Qatar Airways named best airline in the world by Skytrax with Qantas eight

The flying kangaroo has been voted one of the world’s best intentional airlines for 2021 despite barely flying outside Australia since 2020.

Qantas has been ranked in the top 10 of international airlines this year despite not flying internationally.

The flying kangaroo came in at number eight in the Skytrax World Airline Awards for 2021 and took out the gong for best airline in the Australia / Pacific region.

Yet aside from a short period between lockdowns when Qantas shuttled passengers between Australia and New Zealand, Qantas has not operated any schedule intercontinental flights since March 2020 when the pandemic first struck. Instead its only operated repatriation flights on behalf of the government to bring stranded Aussies home.

The Sydney based airline has said it hopes to restart international flights from mid-December this year to destinations including NZ, London, Singapore and Los Angeles.

Qantas has flown no scheduled international flights, New Zealand side, since March 2020. Picture: NCA NewsWire Christian Gilles

Qantas beat out competition from airlines that have continued to fly around the world including British Airways, United Airlines and Delta.

The Australian airline’s remarkable position is likely down to how Skytrax judges the world’s carriers. It surveyed airlines for a 23 month period, from September 2019 to July 2021, capturing several months before Qantas stopped flying scheduled overseas flights.

The best airline in the world airline accolade went to a perennial favourite of the judges at Skytrax – Qatar Airways.

The Doha airline won the award for the sixth time. It has flown to Australia throughout the pandemic.

Singapore Airlines was the second highest rated airline, followed by ANA (All Nippon Airways) and Emirates.

Qatar Airways has been named the best airline in the world for 2021. Picture: / AFP PHOTO / ERIC PIERMONT.

Qatar Airways, which claimed the top prize for a sixth year, also won Skytrax’s World’s Best Business Class, the World’s Best Business Class Seat, and the Best Airline in the Middle East.

Qatar Airways Group chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker described the win an “enormous achievement”.

“I want to thank our valued passengers for their loyalty and appreciation for all we have offered during the most challenging and uncertain times, without compromising on the service and excellence that the airline is renowned for throughout the world,” Mr Al Baker said.

“We never abandoned our loyal customers when they needed us the most, we continued flying to get people home and implemented stringent biosafety measures to provide strong reassurance for travellers, all while continuing to innovate to ensure we remain the airline of choice for millions of passengers across the globe.”

Emirates came in at fourth place, followed by Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, EVA Air, Qantas Airways, Hainan Airlines and Air France.

Skytrax gave an honourable mention to Scoot, which was named the World’s Best Long Haul Low-Cost Airline, and Vueling Airlines, which won for being the Best Low-Cost Airline in Europe, one of the most competitive low cost airline markets in the world.

Singapore Airlines had the best cabin crew, ANA had the cleanest cabins, AirAsia was the best low-cost airline, Saudi Arabian Airlines was the most improved, and Emirates was awarded for having the best in-flight entertainment.