Skytrax, the world's largest independent airport passenger survey, has awarded British Airways as the world's best airline in 2006. The Airline of the Year survey is independent and highly-esteemed. It claims to be "the only airport survey that achieves a truly worldwide audience".
http://www.worldairlineawards.com/


Airline of the Year 2006

Rank, Airline (2005 position)

01) British Airways (5th)
02) Qantas Airways (2nd)
03) Cathay Pacific (1st)
04) Thai Airways (7th)
05) Emirates (3rd)
06) Qatar Airways (8th)
07) Singapore Airlines (4th)
08) A.N.A (10th)
09) Malaysia Airlines (6th)
10) China Airlines (16th)



Amongst other things British Airways is the world's largest long-haul airline, the largest Trans-Atlantic airline, the largest operator of the Boeing 747-400 (57 in the BA fleet), and the world's most profitable airline measured by total operating profits.

I find BA particularly impressive given that it faces more formidable short-haul competition than any other airline in the world from London-based LCCs Ryanair and EasyJet, and also the equally impressive Virgin Atlantic on its core long-haul routes.



BA garners top honour at World Airline Awards
http://news.cheapflights.co.uk/flights/2006/06/ba_garners_top_.html

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41661000/jpg/_41661650_bay203afp.jpg

British Airways (BA) has won the top honour at the 2006 World Airline Awards, being named Airline of the Year ahead of Qantas and Cathay Pacific.

Thai Airways and Emirates completed the top five in the best airline category at the awards, which are based on a survey conducted by Skytrax between September 2005 and May 2006.

Factors considered by the survey include ground services such as booking and website quality; onboard and product services including comfort, cleanliness and entertainment; and onboard staff service such as assistance, friendliness and problem solving skills.

Edward Plaisted, the chief executive of Skytrax, congratulated British Airways on its win and praised its consistency.

"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," he said.

BA also pleased premium customers, who rewarded the airline by giving it a proportionately high number of nominations in the Skytrax survey.

The Airline of the Year survey is independent and highly-esteemed. It claims to be "the only airport survey that achieves a truly worldwide audience".

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/Fatmonkey/Budget%20Airlines/BA.jpg

:okay:

BA are definitely the most international of all the transatlantic airlines. it can be a bit bureaucratic at times but wipes the floor with the likes of klm, united, american airlines etc

Interesting that the top 3 are all part of oneworld

^ Yup. Oneworld was also the only alliance to make a profit last year. With JAL joining next year, Cathay's purchase of Dragonair finally giving it full access to the mainland China market, the potential sign up of Air China (mainland China's only profitable large airline), and the inclusion of smaller airlines like Malev and Royal Jordanian, I think Oneworld is set on the right course. :)

Surprising Virgin arn't in that list tho cos they are just as good as BA to fly with.

^ Yes but far fewer people worldwide fly Virgin = fewer votes.

Surprising Virgin arn't in that list tho cos they are just as good as BA to fly with.

virgin's new airbuses offer a much betterflying experience in economy than BA, but i'd say their old planes aren't as good as the BA norm. their in-flight cuisine is pretty awful too. they are more pro-customer though, letting you drop off bags early, whereas BA make you sit and wait with your luggage.

Virgin seem to be having more of a crack at flying from the regions ie Manchester and Glasgow. BA is a dead loss for people outside of London. Living in the North travelling via Heathrow with BMI or via Amsterdam with AirFrance KLM is a far better option. I for one wouldn't consider travelling to London to fly BA just because it's a 'nice airline'.

Virgin seem to be having more of a crack at flying from the regions ie Manchester and Glasgow. BA is a dead loss for people outside of London. Living in the North travelling via Heathrow with BMI or via Amsterdam with AirFrance KLM is a far better option. I for one wouldn't consider travelling to London to fly BA just because it's a 'nice airline'.The usual bizarre anti-London rantings from yet another jealous provincial. BA offer more than Virgin from provincial airports. Flying to Paris or Amsterdam for transfers is no different from flying to Heathrow. Flying to Heathrow to use BMI's routes is no different from flying to Heathrow to use BA. The arguments just don't stack up.

Meanwhile the world's best airline has just announced the opening of a new long haul route to Calgary, an 8th daily New York service from Heathrow, and an increase in frequency to Sao Paulo from 7 per peek to 10. :)

go BA! u are the best.
Isn't there an official thread about the World's best airline! I can't found it!
Thx everyone.

Good to see Britain on top. Is nice to see ANA at 8th place too. I flew with All Nippon Airways just over a month ago between London and Tokyo and can honestly say it's the best service I have ever had on an airline.
http://homepage.mac.com/nagaih1/NAHA/ANA-777-1.jpg

Erm - guys that was from 3 years ago.

The 2009 winners were

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

BA are terrible. Virgin are the best UK airline I think.

