Skytrax have revealed their 2012 list of the World's Best Airlines. More than 18 million passengers were surveyed at airports around the world, and the results are a little surprising.

Qatar Airways has taken out the award for Airline of the Year for the second year in a row, with Asiana Airlines and Singapore Airlines coming in at numbers two and three respectively
Qantas has dropped out of the top 10 to number 15, down from last year's eight. Virgin Australia on the other hand has surged to number 12, up from last year's 32.

Air New Zealand has fared even worse than Qantas - dropping to 17th position from last year's seven.

Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted said the awards were "something of a victory over the more established legacy carriers that have previously taken the top prizes in these categories".

Several other awards were also announced, including best first-class (Etihad), best lounge (Qantas – SYD), best business-class (Cathay Pacific), best inflight entertainment (Emirates) and best low cost carrier (AirAsia).

The World Airline Awards are determined by passenger surveys conducted by research firm Skytrax, who surveyed more than 18 million passengers in 160 countries.

World's Top 10 Airlines - 2012
1. Qatar Airways
2. Asiana Airlines
3. Singapore Airlines
4. Cathay Pacific Airways
5. ANA All Nippon Airways
6. Etihad Airways
7. Turkish Airlines
8. Emirates
9. Thai Airways International
10. Malaysia Airlines
11. Garuda Indonesia
12. Virgin Australia
13. EVA Air
14. Lufthansa
15. Qantas Airways
16. Korean Air
17. Air New Zealand
18. Swiss Int'l Air Lines
19. Air Canada

20. Hainan Airlines
What do you think of the results?

http://nz.totaltravel.yahoo.com/a/-/14242841/worlds-best-airlines-announced-for-2012/