Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific rises in airline rankings despite troubles in recent years
- Results released by Skytrax as city’s flag carrier announces raft of new offerings in the works
The results were released by Skytrax on Tuesday, in what it called its “independent and impartial” annual list of the top 100 airlines around the world, based on data from an online traveller satisfaction survey.
Qatar Airways was voted the best airline – the eighth time the Middle Eastern carrier has won the title in the awards’ 25-year history – followed by Singapore Airlines, Emirates and ANA All Nippon Airways.
Cathay rose three positions from last year to clinch fifth place.
The carrier was last month named the third best premium airline in another company’s rankings, Airline Ratings. This was up six places from last year.
Cathay has been fighting to rebuild its reputation in recent years after hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Last May the airline was embroiled in controversy when crew members were caught insulting mainland Chinese passengers while pilots were accused of deliberately slowing down while taxiing their planes in what was suspected to be pay-related action.
It summarily sacked three cabin crew members after complaints emerged of the staff insulting and discriminating against non-English speakers. The scandal rapidly morphed into a political storm exposing the fissures between Hong Kong and the mainland, tensions that had long simmered below the surface.
Cathay CEO Ronald Lam Siu-por said the recent achievements were a testament to customers’ support, and pledged that the airline would strive for further excellence.
“These achievements highlight the huge strides we have made over the past year, both on the ground and in the air, and are a vote of confidence from our customers,” he said.
“But we won’t stop there. These achievements will motivate us to continue to go above and beyond for our customers every step of the way as we strive to become the world’s best premium airline.”
Cathay stressed that it would continue to invest in product and service innovations to serve customers better at every stage of their journey, whether it was online, on the ground or during flights.
It plans to launch new seat categories in each of the coming three years, beginning with a new business class, Aria Suite, a new premium economy seat and a refreshed economy service on its Boeing 777-300ER aircraft later this year.
These will be followed by a new first-class experience on its new Boeing 777-9 aircraft in 2025, and a new business-class cabin with flat beds on its Airbus A330 planes in 2026.
The new products will also be complemented by ongoing enhancements to Cathay’s lounges, dining, in-flight entertainment and digital services.
Starting in July, the airline will be increasing numbers of cabin crew on selected flights to improve its service.
Cathay also said it would be rolling out complimentary in-flight Wi-fi for business-class customers and diamond members “in the near future”.
