The world’s best airline has been crowned – beating UK airlines

The “Airline of the Year for 2024” has been crowned by AirlineRatings.com, with one international airline knocking the former winner off the top spot. Qatar Airways has overtaken Air New Zealand as the winner, with the report applauding the airline for its “consistent” “high standard” of service.

The AirlineRatings.com Airline Excellence Awards, judged by five editors with over 100 years of industry experience, combines major safety and government audits, with 12 key criteria that include: fleet age, passenger reviews, profitability, safety rating, product rating, innovation and forward fleet orders.

Qatar Airways was knocked off the top spot in 2023 by Air New Zealand, having won the title in both 2021 and 2022, but has since regained its crown.

AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas said: “In our objective analysis Qatar Airways came out number one in many key areas although it was a very close scoring for the top 10.

“The passenger reviews however scored Qatar Airways ahead of all airlines and its consistency and high standard of service delivery came through in the feedback.”

Qatar Airways also took home the title of Best Business Class for the fifth year running and Best Catering.

Qatar’s business class offering is known as the Qsuite on select routes, with a sliding door providing some privacy while in your seat. Behind the door, customers can find a chair which transforms into a fully flat bed, ambient mood lighting and a generous storage space.

The crew are even on hand to offer a turndown service, including adding a quilted mattress and blanket to the seat once it has transformed into a bed.

The airline also serves up an on-demand à la carte menu for business class travellers, with spacious dining areas in each seat.

For British travellers who want to experience flying with Qatar, the airline departs from a number of UK airports including London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham.