Hanoi (VNA) – The national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has been honoured withthe Four-Star Official Airline Ratings by the Airline Passenger ExperienceAssociation (APEX).

The award washanded over to the airline during the APEX EXPO in Boston, the US, VietnamAirlines said on September 28.

APEX is the only non-profit membership trade associationdedicated to improving the entire airline passenger experience.

TheAPEX Official Airline Ratings were created based on passenger feedback gatheredthrough APEX's partnership with TripItfrom Concur, the world'shighest-rated travel-organising app. 

Usinga five-star scale, more than one million flights were rated by passengersacross nearly 500 airlines from around the world between July 1, 2017, and June 30,2018. 

First,passengers rated their overall flight experience from one to fivestars. On the same screen, passengers were given the opportunity toprovide anonymous ratings in five subcategories: seat comfort, cabinservice, food and beverage, entertainment and Wi-Fi. The singlescreen rating allows airline passengers to easily rate their flight in lessthan 15 seconds.

Atthe prestigious four-star airlines level, only 23 global airlines attained thestatus. An additional 17 major regional airlines received the four-star airlinestatus. 

Theyear 2018 has seen the improvement of Vietnam Airlines in service quality, aimingto meeting increasing demands of passengers, with Vietnamese culture deeplyembedded in its products and services. 

Through the introduction of traditional “Pho”(noodle) and seasonal specialties such as “Thieu” lychee and longan, Vietnamesecuisine has become a highlight on each flight.

InJuly, the carrier received a four-star certificate by Skytrax for the thirdconsecutive year.

 It was listed as a top Asian airline in 2018by tourism website Trip Advisor.

VietnamAirlines has also received two prestigious awards of “World’s Leading CulturalAirline” and “World’s Leading Airline –Premium Economy Class” in the WorldTravel Awards.

In2017, the carrier recorded sales of 88.4 trillion VND (3.7 million USD) andcarried 26.5 million passengers. Its on-time performance index (OTP) exceeded90 percent.-VNA