After two years of aviation turbulence, the Middle Eastern airline has still come out on top

Although the aviation industry has been in turmoil since the start of the pandemic, Qatar Airways has had another hit year.

The airline has claimed the pedestal for world’s best airline for the sixth year running, ranked by Skytrax, a review body that also grades the best airports.

Qatar Airways was also ranked first for five other categories including World’s Best Business Class, World’s Best Business Class Airline Lounge, World’s Best Business Class Airline Seat, World’s Best Business Class Onboard Catering and World’s Best Airline in the Middle East.

The airline’s CEO Akbar Al-Baker says the award is a great achievement and “fitting recognition” for the work invested in taking care of passengers.

“We never abandoned our loyal customers when they needed us the most, we continued flying to get people home and implemented stringent biosafety measures to provide strong reassurance for travellers, all while continuing to innovate to ensure we remain the airline of choice for millions of passengers across the globe,” says Mr Al-Baker.

The Skytrax World Airline Awards ranks companies based on their performance and quality, looking at 350 global airlines across 23 months, from September 2019 to July 2021.

Singapore Airlines was voted second, while Japanese company, ANA All Nippon Airways came third.

Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted says Qatar Airways has maintained its high standards of innovation and service both throughout normal times and through the current global pandemic.

“To be named as the World’s Best Airline is a great recognition of Qatar Airways high standards, and to win this highest accolade for a sixth time is a remarkable achievement,” he says.

This comes as Qatar Airways group reported annual losses of $US 4.1 billion with operating losses shrinking to seven per cent.