Skytrax
Skytrax (originally known as Inflight Research Services) is a United Kingdom-based consultancy which runs an airline and airport review and ranking site.[1] In 2012, the online investigations company KwikChex filed five complaints with the UK Advertising Standards Authority. The authority upheld all five complaints and Skytrax agreed to modify some promotional wording.[2][3] Questions have also been raised about Skytrax's objectivity and methodology.
Services
Skytrax conducts research for commercial airlines, as well as taking surveys from international travelers to rate cabin staff, airports, airlines, airline lounges, in-flight entertainment, on-board catering, and several other elements of air travel.[4][5] Apart from these evaluations, Skytrax has an airline forum where passengers give potential passengers insights and opinions about an airline. The website also hosts flight reviews, flight checks, and satisfaction surveys. Skytrax holds an annual World Airline Awards[6] and World Airport Awards,[7] as well as the ranking for airlines and airports.
Doubts about objectivity
Skytrax claims on its website that it has no economic ties to the airlines and airports that are presented with Skytrax awards, which it says are based on votes by passengers. In fact any person may vote, one vote per IP address.[8] Skytrax provides remunerated consulting services to airlines and airports, and there are doubts as to whether this arrangement allows Skytrax to be objective in the awards that it issues, to wit:
In 2011, Skytrax's award of a 5-star rating to Hainan Airlines subsequent to a consulting project that it completed for the airline raised doubts about the objectivity of the award.[9]
In 2012, the online investigations company KwikChex filed five complaints with the UK Advertising Standards Authority related to statements on the Skytrax web site describing the volume and reliability of their reviews as well as the official status and update frequency of their ratings. The ASA ruled that there was no evidence that Skytrax had followed the robust procedures it claimed it had in place to check all reviews were genuine. Although Skytrax argued that every review underwent a four-stage authentication process, it said it was unable to provide proof it had followed its own procedures as customer emails were deleted 24 hours after a review was submitted.[10] The authority upheld all five complaints and Skytrax agreed to modify some promotional wording.[2][3]
In 2014, Etihad stopped participating in Skytrax ratings.[11]
In 2015, news company Skift concluded that Skytrax had "wildly inflated" the number of persons participating in its annual survey.[12] Skift reported:[13]
The principal partner appears to be Skytrax’s founder Edward Plaisted, whose background in aviation, or outside of aviation, is unknown. Skift has tried on more than one occasion to get insights from the Skytrax on its methodology, metrics, and business organization with no success. Questions answered by its press representative were later claimed to be off the record, and statements given for previous stories were asked to be retracted.
Skytrax's 2019 downgrading of Turkish Airlines to a three-star carrier, subsequent to its 2018 pulling out of Skytrax, elicited much criticism and accusations of dishonesty in the awards and doubts as to whether Skytrax actually uses the methodology that it states that it uses.[14] Similar criticism arose when Skytrax awarded Lufthansa an award for a future cabin interior in 2019, subsequent to a consulting project that it had completed for the airline.[15]
Awards
Skytrax presents awards annually to airports and airlines that it considers noteworthy in their performance.
Airline of the year
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001[16] |  |  |  |
| 2002[16] | | | |
| 2003[17] | | | |
| 2004[18] | | | |
| 2005[19] | | .svg.png){kind=small} | |
| 2006[16] |  | | |
| 2007[20] | |  | |
| 2008[21] | | | |
| 2009[22] | | |  |
| 2010[23] | | |  |
| 2011[24] | | | |
| 2012[25] | | | |
| 2013[26] | | | |
| 2014[27] | | | |
| 2015[28] | | | |
| 2016[29] | | | |
| 2017[30] | | |  |
| 2018[31] | | | |
| 2019[32] | | | |
Airport of the year
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 |  | None | None |
| 2000 | | None | None |
| 2001[34] | |  | |
| 2002[35] | | | |
| 2003[36] | | | |
| 2004[37] | | | |
| 2005[38] | | | |
| 2006[39] | | |  |
| 2007[40] | | | |
| 2008[41] | | | |
| 2009[42] | | | |
| 2010[43] | | | |
| 2011[44] | | | |
| 2012[45] | | | |
| 2013[46] | | | |
| 2014[47] | | | |
| 2015[48] | | | |
| 2016[49] | | | |
| 2017[50] | | | |
| 2018[51] | | | |
| 2019[52] | | | |
| 2020[53] | | | |
Airline rankings
The World's 5-Star Airlines
Skytrax currently certifies only its top-10-rated airlines with 5 stars.
