Qantas falls from world's top airlines list

Qantas has been bumped out of the world's top 10 airlines only one year after it scraped back into the illustrious list.

The national carrier has been ranked the top of the Australia/Pacific region but dropped to 11th internationally, one spot lower than it was last year in the World Airline Awards run by research firm Skytrax.

The result marks only the second time Qantas has fallen out of the top 10, while Cathay Pacific has become the first airline to take out the title four times, Fairfax Media reports.

Asian and Middle Easter airlines dominated the top 10, with Turkish Airlines and Germany's Lufthansa the only European carriers to make the list.

Qantas peaked at No.3 in the world in 2008 but fell to its lowest ranking of 15th in 2012.

Though its result this year is its second-lowest ever rank, it is still rated ahead of Virgin Australia, Air New Zealand and Jetstar.

The success for Cathay Pacific comes after a $HK4.9 billion ($670 million) investment revamping its cabins.

The Skytrax awards cover 245 airlines worldwide and are based on the survey of 18.85 million passengers from 160 countries.

World's top 10 airlines
1. Cathay Pacific Airways
2. Qatar Airways
3. Singapore Airlines
4. Emirates
5. Turkish Airlines
6. ANA All Nippon Airways
7. Garuda Indonesia
8. Asiana Airlines
9. Etihad Airways
10. Lufthansa

Source: Skytrax World Airline Awards, The Age.