Just saw this on Yahoo; thought it might be of interest to travelers in and out of Thailand.

The annual awards by Skytrax are based on surveys of 17.9 million passengers of 100 different nationalities over the 10 months to April.

Passengers rated airlines on customer service, comfort of seating, quality of food, lounges and cabin crew.

The final top 10 ranking in the awards were:

1. Asiana Airlines

2. Singapore Airlines

3. Qatar Airways

4. Cathay Pacific

5. Air New Zealand

6. Etihad Airways

7. Qantas Airways

8. Emirates

9. Thai Airways

10. Malaysia Airlines

Other awards announced included:

Best Low-Cost Airline Worldwide

AirAsia

Most Improved Airline

Garuda Indonesia

Best Cabin Staff

Singapore Airlines

Best Inflight Entertainment

Emirates

Best Airport Services

Thai Airways

Best Economy Class

Malaysia Airlines

Best Premium Economy Class

Qantas

Best Business Class

Qatar Airways

Best First Class

Etihad Airways

Best Airline: Transatlantic

Virgin Atlantic

Best Airline: Transpacific

Cathay Pacific

Best Airline: Australia/Pacific

Air New Zealand

Best Airline: Europe

Lufthansa

Best Airline: India/Central Asia

Kingfisher Airlines

Best Airline: Middle East

Qatar Airways

Best Airline: North America

Air Canada

Best Airline: South East Asia

Singapore Airlines

Best Airline Lounge - Business Class

Virgin Atlantic

Best Airline Lounge - First Class

Thai Airways

Best Airline Seat - Business Class

Singapore Airlines

Best Airline Seat - Economy Class

Kingfisher Airlines

Best Airline Seat - First Class

Etihad Airways

Best Airline Seat - Premium Economy Class

Qantas Airways

Best Low-Cost Airline Australia/Pacific

Virgin Blue

Best Onboard Catering - Business Class

Qatar Airways

Best Onboard Catering - Economy Class

Turkish Airlines

Best Onboard Catering - First Class

Etihad Airways

I wondered how Qantas managed to retain seventh spot, but when I looked again the survey didn't cover things like technical failures and passenger inconvenience as a result.

Good to see Thai still up there, but I'm sure they must have been higher in the past. Haven't been in their first class lounge at Suvarnabhumi, but the Business lounge is very nice (despite the oddly designed chairs).

I wondered how Qantas managed to retain seventh spot, but when I looked again the survey didn't cover things like technical failures and passenger inconvenience as a result.

Good to see Thai still up there, but I'm sure they must have been higher in the past. Haven't been in their first class lounge at Suvarnabhumi, but the Business lounge is very nice (despite the oddly designed chairs).

Regarding the business lounge at Suvarnabhumi, I'm sure I don't know the lounge you have been... I often spent hours at Suvarnabhumi Business lounge (in domestic and international) and I should say that that it's very very poor regarding the food and the drink... and very sad regarding the decoration...

Regarding the quality of TG : sure it was much better before... Now we are flying in very old (unsafe ?) aircraft... and the serviceon board is often poor...

I'm surprised EMIRATES beat out ETIHAD for best in-flight entertainment. I fly both frequently and Etihad, with it's large video screen and extensive movie and music library along with comfortable hi-fidelity headsets wins hands down in my book.

i see british airways with their double the rest of them prices are nowhere to be seen

and air france and their rude staff and dirty planes not in the list either

:D :D

I am surprised about asiana airlines, because it's a new airline and doesn't fly to many destinations (so you have to change planes and airlines) and don't have many own lounges.

Edited May 21, 201016 yr by londonthai

there is definitely something out of ordinary here--

asiana ....

occupying the top spot....

flown with it.... not that impressive at all....

which led one to wonder.... just who designed the survey? and what questions were used.... to culminate in this resultant finding....?

< besides, the thaivisa emoticons now have imbeded audio to listen to as well.... GEORGE, the imbeded audio is rather distractive and annoying as well....? take a survey and see, if others see it differently, pls.... >

How have Thai managed to appear anywhere at all in the top 10 ??

I wondered how Qantas managed to retain seventh spot, but when I looked again the survey didn't cover things like technical failures and passenger inconvenience as a result.

Good to see Thai still up there, but I'm sure they must have been higher in the past. Haven't been in their first class lounge at Suvarnabhumi, but the Business lounge is very nice (despite the oddly designed chairs).

Regarding the business lounge at Suvarnabhumi, I'm sure I don't know the lounge you have been... I often spent hours at Suvarnabhumi Business lounge (in domestic and international) and I should say that that it's very very poor regarding the food and the drink... and very sad regarding the decoration...

Regarding the quality of TG : sure it was much better before... Now we are flying in very old (unsafe ?) aircraft... and the serviceon board is often poor...

I've used the Thai lounges a few times flying Etihad and I agree they're very average although the dim sum is decent enough.

How have Thai managed to appear anywhere at all in the top 10 ??

Most business travellers don't pay for their own ticket.

Ok, I am going to add my 2 cents here.

In my previous experiences, and remember this is a personal opinion, and we all have different opinions, Thai Airways has fantastic service. The staff have mostly been very friendly, and always tried hard to please. I agree the planes are old, but I would be very surprised if they were not maintained to the highest level.

For domestic, I love Bangkok Airways. Great airline to deal with, and none of the bull s#@t you cop from Jetstar or Tiger or the like. I hope this airline can get through what is going on now.

No wonder most improved was Garuda. Could they get any worse?

Perhaps the rankings have a lot to do with hotness of the cabin crew. By that measure, Asiana would indeed by up near the top, and Singapore, and Thai, etc...

I really love SQ. Very strict in boarding time, good and polite service on board. Even in Y class

To be honest, it seems about right to me...

Thai's only real issue is their 747s on the routes to Europe / Australia / Hong Kong, in that they lack seat back TVs. On their other planes, their economy class isn't too bad. The food is a lot better than most, and they still give out the orchids and still do the cognac (in economy).

I've flown to the UK from Thailand with Qatar, Emirates, Qantas, Thai, KLM (before the merger with Air France), and BA.

And I would put Qatar, Emirates and Qantas ahead of Thai (which they are in the survey), and KLM behind them. As for BA - I avoid flying BA if at all possible as I discovered that their seat pitch (distance between you and the seat in front) appears to have been designed to give me back problems).

Admittedly, the only reason Thai won best first class lounge is because Virgin's lounges don't count as Virgin "Upper class" is treated as business class in the survey. (Virgin knows how to do lounges - hairdressers, massages, manicures and waiter-service for you to order food, whereas with most lounges your happy just to get a seat near an unoccupied power socket so you can charge your laptop.)