006

  Regional Results

British Airways has been announced as the 2006 Airline of the Year in the World Airline Awards. In second place is Qantas .... with the 2005 winner, Cathay Pacific, ranked in 3rd position for 2006.

BRITISH AIRWAYS Commercial Director, Martin George, said ... "We are delighted to have won the prestigious accolade of airline of the year. The World Airline Awards are judged by the people whose opinions we value the most - our customers. We thank them for their continued support of British Airways. The award demonstrates yet again that British Airways is offering the service our customers expect and considered among the best performing and popular airlines in the world. We will continue to invest in our people and products to offer the excellent service our customers have come to expect".

THE WORLD'S TOP AIRLINES - 2006
  

Commenting on the World Airline Awards, Edward Plaisted (CEO, Skytrax) said

......"the World Airline Survey is recognised across the globe as the leading independent monitor of passenger opinions - the survey process offering the only truly worldwide project, with open and uninfluenced results. The final total of 13.61 million eligible, completed survey interviews was beyond our expectations, and we extend a very big thank you to all those customers who participated."

"Our congratulations go to the 2006 Airline of the Year winner, British Airways. In contrast to several previous year surveys, we found that the level of nominations for British Airways by their premium passengers was proportionately much higher than that of other airlines in the Top 10 rankings - clearly they are doing something right in that particular market. An airline undergoing considerable changes and cutting product levels to compete across Europe with the low-cost airline competition, a key element to emerge in the passenger voting for British Airways was that it performs well in terms of general product and service consistency."

Contrasting with the higher support for British Airways from their premium customers, the final rankings for Cathay Pacific, Thai Airways and Emirates were much more influenced by nominations from their Economy class customers.

"Qantas takes the 2nd place Silver Award, repeating their 2004/5 performance, and demonstrating that they are well-established amongst the top quality airlines in the world. A strong performer in other 2006 Category Awards, we will be watching with interest to see if they can push themselves into the top position next year!" added Plaisted.

The 2005 winner, Cathay Pacific, was ranked in 3rd position for the 2006 World Airline Awards, with Thai Airways in 4th place, and Emirates in 5th. Thai Airways enjoyed further success in the Awards, being named as Worlds Best Cabin Staff for 2006.

Continuing its upward rise in the Award rankings, Qatar Airways takes 6th position (up from 8th in 2005), ahead of Singapore Airlines (SIA) in 7th - SIA being a previous Airline of the Year winner in 2004. Qatar Airways strong performance extended to winning the Awards for Best Airline Middle East, together with achieving 2nd place worldwide in the Best Cabin Staff category.

Japan's  ANA  is another airline that improved on its previous-year ranking, moving into 8th place for 2006 (from 10th last year). A regular top 10 performer, Malaysia Airlines ranks 9th this year, slipping slightly from 6th position in 2005. The final Top 10 place goes to Taiwan's China Airlines, making a jump of 6 places from their 2005 ranking.

"We are already in planning for the 2006/7 World Airline Survey" said Plaisted, "and expect even wider coverage as more language options are offered up for online completion. This past year, we were able to provide English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese versions to our Business Research Group members, and clearly it is going to be beneficial to extend that across many more customers for the upcoming survey."

"The range of results published in the 2006 Awards are more extensive than ever before, and I hope you will take a few minutes to explore around the different categories. Like so many things in life, what is good for one is not for another .... what you like, I may not - but what I hope is properly represented across the World Airline Awards is the opinion of the majority" added Plaisted.

London - 12th June 2006

Any further enquiries should be directed to:

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