Philippine Airlines breaks into world’s top 50 carriers

The Philippines’ flag carrier is flying high after it was named one of the top 50 best airlines in the world.

The United Kingdom-based consultancy firm Skytrax released its annual list of the world’s best airlines were Philippine Airlines (PAL) cracked the top 50, now ranked 49th or 18 notches higher than its position the previous year.

PAL was also ranked by Skytrax as the number 2 most improved airline for the year. This comes five months after it was certified as the country’s first 4-star airline, also by Skytrax.

PAL recently fetched from Toulouse, France its brand new A350 900 XWB aircraft by Airbus.

“This Airbus will become the new flagship of the young and trendsetting Philippine Airlines fleet — raising the standards for cabin comfort for our beloved passengers especially for long flights,” says PAL president and COO Jaime J. Bautista.

The Skytrax rankings are based on the impressions of 20.36 million travelers from more than 100 different countries. The survey, which covered more than 335 airlines, measured 49 parameters ranging from boarding procedures to seat comfort to the quality of service.

Here’s the complete list of the 50 best airlines in the world, according to Skytrax:

1. Singapore Airlines
2. Qatar Airways
3. ANA/All Nippon
4. Emirates
5. EVA Air
6. Cathay Pacific
7. Lufthansa
8. Hainan Airlines
9. Garuda Indonesia
10. Thai Airways
11. Qantas Airways
12. Swiss International Air Lines
13. Japan Airlines/JAL
14. China Southern Airlines
15. Etihad Airways
16. Austrian Airlines
17. Air New Zealand
18. Turkish Airlines
19. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
20. Hong Kong Airlines
21. Bangkok Airways
22. Virgin Australia
23. Aeroflot
24. Asiana Airlines
25. Air France
26. Cathay Dragon
27. Finnair
28. AirAsia
29. Virgin Atlantic
30. Air Canada
31. British Airways
32. Norwegian
33. Korean Air
34. Malaysia Airlines
35. China Airlines
36. Aer Lingus
37. Delta Air Lines
38. Alaska Airlines
39. Aegean Airlines
40. Ethiopian Airlines
41. Iberia
42. JetBlue Airways
43. EasyJet
44. Oman Air
45. South African Airways
46. Jetstar Airways
47. AirAsia X
48. Air Astana
49. Philippine Airlines
50. Vietnam Airlines