Sources:[54][55][56][57][58][59]
| Airline | Alliance | Period |
|---|---|---|
|
Star Alliance | 2013–present |
|
Star Alliance | 2007–present |
|
Oneworld | 2001–2002, 2004, 2006–present |
 |
Star Alliance | 2016–present |
 |
SkyTeam | 2014–present |
 |
none | 2010–present |
|
Oneworld | 2018–present |
|
Star Alliance | 2017–present |
|
Oneworld | 2006–present |
|
Star Alliance | 2001–2002, 2004, 2006–present |
Former 5-Star airlines
| Airline | Alliance | Period |
|---|---|---|
|
Star Alliance | 2001–2002 |
|
Oneworld | 2001 |
|
none | 2001 |
|
none | 2016–2019 |
 |
none | 2008–2010 |
|
Oneworld | 2001, 2005–2013 |
Airline with the Best Airport Services
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013[60] | | | |
| 2014[60] | | | |
| 2015[60] | | | |
| 2016[60] | | | |
| 2017[60] | | | |
| 2018[60] | | | |
Best Inflight Entertainment
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013[60] | | | |
| 2014[60] | | |  |
| 2015[60] | | | |
| 2016[60] | | | |
| 2017[60] | | | |
| 2018[60] | | | |
| 2019[60] | | | |
Best Aircraft Cabin Cleanliness
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013[60] | | | |
| 2014[60] | | | |
| 2015[60] | | | |
| 2016[60] | | | |
| 2017[60] | | | |
| 2018[60] | | | |
| 2019[16] |
|
|
|
World's Best Regional Airlines (Short haul flight)
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013[60] | |  | |
| 2014[60] | | | |
| 2015[60] | | | |
| 2016[60] | | | |
| 2017[16] | | | |
| 2018[61] | | |  |
| 2019[16] |
|
|
|
Airport rankings
World's Best Airports
| Rank (2020)[64] |
Airport | Rank (2019)[65] |
Rank (2018) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
1 | 1 |
| 2 | |
2 | 3 |
| 3 | |
4 | 5 |
| 4 | |
3 | 2 |
| 5 | |
7 | 6 |
| 6 | |
5 | 4 |
| 7 | |
9 | 11 |
| 8 | |
6 | 7 |
| 9 | |
14 | 12 |
| 10 | |
11 | 13 |
World's Cleanest Airports
| Rank (2020)[66] |
Airport | Rank (2019)[67] |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
1 |
| 2 | |
4 |
| 3 | |
3 |
| 4 | |
5 |
| 5 | |
6 |
| 6 | |
2 |
| 7 | |
7 |
| 8 |  |
10 |
| 9 | |
9 |
| 10 | |
N/A |
World's Best Airport Terminals
| Rank (2020)[68] |
Airport terminal | Rank (2019)[69] |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
N/A |
| 2 | |
2 |
| 3 | |
4 |
| 4 |  |
N/A |
| 5 | |
1 |
| 6 | |
3 |
| 7 | |
6 |
| 8 | |
7 |
| 9 | |
9 |
| 10 |  |
9 |
World's Best Transit Airports
| Rank (2020)[70] |
Airport | Rank (2019)[71] |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | |
1 |
| 2 | |
2 |
| 3 | |
5 |
| 4 | |
4 |
| 5 | |
7 |
| 6 | |
3 |
| 7 | |
10 |
| 8 | |
6 |
| 9 | |
9 |
| 10 | |
8 |
References
- "AirlineQuality.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools". Retrieved 10 May 2015.
