Air New Zealand was among the big winners of the 2023 Airline Excellence Awards, winning the prestigious Airline of the Year award for the seventh time since 2013.
Awarded by AirlineRatings.com, gongs are presented to the carriers who excel in 11 key criteria including fleet age, passenger reviews, profitability, investment rating, product offerings, and staff relations. Judges also consider major safety and government audits.
Air New Zealand was honoured for its inflight innovations like its SkyNest economy offering, operational safety, sustainability initiatives, and motivation of staff. The kiwi carrier also picked up the award for Best Economy Class.
Overall, the top 25 premium carriers were Air New Zealand, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Virgin Australia/Virgin Atlantic, EVA Air, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates, Lufthansa / Swiss, SAS, TAP Portugal, All Nippon Airways, Delta Air Lines, Air Canada, British Airways, Jet Blue, JAL, Vietnam Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Hawaiian, KLM, Alaska Airlines, and United Airlines.
Winner of the airline of the year for 2021 and 2022, Qatar Airways picked up gongs for Best Business Class for the fourth straight year as well as Best Catering, while Singapore Airlines won the Best First Class award.
Meanwhile, Emirates picked up honours for Best Premium Economy and Best Inflight Entertainment.
Closer to home, Qantas won the Best Lounges award, while Virgin Australia/Virgin Atlantic won Best Cabin Crew.
Excellence in Long-Haul travel, per region, went to Middle East – Qatar Airways, North Asia – Korean Air, Northern Europe – Lufthansa, North America – Delta Air Lines, South America – Latam, Southern Europe – Turkish Airlines, South-East Asia – Singapore Airlines, Australia/Pacific – Air New Zealand and Africa – Air Mauritius.
Low-cost, high achievers
In the Best Low-Cost Airline categories, awards went to Southwest (Americas), Fly Dubai (Middle East), AirAsia (Asia), Jetstar (Australia/Pacific) and Ryanair (Europe).
Interestingly, new Aussie carrier Bonza featured among the world’s top LCCs.
The Top 25 LCCs (in alphabetical order) were AirAsia*, Allegiant, Bonza, Cebu Pacific, EasyJet, Eurowings, Flair, FlyDubai, Frontier, GOL, Indigo, Jet2, JetBlue, Jetstar, Norse Atlantic, Peach, Ryanair, Scoot, Spirit, Southwest, Transavia, TUI, Vietjet, Vueling, Wizz Air.
Meanwhile, Vietjet picked up two awards for Best Ultra Low-Cost Airline and Best Low-Cost Airline Catering.
Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran says the the carrier owes “our success to the dedication and hard work of our 12,000 Air New Zealanders who wake each morning to connect Kiwis with each other and the world”.
“This award belongs to them for their grit, commitment, and the exceptional service they deliver every day,” he said.
“As with many airlines worldwide, we understand that our fantastic team faces difficulties in providing the service we strive for and that our customers expect. We’re working hard to address these challenges.
“There is no doubt that have more work to do to tackle customer concerns like wait times, on-time departures and arrivals, lost baggage, and refunds.”
Several editors with “decades of industry experience” judge the awards.
