A worldwide survey of air travellers has determined the Skytrax World Airline Awards, recognising Qatar Airlines as a repeat win for the Best Airline in 2012.

Air Canada was awarded the ‘Best International Airline’ in North America for the third consecutive year and Virgin Australia took out the award for ‘Best Airline’ and ‘Best Staff Service’ in the Australia Pacific region.

Qantas again slipped in position of the Best Airline category, this year not even placing in the top 10.

The ‘World’s Best Airline Alliance’ was awarded to Star Alliance followed by oneworld then SkyTeam.

In the ‘Low Cost Airline’ category, AirAsia took out top honours with Virgin America and Jetstar rounding out the top three.

The annual survey is regarded as a key benchmarking tool for airline passenger satisfaction levels, canvassed the opinions of over 18 million airline passengers worldwide over a 10-month period and including over 200 domestic and international airlines.

For all results from the awards, please visit http://www.worldairlineawards.com/index.htm