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It is an annual celebration of the best airlines in the world, but British Airways failed to make the cut... yet again.

The World Airline Awards named Cathay Pacific the best carrier in the world and listed the 10 best airlines globally - but not a single British carrier was mentioned.

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific beat last year's winner Emirates to claim the title, which is decided by the votes of millions of travellers.

Omission: British Airways was no where to be seen as Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines were the only European carriers to get a mention in the Top Airline category

Just two of the top 10 airlines in the world were European, with Turkish Airlines taking fifth place and Lufthansa in tenth.

The rest of the list was dominated by Middle Eastern and Asian Airlines, with even Australian favourite Qantas failing to make the cut.

However, there was some UK success, with charter airline Thomson being named best leisure airline in the world.

Thomas Cook took fourth place, with Monarch in fifth in the leisure category.

And when it comes to low-cost airlines, Asian and American carriers dominated the list.

While easyJet came in sixth place, Ryanair wasn't in the top 10 at all.

Air Asia and Air Asia X took first and second place for budget carriers, followed by Norwegian, the airline currently making waves by offering flights from London to the US from £149 one way.

Winners: Hong Kong firm Cathay Pacific claimed the title from last year's victors Emirates

But the champion of the awards was Cathay Pacific, with its first victory in the most prestigious category in five years.

They also came second in the Best Cabin Crew category, behind Garuda Indonesia.

Singapore, Asiana and Malaysia Airlines also made it into the top five for cabin crew, with British carriers once again conspicuously absent.

BEST BUDGET AIRLINES IN THE WORLD

1     AirAsia
2     AirAsia X
3     Norwegian
4     Jetstar Airways
5     IndiGo
6     easyJet
7     WestJet
8     Virgin America
9     Jetstar Asia
10   Scoot

MOST IMPROVED CARRIERS IN THE WORLD

1.     Hong Kong Airlines
2.     Saudi Arabian Airlines
3.     Royal Air Maroc
4.     TAAG Angola Airlines
5.     Iberia
6.     Sky Airline
7.     Air France
8.     Aeroflot Russian Airlines
9.     Air Mauritius
10.   Kenya Airways

In fifth place: Turkish Airlines

In tenth place: Lufthansa

Collecting the award, Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Ivan Chu said that he was 'extremely proud, for both Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong' to receive this honour'. 

 

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He added: 'As the home airline of Hong Kong, we take great pride in putting the city on the international stage by winning this prestigious award once again.

'The World's Best Airline award is particularly important to us because it was decided by the votes of close to 19 million travellers from around the world.

'Thank you to everyone who voted for us!'