Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

With all the hoopla surrounding Norwegian Air and its ambitious – and, to some, controversial – plan to expand its international flights in the United States, Finnair has quietly emerged as Scandanavia’s best airline.

For the fifth consecutive year, Finnair was named Northern Europe’s Best Airline at the World Airline Awards, held today in New York. The awards are organized by Skytrax, the British airport and airline consultancy that has compiled customer satisfaction rankings since 1999.

The awards are based on an independent survey of 18 million travelers from more than 160 countries.

“We recognize how tough the competition can be, not only in our home region but in the numerous Asian markets we serve as well,” Gregory Kaldahl, Finnair’s SVP resource management, said at the Farnborough Air Show where he collected the award. “It is very gratifying to receive this kind of recognition for our employees’ commitment to the needs of customers and the continued development of our product both on the ground and in the air.”

The World Airline Awards are generally regarded as one of the primary benchmarking tools for passenger satisfaction levels of airlines throughout the world. The passenger survey analyzes customer satisfaction for the overall airline passenger experience, at both the airport and on-board the aircraft. The survey covered more than 200 airlines, from the largest international airlines to small domestic carriers, and measured standards across more than 40 areas of airline front-line product and service.

Part of Finnair’s winning the award certainly has been its year-long project to equip its long-haul fleet with seats that convert to fully flat beds in Business Class. Nine routes are currently dedicated to full-flat service: Helsinki to New York, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Seoul and Hanoi.

In-flight entertainment was also recently upgraded for passengers in both cabin classes, with 72 movies and more than 150 TV shows available on demand. In August, Finnair will open a new Premium Lounge in Helsinki for its most loyal Finnair Plus and oneworld customers.  In addition, the carrier will add a new sauna available to be enjoyed by all Business Class passengers.