"Saturday Special"Top airlines of the world

1.Qatar Airways

With its headquarters in Doha, Qatar Airways operates services across Africa, Central Asia, Europe, Far East, South Asia, Middle East, North and South America. One of the fastest growing airlines in the world, Qatar Airways is going through a major expansion phase. On June 22, 2011 the airline which employs more than 20,000 people was recognised as the world's best airline at the 2011 World Airline Awards. 2.Cathay Pacific Airways Cathay Pacific is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main office located at Hong Kong International Airport. In the year 2010, Cathay Pacific became the world's largest international cargo airline. The airline is a founding member of the One world alliance with its subsidiary, Dragonair, as an affiliate member. In the year 2009, Cathay Pacific was awarded the title Airline of the Year, by independent research consultancy firm Skytrax and is one of the seven airlines to be ranked a 5 star airline by the same. 3.Singapore Airlines The launch customer of Airbus A380, Singapore Airlines is the flag carrier airline of Singapore. It ranks amongst the top 15 carriers worldwide in terms of revenue passenger kilometres. On 15 December 2010, Singapore Airlines was announced by the International Air Transport Association as the world's second largest airline in the world by market capitalisation with a worth of 14 billion US dollars. 4.Thai Airways The largest airline of Thailand, Thai Airways primarily operates out of Suvarnabhumi Airport, from where it flies to 72 destinations in 35 countries, using a fleet of 92 aircraft. Thai plans to launch a regional carrier under the name Thai Smile in the middle of 2012 using new Airbus A320 aircraft. Thai Airways Thai airways has also received international recognition for excellence in its inflight hygiene measures by the World Health Organization (WHO). 5.Asiana Airlines Formerly Seoul airlines, Asiana Airlines is one of South Korea's two major airlines, along with Korean Air. A member of the Star Alliance, it offers 516 daily departures throughout Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania, operating 14 domestic and 85 international passenger routes. Asiana offers many unique features on board like a magic show, apart from its excellent food and also won the prestigious Airline of the year award by Skytrax for the year 2010. Air New Zealand Currently the only airline to circumnavigate the world, Air New Zealand is headquartered in a building called 'The Hub' located 20 kms from Auckland airport. New Zealand's national airline operates a long-haul fleet consisting of Boeing 747, Boeing 767, Boeing 777 and Airbus A320 aircraft on international routes. The carrier also utilises a fleet of Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 airliners for short-haul operations. 6. Qantas Airways Nicknamed 'The Flying Kangaroo' Qantas is based in Sydney. Besides being Australia's largest airline, Qantas which is an acronym for 'Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services', is the oldest continuously operated airline in the world. Qantas flies to 20 domestic destinations and 21 international destinations in 14 countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania. 7.Emirates Airways Operating over 2,400 flights per week, Emirates also operates three of the world's ten longest non-stop commercial flights from Dubai to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston and Dallas. It is wholly owned by the government of Dubai. The airline ranks among the top 10 carriers the world over in terms of revenue and passenger kilometres. Emirates Airways operates a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing wide-body aircraft and is one of only nine airlines to operate an all-wide-body aircraft fleet, with the Boeing 777 being the centrepiece. 8.Etihad Airways Awarded the World's Leading Airline in 2009 and 2010 by the World Travel Awards, Etihad Airways is the flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates. The airlines operates more than 1,200 flights per week to over 82 destinations in nearly 52 countries. Etihad Airways is led by James Hogan who is the former CEO of Gulf Air, who was appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer on the 10 of September, 2006. 9.Malaysia Airlines Malaysia Airlines is the government owned flag carrier of Malaysia. It has two airline subsidiaries Firefly and MASwings. While Firefly operates scheduled flights from its two home bases Penang and Subang International Airport. Malaysia Airlines is one of the seven airlines to be ranked as a 5-star airline by the consultancy firm Skytrax. 10. Turkish Airlines As of 30 June, 2011, the flagship carrier of Turkey, Turkish Airlines has an estimated 18,188 employees and has been a member of the Star Alliance network. Other airline companies that are owned or co-owned by Turkish Airlines include AnadoluJet, North Cyprus Airlines, SunExpress and B&H Airlines.