Skytrax


Skytrax is a United Kingdom-based consultancy which runs an airline and airport review and ranking site. 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. 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. 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 and World Airport Awards, 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. 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.
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. The authority upheld all five complaints and Skytrax agreed to modify some promotional wording.
In 2014, Etihad stopped participating in Skytrax ratings.
In 2015, news company Skift concluded that Skytrax had "wildly inflated" the number of persons participating in its annual survey. Skift reported:
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. 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.

Awards

Skytrax presents awards annually to airports and airlines that it considers noteworthy in their performance.

Airline of the year

Airport of the year

Airline rankings

The World's 5-Star Airlines

Skytrax currently certifies only its top-10-rated airlines with 5 stars.
Sources:
AirlineAlliancePeriod
All Nippon AirwaysStar Alliance2013–present
Asiana AirlinesStar Alliance2007–present
Cathay PacificOneworld2001–2002, 2004, 2006–present
EVA AirStar Alliance2016–present
Garuda IndonesiaSkyTeam2014–present
Hainan Airlinesnone2010–present
Japan AirlinesOneworld2018–present
LufthansaStar Alliance2017–present
Qatar AirwaysOneworld2006–present
Singapore AirlinesStar Alliance2001–2002, 2004, 2006–present
Former 5-Star airlines

Airline with the Best Airport Services

Best Inflight Entertainment

Best Aircraft Cabin Cleanliness

World's Best Regional Airlines (Short haul flight)

World's Best Airline Alliance

Airport rankings

World's Best Airports

Rank
AirportRank
Rank
1 Singapore Changi Airport11
2 Haneda International Airport23
3 Hamad International Airport45
4 Incheon International Airport32
5 Munich Airport76
6 Hong Kong International Airport54
7 Narita International Airport911
8 Chubu Centrair International Airport67
9 Amsterdam Schiphol Airport1412
10 Kansai International Airport1113

World's Cleanest Airports

Rank
AirportRank
1 Haneda International Airport1
2 Incheon International Airport4
3 Singapore Changi Airport3
4 Narita International Airport5
5 Hamad International Airport6
6 Chubu Centrair International Airport2
7 Hong Kong International Airport7
8 Zurich Airport10
9 Kansai International Airport9
10 Munich Airport

World's Best Airport Terminals

Rank
Airport terminalRank
1 Incheon International Airport – T2
2 Singapore Changi Airport – T32
3 Heathrow Airport – T24
4 Paris Charles de Gaulle – T2M
5 Heathrow Airport – T51
6 Munich Airport – T23
7 Singapore Changi Airport – T46
8 Haneda International Airport – International Terminal7
9 Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport – T29
10 Madrid-Barajas Airport – T49

World's Best Transit Airports

Rank
AirportRank
1 Incheon International Airport1
2 Singapore Changi Airport2
3 Hamad International Airport5
4 Haneda International Airport4
5 Narita International Airport7
6 Hong Kong International Airport3
7 Amsterdam Schiphol Airport10
8 Munich Airport6
9 Zurich Airport9
10 Frankfurt Airport8