ATW names Air New Zealand 2012 Airline of the Year

OMG, have the judges flown with ANZ. The flights are expensive (no real competition between NZ and USA), the ground staff are rude, and the seat layout in economy on the long-haul flights is marginal.

What a travesty.

sorry, but this is a joke. Worst airline in the world

Well deserved!! Ive recently flown with AirNZ and was amazed by everything. The staff I foudn to be quite professional and the plans itself was BEAUTIFUL ... loved the black trimming, quite befitting. Flight experience was awesome and didnt want to get off the plane when I arrived at my destination. Auckland Airport too is breathtaking. One of the best airports in the world (top ten I believe). Very well done NZ, keep up the good work!

Have YOU flown with ANZ often?
Its a fantastic airline with helpful and dedicated staff who offer unparalleled service? Try getting a smile out of a Qantas/American Airlines staff member that isn't dripping with acidic disdain.

I fly with Air New Zealand whenever I can, even when there is a cheaper airline about purely because of their dedication to the whole flying experience. Their ground staff are lovely, efficient and helpful and their inflight options are unrivalled anywhere in the Southern Hemisphere.

Anonymous; I think you need to spend a little less time online and a take a good look at airline service around the world and you too will realise what an asset AirNZ really is to the industry as a whole.

I have flown Air NZ to the States 4 times in 18 months and I have no idea what you're talking about. All staff are friendly and helpful and seating/pricing isn't any worse than any other airline. It is by far the best out there. You just sound bitter!

I could not agree more with the previous comments, and obviously they never interviewed either passengers or staff, who have the lowest morale possible due to total mismanagement. Awarding a so-called prestigious award to a second-rate airline (who have some very old aircraft) denigrates the whole idea and is an insult to those airlines who actually meet the criteria.

I completely disagree with your comments - given you haven't placed your name and are happy to hide behind "anonymous" I cannot take your comment seriously.

As a proud Air NZ frequent flyer, I have found them to be well deserving of this achievement. One need only travel through the USA or Europe with awful airlines such as AA, Delta or really any airline to understand the difference you get with Air NZ. I need only to recall a recent trip from LAX to JFK in a tired old 767-200 with AA which I understand was close to 20 years old to see the difference. How many airlines these days are making a profit as well?

Granted there are few airlines flying direct from US to NZ (Qantas, and Air NZ at the moment) but there are plenty of other airlines which will get you there via Australia, or one of the pacific islands. I suggest you try them and see how you fare...

Congratulations Air NZ - I'm very proud!

I think you'll find the ground staff outside of nz are often locals of that nation, or employed locally and services to air nz. I find the nz based staff fantastic, but often while travelling from Australia the qantas staff man their desks and are pretty horrible. As for the cost, well you get what you pay for, and contrary to your opinion, they are rated highly.

I had numerous flights, international and domestic, by Air New Zealand since 2005, both economy and business classes, love it - best in the world (I can compare, for I travel a lot by various airlines to various places). Staff takes care of you as if you are a baby)), great food and service, planes and bookings easy. yes, they are probably more expensive than airlines in the US, but New Zealand is a small country in comparison, not much competition too. I am ready to pay for a good service though. Well deserved and congratulations to Air New Zealand. P.S. I am not a New Zealander.

Really, should an airline which is 79.9% (data AW&ST) state-owned even be considered for this award?

State ownership of airlines should be illegal. Why award an airline who's very existence kills competition? State-owned airlines can afford much higher costs, better service, newer airplanes etc. They prevent publicly traded airlines from making a profit. A state-owned airline shouldn't even be considered for this award.

How about this? ATW could always make two separate award categories. One for state-owned carriers and a category for airlines that actually have to make a profit.

The award is not for the year ahead, but for the year before, though it is announced in that year. That's common of awards anyway.

It is evident that Air New Zealand is leader in most of the markets it flies. They must be benefiting from passengers voting with their feet, and wallets / purses.

That's reason enough to award them this accolade.

it is enjoyable flying with air new zealand and pleasure to be a customer of that small nations semi state owned airline. what a wonderful achievment. with such as tiny annual gdp (aprox $120B) new zealand has developed a flagship airline that punches well above its wieght. well done, really inspiring.

I agree with you 100%

Well done ANZ

Surely Singapore or cathay for the best airline. Great service and new planes.

Brilliant choice! Great airline - innovative, forward looking, finding their own way and not just blindly adjusting to the competition like all (well most) of the rest.

NO airline is perfect ALL the time... I've flown Air NZ, KLM, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Emirates, Qatar, Etihad, Qantas, and British Airways and sometimes they're good, sometimes they're average.
An award like this isn't going to please everyone, obviously, but it was handed out by people IN the industry as opposed to those of us that just partake every now and again.

Gosh, there are some sour comments about the award to Air NZ! And what a coincidence, most of them are badly ill-informed as well.

What most commentators have overlooked is that in addition to flying some of the longest of long-haul routes, Air NZ has an extensive domestic and short-haul network, where due to the open skies policies of the NZ and Australian governments, competition is exceptionally fierce. Over the last few years, Air NZ has maintained and indeed increased its significant shares of the domestic and short-haul markets, due to all of the factors cited in the award announcement.

Well Deserved the work of NZ and ANA! Congratulations to both airlines. It demonstrates that 'smaller' airlines are able to transform innovatively with speed. These guys are hearing what customers want and are able to execute!

It is interesting Etihad winning the Passenger Service Award. Apart from the fact where does the money from - there is some learning for other airlines from Etihad as well.