These are the best airlines of 2022, according to travellers

By Alex Millson

(Bloomberg) — As the world finishes unpicking its Covid-19 travel restrictions, business trips and tourism are firmly back on the agenda — in most places, anyway. The question is, who to fly with?

Qatar Airways has been named the world’s best airline at the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2022, while Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Emirates landed in the second and third spots respectively.

In a strong showing for Asia-Pacific carriers, Japan’s All Nippon Airways Co. and Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd. rounded out the top five, while Hong Kong’s largely grounded Cathay Pacific tumbled to 16th place from sixth place last year.

The awards also broke down the best airline for each cabin class. Best first-class cabin went to Singapore Airlines, while Qatar picked up best business class. Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. won for premium economy and Emirates for best economy cabin.

In other categories, Singapore Airlines’ budget carrier Scoot took top place for best long-haul low-cost airline; Singapore Airlines also scooped best cabin staff; and ANA were number one for cabin cleanliness.

“Qatar Airways was the largest airline to have flown consistently throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, with their network never falling below 30 destinations,” Skytrax chief executive officer Edward Plaisted said in a press release. “That determination has clearly been well recognized by customers.”

The World Airline Awards were determined by an online customer survey that ran from September 2021 to August 2022 in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Chinese. More than 350 airlines featured in the final results.

Here are the top 20 airlines for 2022:

1. Qatar Airways

2. Singapore Airlines

3. Emirates

4. All Nippon Airways (ANA)

5. Qantas Airways

6. Japan Airlines

7. Turk Hava Yollari (Turkish Airlines)

8. Air France

9. Korean Air

10. Swiss International Air Lines

11. British Airways

12. Etihad Airways

13. China Southern

14. Hainan Airlines

15. Lufthansa

16. Cathay Pacific

17. KLM

18. EVA Air

19. Virgin Atlantic

20. Vistara

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.