Etihad Airways

Etihad Airways jumps into the top ten league for the first time. Etihad Airways was set up as the National Airline of the United Arab Emirates in July 2003 by a Royal decree issued by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, then the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Dr Sheikh Ahmed bin Saif Al Nahyan was appointed Chairman of the airline.
The Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways is expanding services at a fast pace. On November 12, 2003, the airline started commercial operations with the launch of a service to Beirut. Soon the company started adding one new route a month. By June 2006, it started flying to over 30 destinations.
By 2010, the company plans to fly to 70 destinations. Etihad was the first to launch a direct flight from the UAE to Geneva (June 2004), Brussels and Toronto (October 2005) and first-ever non-stop flight from Abu Dhabi to Johannesburg.

Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand is the 8th best airline in the world. It offers passenger and cargo transport services within New Zealand, Australia, the South West Pacific, Asia, North America and the United Kingdom.
Its main hub is Auckland Airport in New Zealand. Air New Zealand began as TEAL (Tasman Empire Airways Limited) in 1940. Today, it has a fleet of 60 aircraft. The airline has gained reputation for innovative and outstanding passenger services at a fair price. Rob Fyfe is the CEO of the company.

Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways, a 5-star airline is ranked No.7 in the world. It also bagged the award for ?Best Airline? and 'Best Cabin Staff' for the Middle East region and 'Best Business Class Catering' category.
Qatar has seen an average growth of 35 per cent year-on-year for the past 10 years. The airline is known for high quality services. Akbar Al Baker is the CEO. It has a fleet size of 65 aircraft flying to over 80 international destinations.

Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific is ranked 2nd best airline in the world. It also bagged the award for the world's 'Best First Class', for their new onboard 1st Class product and service concept.
Hong Kong?s largest airline, Cathay offers passenger and cargo services to 120 destinations worldwide. Cathay Pacific is one of only six airlines worldwide to carry a five-star rating from Skytrax. Cathay Pacific Airways was founded in Hong Kong on 24 September 1946 by former air force pilots Roy Farrell and Australian Sydney de Kantzow. The Cathay Pacific Group, including Dragonair and Air Hong Kong, now operates more than 150 aircraft to 130 destinations across the world.
Eighteen years after the company was founded, it celebrated carrying one million passengers. Nine years later, in 1973, the airline had a record of one million people every year. Today, the airline flies about one million passengers each month. Tony Tyler is the CEO of the company.

Singapore

Singapore Airlines has been ranked as the world's best airline for the 3rd time in a decade. The awards are given every year by the Skytrax, which conducts a world airline survey. Singapore Airlines also bagged the award for offering the 'Best Business Class'.
Singapore Airlines took off with three flights per week in the beginning. Today, their network spans across 103 destinations in 41 countries. Singapore Airlines was ranked 17th in 'Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies' rankings in 2007. The airline is known the world over for its innovation, safety and service excellence and profitability. The airline boasts of excellent inflight telecommunication, entertainment services and luxurious amenities that make flying a memorable experience.
The airline started its services on 1 May 1947. Singapore Airlines is also the first airline to fly the world's largest aircraft, the A380. The average age of the passenger fleet is about 6 years. Chew Choon Sen is the company's CEO.
The World Airline Awards are based on the annual World Airline Survey by Skytrax - carried out between August 2007 and June 2008. Which are the other top airlines of the world? Find out...

2005 GULFSTREAM G550

This luxury Gulfstream G550 sits 14 passengers in beautiful leather seating configuration and is equipped with a conference table, two lavatories, two coffee makers, a high temperature oven and microwave, a dish washer, china and crystal storage, a stainless steel sink, two ice compartments, a thermoelectric cooled food storage compartment, a thirty gallon pressurized water system, a hot water heater and air conditioning. This airplane also comes with Internet access, printer and fax machine. The cabin video equipment includes two DVD players, one 20 Inch LCD monitor, one 17 Inch LCD monitor, seven 7 Inch LCD monitors and three more smaller LCD monitors. Additionally there are two digital multi-system converters, two color touch screen remote controls, two RF remote controls and ten 115 volt AC electrical outlets. Also included in this configuration is a fuselage mount forward view camera, fuselage mount aft view camera and a tail mounted camera. While the passenger audio systems includes ten mid range speakers, four subwoofer speakers, seven pages system speakers, 16 stereo headphone jacks and headphones and one CD player.

Etihad Airline’s Diamond Seat

The world’s leading new airline, Etihad Airways are back onto the top-luxury slot with their in-flight innovation with the arrival of its new purpose-built Airbus 340-500 and the revolutionary Diamond Seat. The luxury seat can rotate 180 degrees, enabling guests to hold meetings and dine with one another, all in the Diamond zone’s luxurious surroundings. The seat also features a 23′ personal LCD video screen and mood lighting to add to the luxury travel experience. Besides the 180 degrees swivel feature, the seat also features a six-way movement headrest with built-in massage facility and the seat even converts into luxurious 6 feet 1 inch flat bed at the touch of a button to provide home like comforts when traveling. The Diamond zone is also equipped with fold-and-swivel meal tables, an integrated personal mirror, pneumatic lumbar support, reading light and desk lamp apart from the surrounding luxuries that includes a coatroom and mini-bar. So, if you think traveling is a weary-experience then you need to discover the new levels of comfort when traveling with Etihad Airways revolutionary Diamond Seat.