Really? I don't think so, why do you say that?

Well the fact they only operate from Heathrow/Gatwick to start with. A few services from other airports, but very few. It's an embarrasment to the country when our supposedley national airline is only operating from one city.

I love Cathay, not a fan of Qantas however, terrible food and an incident with my grandmother, they gave out branded knitting needles on an international Qantas flight then on an Australian domestic one the same day they confiscated them because they could be used as a weapon!

Well the fact they only operate from Heathrow/Gatwick to start with. A few services from other airports, but very few. It's an embarrasment to the country when our supposedley national airline is only operating from one city.

Well, I agree with you in that, but it is what nearly every airline in Europe (Flag-carrier) does, Iberia in Spain for example.

There's no way Cathay deserves to be top right now. I flew them earlier this year and I think they are living off their previous reputation. There was nothing specuial about them at all, and if anything the plane interior was somewhat tired and worn. A few days ago I flew Air Canada who were considerably better. I'm amazed that Virgin Atlantic never seem to make an impact on these rankings given how good they are.

A lot of people I've spoken to rave about Virgin for some unknown reason - I think they are perceived by some to be much more cool than BA as they appear to promote a policy of employing an ethnically cleansed army of blonde air hostesses.

Personally from my experience I found them pretty much like a charter airline - food was very ordinary and the blonde army of air hostesses were all hard faced rough northern girls with a peroxide addiction.

^ That's not my experience. The air hostesses were genuinely pretty and attractive but it was mainly the newness of the aircraft, good in-flight food, and excellent entertainment options that impressed me. I also love the little humourous and personal touches. They feel so much less corporate than the others.

I like BA and Virgin

I think they both do the country proud to be honest. Virgin's private check in and lounge is second to none, absolute love using it.

BA and Virgin are the only ones I like to fly with, I do at times have to use others, but they don't come close.

I have never flown with Virgin, but I have with BA, and I found its service excellent, and much better than other airlines. Therefore: go BA!! :LOL:
Which is the best airline 2009?

^ Cathay Pacific which imo is not deserved. They live off their previous well-earned reputation for excellent service. However I flew on Cathay earlier this year and the plane interior was aged and tatty. Methinks Asian airlines are just fashionable right now. Ialso think Asian consumers are less critical and also vote patriotically.

:banana: 'BA all the way' :banana:

^^ +1 haha go BA!!

Flying home to UK on BA in three days, so will have 9 hours in one of their 747s! Got upgraded on the way out, can only hope for the same on the way back. I have to +1 the two posters above, always pleasant to fly BA.

Although nothing is as funny as watching them try and do a full breakfast service on the 45 min flight from NCL to LHR. Half the time they are still running round with carts on the final descent. But at least they offer full service unlike skanky american and canadian airlines :ohno:

Now that we are talking about BA, take a look at the following piece of news:

$40 airfares to India on British Airways? If it seems too good to be true ...
Airline to pay travelers' cancellation charges after refusing to honor price

Fly to India for $40? Not so fast.

Be careful next time you see an airfare that sounds too good to be true. It may be just that.

British Airways and the U.S. Department of Transportation this month announced that the airline would pay cancellation penalties and other expenses for customers who bought a $40 ticket that the carrier erroneously offered for flights from the U.S. to India.

The lowest British Airways prices for flights to India are more than $750, not including taxes.

The $40 rate was posted on British Airways' Web site Oct. 2. Within minutes the airline realized the mistake and pulled the offer from the site. But nothing dies easily on the Internet.

For the next two hours, the deal remained on several online travel sites. The airline got more than 1,200 bookings for the $40 fare during that time, representing 2,200 passengers.

The airline canceled the reservations and has offered each passenger a $300 travel voucher. The airline will also consider reimbursing passengers who canceled other travel plans to take advantage of the deal.

How did the error happen?

John Lampl, a British Airways spokesman, said the airline was planning to announce a $40 increase in fares on flights from the U.S. to India. But an employee who was inputting the information left out a crucial word in the text: "increase." "It was a typo," Lampl said. "It was a human error."

Customers who expected to pay $40 for a flight to India should have guessed that the offer was a mistake, he said. "Anyone with any travel sense had to have known that something was wrong."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel...,6199769.story

:deadthrea

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8249/8576004430_0733339334_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/curufinwe-xiane/8576004430/)
Third Airbus A380 for British Airways (http://www.flickr.com/photos/curufinwe-xiane/8576004430/) by Curufinwe - David B. (http://www.flickr.com/people/curufinwe-xiane/), on Flickr

BA's first 787
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8240/8638021937_95a3c31d39_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonm/8638021937/)
First British Airways BJA Boeing 787 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/moonm/8638021937/) by moonm (http://www.flickr.com/people/moonm/), on Flickr