Cathay Pacific Airline of the Year for 2009

  View the full 2009 World Airline Awards results


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".

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

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

Skytrax guarantee total transparency across the World Airline Survey process, and the awards operate on a not-for-profit basis. The sole directive is for real customers to make their own, honest choices as to the airlines they consider to be best, and worthy of an award - which is why the results are known as the Passengers Choice Awards.

Airlines do not subscribe to be included in the customer survey, there is no membership criteria, and no charge for winners to attend the World Airline Awards ceremony. To reinforce this credibility, the complete independence and clarity of survey and awards process, Skytrax do not accept any third party sponsorship.