World's most excellent airline named as Qantas slips in rankings

South Korea's Asiana Airlines has been named the airline of the year on the annual World Airline Awards.

Qantas lost another spot in the 2010 awards proclaimed last night in Hamburg, Germany, dropping to seventh place, down from sixth last year. In 2008, it was rated the world's third top airline.

The annual awards by Skytrax are based on surveys with more than 17 million passengers, carried out more than 10 months.

The final best 10 ranking in the awards were:

1. Asiana Airlines
2. Singapore Airlines
3. Qatar Airways
4. Cathay Pacific
5. Air New Zealand
6. Etihad Airways
7. Qantas Airways
8. Emirates
9. Thai Airways
10. Malaysia Airlines

Additional awards announced included:

Best low-cost airline: 1. AirAsia; 2. Air Berlin; 3. Virgin Blue
Best regional airline: 1. Dragonair; 2. Silkair; 3.Bangkok Airways
Most-improve airline:1. Garuda Indonesia; 2. Hainan Airlines; 3. Oman Air
Best leisure airline: 1. Thomson Airways; 2. TUIFly; 3. Monarch Airlines
Best in-flight entertainment: 1. Emirates; 2. Singapore Airlines; 3. Virgin Atlantic
Best cabin staff: 1. Singapore Airlines; 2. Malaysia Airlines; 3. Asiana Airlines
Best airline alliance: 1. oneworld; 2. Star Alliance; 3. SkyTeam
Best trans-Atlantic airline: 1. Virgin Atlantic; 2. British Airways; 3. Lufthansa
Best trans-Pacific airline: 1. Cathay Pacific; 2. Singapore Airlines; 3. Asiana
Best first-class airline: 1. Etihad; 2. Singapore Airlines; 3. Qantas
Best business-class airline: 1. Qatar Airways; 2 Singapore Airlines; 3. Etihad
Best premium economy class: 1. Qantas; 2. Air New Zealand; 3. ANA
Best economy class: 1. Malaysia Airlines; Qatar Airways; 3. Singapore Airlines