BA RISES IN BEST AIRLINE RANKING

British Airways enjoyed something of a resurgence this week as it rose nine places in the World Airline Awards to 31st position.

The flag carrier also took the gong for the best cabin crew in the UK in the “Oscars of the aviation industry”.

BA’s reputation has been under scrutiny over the past few years after it

scrapped free food and drink on short-haul flights, cut legroom and copied low-cost airlines with “basic” handluggage-only fares.

In 2017, the airline was ranked 40th in the awards, down from 26th in 2016 and 20th in 2015. In 2006, BA was deemed the best airline in the world. That accolade now belongs to Singapore Airlines, which knocked Qatar Airways off the top spot. Japan’s All Nippon Airways completed the podium.

Virgin Atlantic dropped four places to 29th overall, but remained the highestranked UK airline. Norwegian (32nd) won best low-cost long-haul airline, easyJet (43rd) was named best low-cost UK airline, and though there were no prizes for Ryanair, it rose from 76th to 64th.

The World Airline Awards, established almost 20 years ago, are based on the opinions of travellers. Skytrax, the company behind the awards, said more than 20million people took part in the 2017-18 poll.

Previous winners of the top prize include Emirates (in 2001, 2002, 2013 and 2016), Cathay Pacific (2003, 2005, 2009 and 2014), and Asiana (2010).