World's best airline named

Qatar Airways has won the award for the Best Airline of the World, for the second time, at the Skytrax 2012 World Airline Awards. The Best Airline of the World award, as well as the awards for best seats, best lounges and others, were announced on Thursday at the Farnborough International Airshow near London.

The first time the airline was awarded the World's Best Airline prize was at the 2011 World Airline Awards, in a ceremony at the Paris Air Show. The Doha-based airline was also awarded the title of best regional airline in the Middle East and occupied top rankings in the categories World's Best First Class Airline Lounges, World's Best Business Class Onboard Catering and World's Best Business Class Airline Seat.

The Skytrax Awards are one of the benchmarking tools for the air industry. They measure passengers' satisfaction levels by surveying passengers in all cabin classes.

The 10-month survey is carried out by telephone among 18 million airline customers from 100 countries. The survey includes 38 key performance indicators including check-in, boarding, onboard seat comfort, cabin cleanliness, food, beverages, in-flight entertainment and staff service. This year the survey covered over 200 airlines, from international to domestic carriers.

The World's Best Airlines 2012
1. Qatar Airways
2. Asiana Airlines
3. Singapore Airlines
4. Cathay Pacific Airways
5. ANA All Nippon Airways
6. Etihad Airways
7. Turkish Airlines
8. Emirates
9. Thai Airways
10. Malaysia Airlines