It is voted on by about 18 million passengers. Seems like a pretty honest snapshot of opinions with such a large sampling.

My opinion only here, but I suppose I disagree somewhat without really knowing the methodology they use(or which "passengers" they survey). I am all for the wisdom of crowds, but does Skytrax even release what their criteria is for selecting their sample? Given how different my own opinions are of those airlines, based on me flying most of them pretty extensively, something is clearly amiss with many of their ratings.

I do know that my cousin - he's 14 years old - got an "independent customer satisfaction survey" he was excited about on a flight last year returning from Europe, which I suspect was Skytrax. He flies internationally once every year or two, and while an awesome kid I don't really care for his opinion as to which J class I should try. I strongly suspect others surveyed are airplane fanboys who rarely actually fly in the product. For an assessment of the best, I'd expect they survey only those passengers who fly enough to actually have an educated opinion about it. Otherwise it's just for entertainment purposes only, but as of now I know I certainly don't bother referring to Skytrax when making bookings.

sorry for the confusion, the bloody mary in SQ economy is mixed by the FA's and is alcoholic... while the CX bloody mary in economy is from a can, and most likely non alcoholic..

the difference of Y cocktails of SQ vs their J cocktails, is the cocktails in SQ Y are in a plastic cups vs real cocktail glasses in J.... hmm.. maybe Qantas also beause they give out several premium australian small wine bottles in Y, as well as some premium australian non alcoholic drinks like Bundaberg ginger beer or Appletizer in Y.

but in CX, when flying Y, I only get cocktails mixed from the long bar in the HK lounges, but not inflight.

SQ Y is better than CX Y, honestly, I look forward to the airline food and drinks in SQ Y.. but never in CX Y.

but in long haul J, CX is definitely better than SQ...

that is the reason why op ups are greatly discussed here in this forum and is a premium unpublished benefits for MPC elites... and also why several MPC elites are raising a howl on the instant DM or gold from AMEX platinum as this reduced their upgrade chances by non legitimate CX frequent fliers

CX is lacking in Y vs other premium airlines, but their long haul J is very very good.

So more or less, as a flier of different airlines, I do agree somewhat to the skytrax poll results

Yep...here it is:
http://www.worldairlineawards.com/main/mthds.htm

CX vs SQ
 

I finally flew CX's new J-class (on a 777).

It was nice, but I think SQ's long-haul J still wins on the following
* bigger seats - yes those brown extra-wide leather seats are awesome. I can sit with my legs crossed.
* food and wine - food was honestly similar to AA's (INTL flights only..). In fact at least in AA I'm always very full.
* the screen is not in my face and doesn't have to be stowed on take off and landing

Cathay wins on
* The triangular desk-like space is useful as I can work and dine at the same time

SQ's service is very professional, while Cathay's is a mix between AA's sometimes chummy FA's and SQ's professional ones.

I enjoyed it and would probably fly CX long-haul again given the price diff compared to SQ.

^+1

Personally, I find the food and wine on CX J to be very average compared to SQ (where as others mentioned have a BTC feature) and QF.

Hard product: I've finally managed to try the 77W new longhaul J product twice to/from Europe now. It was OK apart from the fact that was pretty hard to sleep on the side compared to the Skybed's on QF and old SQ J (never tried the new one yet!)!

+1 to the extra space though for drinks etc on the side.

18 million is a joke its all done my airline staff and friends and no one ever audits the claims of skytrax which is simply a joke of a company that bullies airlines into working with them.

Flying SQ biz class for me is always hard work, the staff are so stuck up and the product is just not as good as CX. Overall I have to say that my 10 or so flights a year on SQ compared to about 75 with CX are just not enjoyable.

I've gotten that once and I was really impressed. It's the fabled 1970s service every old fart speaks of. :p

To be honest, when/if I choose to fly CX I am making a conscious decision to leave behind the plusses of other airlines, e.g. better food, because I want the things that I like about CX more - throughout most aspects of service, they have a judicious eye on what to offer guests, as well as how much of it. That comes part and parcel with its caveats - noone can be everything to everyone.

Perhaps it's that I spent the past decade on some very badly-managed airlines, that I enjoy CX today and find them to be professional and robust most of the time. I still recall when the J crew of a certain European carrier once just decided to lie to me and forgot about a certain drink request they didn't want to fulfill. They had lie-flat seating intra-asia, but did it matter? HELL NO. :p

Hi Folks, Am flying J class LHR-HKG in December and wondered if it will be Mr & Mrs T bloody mary mix they use? Thai served it the last time I flew with them, and it just the right blend for me (with a nice large slug of vodka of course) ;)

I've flown CX J transpac maybe 8 times. I can't stand the seats. They're very cramped and confining unless all the way flat. I end up in F all the time since I dislike it so much. I haven't flown the new Biz configuration yet, but from the looks of it, I think I'll no longer be flying in F. I just flew SQ J SFO-HKG RT and although a little dated, the room provided was exceptional. The food was better, the wine was better, and if the IFE is worse than CX, it isn't by much. IMO though, I'd take J in Asiana's 'quadra smartium' seats over all competitors transpac in J. ICN is a great airport too. wj

Clearly the wine wasn't taken into consideration. ;)