An annual poll by the Observer and the Guardian newspapers attracted 17,000 responses from readers who assessed the quality and service of travel companies and airlines they had travelled with and the destinations they had visited.

The results were collated by an independent research company, which awarded points according to the way readers judged their entry - be it excellent, good, fair or poor.
Winners were then generated by dividing the number of entries by the number of points scored, with Emirates leading the field with an 86 per cent rating - beating off more than 40 other shortlisted carriers from across the globe.

Emirates took the top award for Best Leisure Airline, with Singapore Airlines runner-up.

The Observer Guardian Travel Awards were presented at a black-tie event in Boston, USA, where Jim Baxter, Emirates’ Manager North America & Canada, received the award on behalf of the airline.

Emirates has been awarded Best Airline by the Observer four times previously - in 1994, ‘96, ‘97 and ‘98.

This was the second year that the two sister newspapers had joined forces with a joint travel awards, with the airline category also split into two: Best Leisure Airline and Best Business Airline, which was won by Virgin Atlantic, followed by Lufthansa.

Commenting on the award, Emirates’ Group Managing Director Maurice Flanagan, said: “We are pleased to be recognised, yet again, by the readers of two of the UK’s most widely respected national newspapers. We have already been awarded Airline of the Year, for the third time in a row, by the Official Airline Guide, the requisite flight guide for the business traveller.

“Being voted also the best airline for the leisure traveller underlines our on-going commitment to promoting Dubai as an ideal family holiday destination, and the activities of our own holiday division.”

Emirates flies fives times a day to the UK, with three flights to London’s Heathrow airport and one flight each to London’s Gatwick airport and Manchester airport.
Emirates will begin a daily service to its fourth UK destination - Birmingham - on December 18, bringing the airline’s total daily flights to the UK to six and the weekly total of flights to 42.

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