China Southern Airlines had been upgraded to world four-star status for 2011, Skytrax announced at a ceremony in Guangzhou yesterday (Jan 25).
Southern Airlines became only the second airline in China to achieve this status, it said.
Skytrax is a London-based research and certification organization for the aviation industry. It evaluates more than 200 airlines around the world each year for service quality.
Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax, said the launch of new product quality standards for long-haul international routes operated by A330 aircraft was the catalyst behind the upgrading of the star ranking.
China Southern Airlines fleet comprises 342 aircraft, including Boeing 777, 757, 737 and Airbus A330, 321, 320, 319 and 300 aircraft with destinations in 162 countries.
The star rankings reflect customer experience not just the platform of product standards offered by an airline such as cabin seating, in-flight entertainment and catering, but the assessment of service quality using a rating system of more than 800 different areas of product and service delivery for each airline.
Star ratings for the airline industry can vary from one to five stars, with "five stars" being the highest rating.
Globally, only 36 airlines had been awarded four-star level or above, accounting for 15 percent of the total.
(By Han Ximin, Duan Huajian)
