dusordua

EK is runner up for the second year (last years winner: Cathay Pacific).
This is the result of the survey of more then 10 Million questionnaires (published yesterday).

EK is the winner between Middle East Airlines.

EK's Economy Class is rated best of all airlines.

See the full results here: http://www.airlinequality.com/2004/group_results.htm

Land-of-Miles

There is some interesting commentary on the "methodology" and approach of the Skytrax survey on the Qantas board (sorry since the site update, I seem to be struggling to post links).

No serious traveller in J or F could possibly give EK such a good rating, and what is so fantastic about EK Y, compared to some of the competition this seems a bit of a joke.

dusordua

I am travelling EK, UA and LH in C and Y.
In quality and quantity of food and beverages wins EK in both classes.
In entertainment EK wins in both classes.
My problem with EK comes with the comfort of the seats in Y and C.
May be lot of other people who are not so tall, don't have this problem and I do not see it as a joke when they vote for EK!

Land-of-Miles

No what is a joke is that EK is rated so well for food and wine quality etc. IN COMPARISON to some other airlines. The J and F seat and product (except perhaps F on the new A340) bear no comparison with BA/CX/QF/SIN/VS etc. I never see much of Y so can't objectively comment (although with no PTV's LH is at an obvious disadvantage here). I do not personally know a single individual who has been anything less than disappointed with J or F on EK. It might be argued that EK is good value for money, but on all other objective product criteria no way does it deserve to do as well as it consistently does in these "surveys". I understand you finding EK service better than LH or UA, but then they are hardly product leading comparators are they?

My point was that some other results of the Skytrax "survey" are distinctly odd, look at the position of Thai for instance (which by most objective criteria provides woeful product and service) yet is rated higher than BA etc. The post i referred to on the Qantas board appears to draw a link between the consulting activities of Skytrax and the ratings given to airlines. I can't comment on this, but there has to be some explanation for results that seem so odd.

Swiss Tony

Land of miles, it's a shame we don't know one another personally ..

I'll be getting on EK tomorrow in J and it's always good to see how things change. Over the last 12 months, i've used the following in premium long haul...

EK C x 4
SQ C x 1
BA C x 1
KL C x 1
UA F x 2
UA C x 2

So that averages out at 1 a month - no where near as many as some, but two advantages I think

1) I appreciate it more
2) It stops one flight from blurring into the next

If I rate these flights in order, you get the following

SQ was excellent - 6 pax in the front of a 777 - I think the crew outnumbered us!
UA's C product (last month) had superb crew service and decent food
UA's F product (Dec/Jan) left me underwhelmed, although the suite was good.
BA - well the flat seat is fine, but I found the service cold and the food uninspiring. The fact they make such a song & dance over serving Nescafe coffee is beyond me.
KL - Very bumpy flight, ife stuck on a single channel, awful lounge, passable food, poor selection of wine IIRC
EK - Excellent food other than the pasta. Good wine choice, great lounge at DXB, free limo in the UK, erratic service on 1 flight (the shortest), good service on 2, SQ level service on 1.

From my experience, that puts EK joint 2nd with UA, above KL & BA, and below SQ. If someone had told me i'd rate UA above BA, i'd have told them where to go, but that's the facts.

Will be interested to see how EK fare tomorrow & will post a report...

Must add though that the objectivity of these surveys when the parent company obviously relies on some ad spend is questionable...