- "ASA Ruling on Skytrax Research". asa.org.uk.
- Engel Schmidl (13 November 2012). "Advertising Standards Authority calls out Tripadvisor and Skytrax for fake user reviews". SmartCompany.com.au. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
- Mario Kossmann (2006). Delivering Excellent Service Quality in Aviation. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 67–71. ISBN 0-7546-4725-0.
- "Skytrax rates the world's best".
- World Airline Awards
- World Airport Awards
- Survey information, Skytrax website
- http://simpliflying.com/2011/why-skytrax-is-dead-plus-7-insights-into-the-future-of-airline-brand-ratings/
- "Skytrax airline quality claims under scrutiny". Travelmole. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
- https://www.ausbt.com.au/etihad-airways-withdraws-from-skytrax Chris Chamberlin, "Etihad Airways withdraws from Skytrax", Australian Business Traveler, June 8, 2014]
- https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2018/02/16/inside-strange-world-skytrax-aviation-rating-organization-probably-shouldnt-trust/#.XR0NlS2ZPUI
- "Understanding the players during airline and airport awards season", Skift, March 2015
- "Outrageous: Turkish Airlines Downgraded To Skytrax 3-Star Airline", One Mile at a Time, May 11, 2019
- https://onemileatatime.com/turkish-airlines-skytrax/
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 31 May 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- "Cathay named Airline of the Year". Contineo Media. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
- "The winning edge". Retrieved 10 May 2015.
- Airline of the Year 2005
- Airline of the Year 2007 Archived 24 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- Airline of the Year 2008 Archived 11 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- Airline of the Year 2009 Archived 9 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- Airline of the Year 2010 Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- Airline of the Year 2011 Archived 26 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- "Qatar Airways is a repeat winner of World's Best Airline Award at Farnborough Air Show". Skytrax. Archived from the original on 11 December 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
- "Top 10 airlines". Retrieved 4 January 2014.
- Airline of the Year 2014 Archived 24 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- "World's Best Airlines". Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- "World's Best Airlines". Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- "World's Best Airlines". Retrieved 20 June 2017.
- "World's Best Airlines". Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- "World's Best Airlines". Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- Previous Winners : Airport Of The Year Archived 7 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- "Survey Lists HK Int'l Airport As World's Best Airport 2001". people.com.cn.
- smh. "Sydney Airport wins another top ranking in world airport survey - Latest Travel News - ASIA Travel Tips.com". Retrieved 10 May 2015.
- "Hong Kong honoured as the world's Best Airport for the third straight year" (Press release). Airport Authority Hong Kong. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
- HKIA wins top accolades
- Airport of the Year 2005
- Airport of the Year 2006 Archived 31 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- Airport of the Year 2007 Archived 29 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- Airport of the Year 2008 Archived 12 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- Airport of the Year 2009 Archived 5 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- Airport of the Year 2010 Archived 29 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine
- Airport of the Year 2011 Archived 30 July 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- "The world's 5 Star Airlines". SKYTRAX.
- http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10370050
- Kaur, Karamjit (9 January 2004). "Changi named world's best airport; It wins 18 top awards from industry organisations, magazines; SIA shares top honours as best airline". The Straits Times (Singapore).
- Williams, Geoffrey (23 March 2002). "Airline of the Year; No. 1 in the skies". The Advertiser.
- https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/life/travel/frequent-fliers-rate-the-airlines/article761851/
- HighBeam
- http://www.worldairportawards.com/
- "World's Best Regional Airlines 2018". worldairlineawards.com. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
- "The World's Best Airline Alliance in 2017". www.worldairlineawards.com.
- "The World's Best Airline Alliance in 2018". www.worldairlineawards.com.
- "World's Top 100 Airports 2020".
- "World's Top 100 Airports 2019".
- "World's Cleanest Airports 2020".
- "World's Cleanest Airports 2019".
- "World's Best Airport Terminals 2020".
- "World's Best Airport Terminals 2019".
- "World's Best Transit Airports 2020".
- "World's Best Transit Airports 2019".