TAIWAN’s China Airlines claimed two honours for the business class cabin design of its new Airbus A350 aircraft in the 2016 global carrier rankings released on Jan 5 by industry news and reviews website The Design Air (TDA), continuing the company’s strong showing in international service awards.

The carrier based in northern Taiwan’s Taoyuan City won the prizes for Best Business Class Design and Best New Business Class in the fourth edition of the website’s annual rankings. While the former category was judged by TDA, the latter was among six categories — brand, business class, first class, livery, lounge and uniforms — that were decided for the first time by public vote.

“It was little surprise to see that the winners were in line with our own opinion,” according to TDA, which praised the Taiwan airline’s A350 business class cabins for their lighting, sky lounges and high-tech seats “appointed with luxurious finishes and paired with deeply comfortable soft products”.

Since the launch of services last September, the Taiwan carrier’s new A350 planes have won a number of prominent international honours. The airline claimed four prizes, for its business seats, economy seats, interior lighting and onboard bars, in the transportation equipment and facilities category of Japan’s Good Design Award in the same month.

Last December, the carrier’s new fleet garnered the Best Business-class Seat Design title in the 2016 Tested Reader Survey Awards from US-based Global Traveler (GT) magazine, which also named the carrier Best Airline in North Asia excluding mainland China for the fourth consecutive year.

According to GT, the winners were chosen by more than 22,000 qualified ballots from frequent luxury travellers. EVA Airways, another Taiwan-based international carrier, picked up Best Airport Staff/Gate Agents in the same survey. — Taiwan Today