Singapore Snatches World’s Best Airline Crown From Qatar

(Bloomberg) -- If you want to fly premium, the best route around the globe is via Singapore.

Travelers voted Singapore Airlines Ltd. the best carrier in the world, according to SkyTrax, which surveys more than 20 million fliers every year. It was also named the best in first-class. This is the fourth time the Asian company has won the honors since the annual award was established in 1999.

For the last two years, Singapore Air has been revamping its cabins to provide bigger entertainment consoles and more space, including double-beds in its A380 first-class suites and full-flat beds for business class in regional flights, to help compete against Middle Eastern carriers. The airline is set to resume nonstop flights to New York from the island-city in October after a gap of five years.

Asian carriers dominated the list with seven among the world’s top 10 airlines this year, including All Nippon Airways and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. Gulf-based Qatar Airways and Emirates took the second and fourth spots. Deutsche Lufthansa AG was the only European airline to make it to the rankings, while there were none from the U.S.

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