Air New Zealand is already a big winner in 2018, and it's not even January 1.
Safety and product rating website AirlineRatings.com has named New Zealand's avant-garde flag carrier the Airline of the Year for the fifth consecutive year.
The airline once again won over the six aviation editors tasked with judging the competition by dominating across the 12 key categories. Factors analyzed included fleet age, passenger reviews, profitability, product offerings and staff relations, among others.
"In our objective analysis Air New Zealand came out number one in virtually all of our audit criteria, which is an exceptional performance," the website's editor-in-chief, Geoffrey Thomas said in a statement.
Air New Zealand's CEO, Christopher Luxon said the airline is "committed to redefining the customer experience" and that the carrier has a lot planned for 2018.
Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Australia, Virgin Atlantic, Etihad Airways, All Nippon Airways, Korean Air, Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines rounded out AirlineRatings.com's Best of the Best for the year to come.
Qantas took home awards in several categories, including Best Domestic Airline Service, Best Catering and Best Lounges while Singapore Airlines was awarded the titles of Best First Class and Best Cabin Crew.
Korean Air was deemed to have the Best Economy offering, and Virgin Australia won for its Business Class experience.
Emirates, which was named the top airline in the world by TripAdvisor, boasts the Best In-Flight Entertainment, according to the website, which also named Aegean Airlines and Tianjin Airlines the Best Regional Airline and Most Improved Airline, respectively.
The newest category, Best Ultra Low-Cost Airline went to VietJetAir.
Other winners include Air Canada, Etihad Airways, Norwegian, Scoot, Virgin Atlantic and WestJet, each of which was recognized for either excellence in long-haul travel or being the best low-cost airline in their region of the world.
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