These are the best airlines of 2022, according to travellers

AS the world finishes unpicking its Covid-19 travel restrictions, business trips and tourism are firmly back on the agenda - in most places, anyway. The question is, who to fly with?

Qatar Airways has been named the world’s best airline at the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2022, while Singapore Airlines and Emirates landed in the second and third spots respectively.

In a strong showing for Asia-Pacific carriers, Japan’s All Nippon Airways and Australia’s Qantas Airways rounded out the top 5, while Hong Kong’s largely grounded Cathay Pacific tumbled to 16th place from sixth place last year.

The awards also broke down the best airline for each cabin class. Best first-class cabin went to Singapore Airlines, while Qatar picked up best business class. Virgin Atlantic Airways won for premium economy and Emirates for best economy cabin.

In other categories, Singapore Airlines’ budget carrier Scoot took top place for best long-haul low-cost airline; Singapore Airlines also scooped best cabin staff; and ANA were number one for cabin cleanliness.

“Qatar Airways was the largest airline to have flown consistently throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, with their network never falling below 30 destinations,” Skytrax chief executive officer Edward Plaisted said in a press release. “That determination has clearly been well recognised by customers.”

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The World Airline Awards were determined by an online customer survey that ran from September 2021 to August 2022 in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Chinese. More than 350 airlines featured in the final results.

Here are the top 20 airlines for 2022:

• Qatar Airways
• Singapore Airlines
• Emirates
• All Nippon Airways (ANA)
• Qantas Airways
• Japan Airlines
• Turk Hava Yollari (Turkish Airlines)
• Air France
• Korean Air
• Swiss International Air Lines
• British Airways
• Etihad Airways
• China Southern
• Hainan Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Cathay Pacific
• KLM
• EVA Air
• Virgin Atlantic
• Vistara

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