Officials may have named Air New Zealand as the best airline for 2017, but it seems not all travellers entirely agree.
TripAdvisor’s first annual awards for airlines found that when it comes to flying its users have a love of Middle Eastern carriers, particularly Emirates.
The Dubai-based carrier was voted in as the ‘top airline’ around the world ahead of Singapore Airlines (second), Brazil’s Azul (third), JetBlue (fourth) and Air New Zealand (fifth). The carrier was also recognised for having the ‘Best First Class’ as well as ‘Best Economy Class’ while Russia’s Aeroflot received the title for ‘Best Business Class’ and Air New Zealand landed the gong for ‘Best Premium Economy Class’.
Winners were determined via an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of airline reviews and ratings submitted by travellers over a 12-month period.
While Australia’s Flying Kangaroo wasn’t named one of the ‘top 10 airlines worldwide’ nor did it make it on the list for ‘top 10 major airlines in the Asia Pacific’, it was recognised as being the top airline in Australia.
Qantas received an average rating of four out of five ‘bubbles’ and for positive comments such as ‘fantastic service’, ‘good value’ and ‘a pleasure to fly with’.
The online review site’s Senior Vice President and General Manager for Flights, Bryan Saltzburg, said the awards recognise carriers for offering the “very best experiences and value to the travelling public”.
The top 10 airlines in the world, according to TripAdvisor users, are:
10. Garuda Indonesia, Indonesia
9. Alaska Airlines, United States
8. Thai Smile, Thailand
7. Japan Airlines, Japan
6. Korean Air, South Korea
5. Air New Zealand, New Zealand
4. JetBlue, United States
3. Azul, Brazil
2. Singapore Airlines, Singapore
1. Emirates, United Arab Emirates
