View the Awards Slide Show

With over 150 Senior Management from 40 airlines around the globe attending the ceremony, the SKYTRAX World Airline Awards™ held at the Paris Air Show were hailed as a great success by guests.

Demonstrating the importance of these Passengers Choice Awards, Senior airline Management travelled from across the globe - including Brazil, USA, Oman, South Africa, Canada, China, Japan, Australia, El Salvador, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Turkey, Germany, Greece, Finland, India, Malaysia, South Korea, Dubai, Hong Kong, Indonesia - to receive their accolades at the ceremony held as part of the Paris Air Show.

High profile guests included Mr Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways, Mr Líbano Barroso, CEO of TAM Airlines - Dr Vijay Mallya, Chairman of Kingfisher Airlines - Mr Kong Dong, Chairman of Air China - Dato' Kamarudin Meranun, Deputy Group CEO of AirAsia - Dr Temel Kotil, CEO of Turkish Airlines - Mr Peter Hill, CEO of Oman Air - Mr Dimitris Gerogiannis, Managing Director of Aegean Airlines - Mr Mitsuo Morimoto, Senior EVP of ANA - Mr C S Han, EVP of Asiana Airlines - Mr George Stinnes, Group Treasurer of British Airways - Mr Dong Suguang, EVP of China Southern Airlines - Mr Peter Baumgartner, COO of Etihad Airways - Mr Cheng Ming, President of Hainan Airlines- Ms Chong Phit Lian, CEO of Jetstar Asia Airways - Mr Aditya Ghosh, President of IndiGo Airlines - Mr Xin Di, President of Tianjin Airlines - Mr Anthony Mosse, VP Finance of Virgin America - Mr Patrick Brannelly, VP Corp Comms Product at Emirates - Mr Cyril Jantjies, Board Member South African Airways - Mr Craig Landry VP Marketing of Air Canada - Mr Gary Foss, VP Planning and Marketing of American Airlines.

Skytrax were delighted that 40 of the 42 winning airlines were able to personally collect their awards at the ceremony. "We express our sincere thanks to all the guests that attended the awards ceremony in Paris. The event was a great success and after much hard work it is very satisfying for our Market Research team to see the winning airlines receive their awards." said Edward Plaisted, Chairman and CEO, Skytrax.  "Our research department spends many hundreds of hours analysing the survey data to determine the final winners and to ensure an accurate result. This involves screening every single survey response to identify, verify and monitor ISP and user information and delete any duplicate or suspect entries."

"In addition to the results preparation, a significant amount of time is spent on the logistical aspects of the awards ceremony and I would again thank my office for ensuring that over 150 attendees from across the world were in the right place, at the right time" added Plaisted.   "Skytrax would also recognise the efforts of GIFAS / Paris Air Show organiser and thank their team for the expertise they provided before, during and after the ceremony."

The World Airline Awards™, known as the Passengers Choice Awards, are recognised as the primary benchmarking tool for Passenger Satisfaction levels for airlines across the world - constituting a unique survey format based on analysis of business and leisure travellers and across all cabin classes (First, Business, Premium Economy and Economy).

The study analyses customer satisfaction for the Airline Passenger Experience, across the Airport and Onboard environments in more than 40 different areas - check-in to boarding, onboard seat comfort, cabin cleanliness, food, beverages, IFE and staff service.

Commenting on the Airline of the Year 2011 award to Qatar Airways, Mr Plaisted said: "It is very special to see Qatar Airways being named as Worlds Best Airline in the awards, and represents the culmination of a steady progress towards this top position by Qatar Airways in recent years. From 8th place six years ago, they have moved up the global ranking, and now occupy this top position as world's best airline. The award reflects opinions of passengers around the world, and is based on every customer type across all cabins - be they business or leisure, frequent or first-time flyers."