Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has brought home top honours at the World Travel Awards, taking the World’s Leading Airline title for the fourth year in a row.

The awards were announced at a black-tie gala event at The Oberoi, Gurgaon in New Delhi, India.

Etihad Airways also received recognition for its Diamond First Class product, named the World’s Leading First Class.

The World Travel Awards were established in 1993 to seek out and reward the very best travel organisations in the world, acknowledging the elite organisations in their respective fields through a global industry vote.

In 2012, nearly 650,000 votes were cast by travel professionals from 191 countries.

The World Travel Awards have achieved top industry status and been named by the Wall Street Journal as the “Oscars of the Travel Industry”.

Etihad Airways president James Hogan said: “I am delighted that Etihad Airways has again been named the World’s Leading Airline. Particularly in our region, the competition is strong, so this is a fantastic way to round out what has been an exceptional year for us.

“We have received this award for four consecutive years and every year we have sought to raise our standards even higher.

“We are consistently good, but we are always considering ways to enhance our guest offering even further and provide the best experience in the skies.”

At the 2012 World Travel Awards Middle East, held in May in Dubai, Etihad Airways received four top awards for the region.

The accolades included: Middle East’s Leading Airline; Middle East’s Leading Airline First Class; Middle East’s Leading Airline Inflight Entertainment; and Middle East’s Leading Cabin Staff.

Graham Cooke, World Travel Awards, president, said: “The World Travel Awards reward the best travel and tourism organisations in the world.

“Etihad Airways has now taken home the top airline award for the past four years, a huge and well-deserved achievement.

“As the fastest growing airline in the history of commercial aviation, Etihad Airways has expanded rapidly as a global business yet at the same time has consistently elevated the customer experience.

“Congratulations to Etihad Airways on their continued success.”