Air NZ Is World’s 2015 Airline Of The Year

Air New Zealand has been again chosen as the Airline of the Year for 2015 by AirlineRatings.com, besting other global air carriers for the second consecutive year.

Air NZ, according to the international airline safety and product rating Web site, bested the other 450 air carriers because of its superb in-flight innovations, record financial performance, operational safety and motivation of its staff. The New Zealand airline company thus earned the moniker "industry trendsetter."

"Quite simply Air New Zealand is an airline of first choice. And given the airline's location and the country's size its performance is even more remarkable," Geoffrey Thomas, Airlineratings.com editor-in-chief, said in a statement.

AirlineRatings.com's top ten airlines for 2015 are Air New Zealand, Etihad, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, EVA Air, Lufthansa, All Nippon Airways and British Airways.

Air NZ has 11,000 employees globally. AirlineRatings.com praised the company's commitment to a young technologically advanced fleet and its continual focus on the environment. Apart from the top award, it also won Best Premium Economy Class.

"We've invested in new aircraft and enhancements to the customer experience and continued our strong focus on cost control and operational excellence. We head into our 75th anniversary year well positioned to continue sustainably growing Air New Zealand," Christopher Luxon, chief executive officer, said.

Apart from Air NZ, other winners in the Airline Excellence Awards were Etihad, Emirates, Qantas, Scoot, EVA Air, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, JetBlue, Norwegian, Thai International, Bangkok Airways, Lan Chile, Virgin Australia and Kulula.com.

Australia's Qantas received three other awards, including Best Domestic Service, Best Catering and Best Lounges. Airlineratings.com said Qantas has been consistently placed in the list of finest airlines in the industry across all aspects of service delivery and operational safety. Its domestic economy class product. "It was clearly the world's best while the airline's lounges are outstanding," AirlineRatings.com editors said.

Etihad Airways was voted Best First Class for its new upgraded product unveiled this year. Best Business Class went to Cathay Pacific, Thai Airways received the Best Economy Class while Best In-Flight Entertainment went to Emirates.

Best New World Carrier, an award that recognizes the transformation that many airlines are trying to meet rapidly changing market demand, went to Virgin Australia. The airline also picked up Best Cabin Crew for its outstanding staff.

JetBlue, Norwegian, Kulula.com and newcomer Scoot received the awards for value and safety in the Low Cost Airline sector for the Americas, Europe, for the Middle-East/Africa and for Asia/Pacific, respectively.

Lan Chile for the Americas, Lufthansa for Europe as well as Etihad for the Middle-East/Africa and EVA Air for Asia/Pacific received the excellence in Long Haul travel.