It’s the 30th anniversary of the Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards, one of the most celebrated annual events in the travel industry calendar.
Taking an average of 19 business trips a year (pre-Covid), our readers are experts in assessing what constitutes the perfect flight and an exceptional hotel. Each year, we invite more than 30,000 of our loyal subscribers to cast their votes in our online Reader Poll and share their opinions on everything from the best brands to the most impressive in-flight experiences.
As we all know, the past 18 months have been extremely challenging for the travel industry, and we wanted the 2021 Awards to reflect that.
This year, we asked our readers to consider not just the last 12 months, but the last 24 months – taking into account their experiences before and during the various stages of the Covid crisis. We asked them to consider a range of factors: Were communications by travel companies effective and timely? Were good Covid measures put in place? Did they feel safe? How were they treated as part of a loyalty programme? Were rebookings, refunds and cancellations done sensitively and efficiently?
It’s a unique time for the travel industry, and we believe these changes mean that the 2021 Awards reflect a broader range of experiences than ever before.
The poll ran from July to September, with the results independently compiled by research agency, Business Intelligence. Winners were announced online on 27 October.
Here are the results.
AIRLINES AND AIRPORTS
BEST AIRLINE
1 Singapore Airlines 2 Qatar Airways 3 Cathay Pacific
BEST ASIA-PACIFIC AIRLINE
1 Singapore Airlines 2 Cathay Pacific 3 Thai Airways
BEST EUROPEAN AIRLINE
1 Lufthansa 2 British Airways 3 Swiss International Air Lines
BEST NORTH AMERICAN AIRLINE
1 Delta Airlines 2 American Airlines 3 United Airlines
BEST MIDDLE EASTERN/ AFRICAN AIRLINE
1 Qatar Airways 2 Emirates 3 Etihad Airways
BEST CHINESE AIRLINE
1 Air China 2 China Southern 3 Hainan Airlines
BEST LOW-COST AIRLINE
1 Air Asia 2 easyJet 3 Scoot
BEST AIRLINE FIRST CLASS
1 Singapore Airlines 2 Emirates 3 Cathay Pacific
BEST AIRLINE BUSINESS CLASS
1 Singapore Airlines 2 Qatar Airways 3 Cathay Pacific
BEST AIRLINE PREMIUM ECONOMY CLASS
1 Singapore Airlines 2 Cathay Pacific 3 Qantas
BEST AIRLINE ECONOMY CLASS
1 Singapore Airlines 2 Cathay Pacific 3 Emirates
BEST FREQUENT FLYER PROGRAMME
1 Cathay Pacific – Marco Polo Club 2 Singapore Airlines – KrisFlyer 3 BA – Executive Club
BEST BUSINESS CITY IN ASIA
1 Singapore 2 Hong Kong 3 Bangkok
BEST BUSINESS CITY IN THE WORLD
1 Singapore 2 London 3 Hong Kong
BEST AIRPORT IN
