World Airlines Awards new format, World Travel Awards awarded, 5th star for Korean Air

You know how little we at TravelGuys care about the many airline rankings. On the other hand, their release is always an opportunity, if not to learn things, at least to ask questions and even have a little fun.

New World Airlines Award format

Let’s start with “the” ranking that the whole industry is looking at (well…except those who understood that it was not so representative and decided not to play the game…which led to their demotion), I mean the Skytrax World Airlines Award.

Usually the World Airlines Award is given, when it takes place, during the Paris Air Show. With the event cancelled for 2021, Skytrax has announced that the awards will be held in a manner to be redefined. It will also be the occasion to present the COVID-19 Airlines Award.

But in the meantime Skytrax is not idle and continues to award its stars. Because if the World Airlines Awards claim to be the Oscars of the airline industry, the stars claim to be the Michelin.

5 Skytrax stars for Korean Air

Korean Air becomes the 11th airline to receive the famous Skytrax five-star rating. Other airlines sharing this “privilege” are ANA, Asiana, Cathay Pacific, EVA Air, Garuda Indonesia, Hainan Airlines, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways.

This makes a second 5* airline for Skyteam (with Garuda), against five for Star Alliance (ANA, Eva Air, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and Asiana) and three for OneWorld (Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways).

We can always push open doors by noting the geographical concentration of these airlines, which reflects a real reality. Afterwards, despite all the good things we think of Korean Air, we are almost as surprised by this 5th star ashen Lufthansa (which we like very much in spite of everything) had its own.So yes there are things that explain it but the difference with some 4* airlines does not seem to us to justify it. Or should some 4* airlines only have 3? In short, the Skytrax ranking remains as nebulous as ever for us.

Unless it was the acquisition of a 5* airline (Asiana) that accelerated the process, as the announcement of a business seat not yet deployed was for Lufthansa? Anyway…

World Travel Awards 2020 awarded

The World Travel Awards have been awarded. We find it strange to give such awards in a year that has seen a more than limited traffic with a pronounced and lasting degradation of the service. We already doubt the relevance of the Skytrax Awards next June, so awarding prizes in December…

Or else, like others, a COVID sanitary classification should have been made, which would have been relevant.

So if you want to have some fun you can always go and look at the ranking of the different awards and notice that :

The best airline is Etihad, but it keeps cutting back on its service
The best business class is Aeroflot…we know their ambition to become 5* but it is perhaps going too fast, isn’t it?
The best economy at Emirates. Why not.
The best First Oman Air…and Air France is not even nominated. Are you sure that ANA or Singapore is not better?
Best customer experience: Etihad. Yeah…
Best brand (what does that mean???) : Aeroflot. What?????

And at the European level:

Best airline: Lufthansa. Why not, the European market is quite “tight” and Turkish (which was awarded last year) which for us is the best airline of the continent has degraded its product so much following the COVID…
Best business: Aeroflot. Same comment as above but more tempered.
Best economy: Turkish…with the degradation of the product in 2020 I find it hard to believe. But since many others have massacred their economy product even more…
Best first: Swiss. Ok there we agree but we would have voted Air France.
Best lounge: The Loft Brussels Airlines in Brussels.
Best brand: Aeroflot. Hummm….

In short, it’s only worth what it’s worth, but at least it gets people talking.

What do you think of these rankings?

Image : A380 Korean Air by A Periam Photography via Shutterstock