Air NZ gets best airline double

Excellence awards

Air New Zealand has again topped polls as Airline of the Year and Perth newcomer Etihad Airways a close second.

AirlineRatings.com, the only air safety and product website, yesterday named its 2015 top 10 airlines and annual airline excellence awards.

The top 10 were Air New Zealand, Etihad Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, EVA Air, Lufthansa, All Nippon Airways and British Airways.

Air New Zealand was top for the second year running and also for Best Premium Economy.

AirlineRatings.com editor Geoffrey Thomas said Air New Zealand was the benchmark that showed what could happen when staff were motivated and given the technology to deliver the best passenger experience.

Air New Zealand chief executive Christopher Luxon said the airline was thrilled to receive the accolade two years in a row.

Qantas was voted Best Domestic Service, Best Catering and Best Lounges, with the editors saying the airline was consistently among the finest across all aspects of service delivery and safety.

Etihad was voted Best First Class for its upgraded product unveiled this year as well as Best Airline Middle East and Africa.

Etihad president and chief executive James Hogan said the airline was pleased and proud to receive the 2015 AirlineRatings awards and to be second in the top 10.

Cathay Pacific picked up Best Business Class, Best Economy Class went to Thai Airways and Best In-Flight Entertainment to Emirates.

Virgin Australia won Best New World Carrier and Best Cabin Crew.

For low-cost value and safety, the editors picked JetBlue for the Americas, Norwegian in Europe, Kulula.com for the Middle-East/Africa and newcomer Scoot for Asia/Pacific, saying these were clear leaders for innovation and bringing people together.

Lan Chile for the Americas, Lufthansa for Europe, Etihad for the Middle-East/Africa and EVA Air for Asia/Pacific were chosen for long-haul excellence.