EMIRATES NAMED BEST AIRLINE IN THE WORLD FOR 2016

An Emirates Airbus A380.

Emirates has been named the best airline in the world for 2016 by the leading consumer-aviation website Skytrax.

The Dubai-based airline was presented with the award Tuesday at a ceremony during the 2016 Farnborough Airshow.

This is the fourth time Emirates has garnered this honor in the past 15 years and is its first win since 2013.

Last year's top airline, Qatar Airways, finished second.

"We are honored to be recognized by the prestigious Skytrax awards," Emirates president Sir Tim Clark said in a statement. "Emirates has always put our customers at the heart of what we do, and we work hard to deliver the very best experience possible to our customers at every touchpoint, every day, all around the world.

"The fact that these awards are based on the direct feedback from passengers is gratifying and wonderful recognition for all of the hard work that's gone into creating the Emirates experience."

The Persian Gulf-based airline also took home the prize for best in-flight entertainment, or IFE. Emirates has won that award in each of the past 12 years.

"The IFE that Emirates provides is a continued focal point for passenger praise, and it is important to note that customers were not only impressed with the programming but also the superior hardware standards, particularly for the A380 fleet," Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted said in a statement.

Emirates is the world's largest international airline, with a fleet of 250 wide-body airliners. It is the world's largest operator of the Boeing 777 and the Airbus A380 superjumbo.

Turkish Airlines took home the honors for best airline in Europe, while Norwegian won for best long-haul, low-cost airline in the world and best low-cost airline in Europe.

The Skytrax awards are decided based on independent surveys completed by nearly 20 million passengers from 104 countries.

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