Air New Zealand is being honoured for the second consecutive year for its award winning in-flight innovations, record financial performance, operational safety and motivation of its staff that have stamped the airline an industry trendsetter.

     The AirlineRatings.com editorial team, one of the world's most awarded and experienced, praised Air New Zealand's commitment to a young technologically advanced fleet and its continual focus on the environment.  The airline also won Best Premium Economy Class.

     Airlineratings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas said: "Quite simply Air New Zealand is an airline of first choice. And given the airline's location and the country's size its performance is even more remarkable."

     Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Christopher Luxon says the airline is thrilled to receive the prestigious accolade two years in a row.

     "It's been an incredibly exciting year for Air New Zealand and this award recognises the outstanding efforts of our 11,000 employees globally. We've invested in new aircraft and enhancements to the customer experience and continued our strong focus on cost control and operational excellence. We head into our 75th anniversary year well positioned to continue sustainably growing Air New Zealand."

     Other winners in the Airline Excellence Awards are: Etihad, Emirates, Qantas, Scoot, EVA Air, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa, JetBlue, Norwegian, Thai International, Bangkok Airways, Lan Chile, Virgin Australia  and Kulula.com

     Scooping three awards, Qantas, has been awarded Best Domestic Service, Best Catering and Best Lounges. The editors noted that Qantas is consistently amongst the finest airlines in the industry across all aspects of service delivery and operational safety.

     AirlineRatings.com editors singled out Qantas' domestic economy class product stating that it was clearly the world's best while the airline's lounges are outstanding.

     Etihad Airways was voted Best First Class for its new upgraded product unveiled this year, while Cathay Pacific picked up Best Business Class.

     Best Economy Class went to Thai Airways and Best In-Flight Entertainment to Emirates.

     Virgin Australia won Best New World Carrier, an award that recognizes the transformation that many airlines are trying to meet rapidly changing market demands. The airline also picked up Best Cabin Crew for its outstanding staff.

     For value and safety in the Low Cost Airline sector the editors selected JetBlue for the Americas, Norwegian in Europe, Kulula.com for the Middle-East/Africa and newcomer Scoot for Asia/Pacific. The editors noted that these airlines are clear industry leaders in innovation and bringing people together.

     For excellence in Long Haul travel the editors selected Lan Chile for the Americas, Lufthansa for Europe as well as Etihad for the Middle-East/Africa and EVA Air for Asia/Pacific.

     AirlineRatings.com has also announced its top ten airlines for 2015.

     Heading the list is Air New Zealand followed by Etihad, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, EVA Air, Lufthansa, All Nippon Airways and British Airways.