Measured on six main pillars, the Dubai airline tops in global, regional and UK trends; Singapore Airlines edges it to second in Asia.
Emirates Airline recorded the highest overall reputation score among eight global airlines tracked in the UAE in a new report published by CARMA.
The report covered British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, Malaysian Airlines, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, and Saudia. It is based on data collected from traditional and social media, as well as audience research from key markets, including the UK, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. CARMA analysed 1,151 articles and processed data from over 1,500 respondents between January and May 2024.
The airlines were ranked according to six core pillars: Products and services, culture, sustainability, conduct, performance, and vision. It highlights how media reports, social media discussions, and audience perception shaped the reputation of these global brands.
Orla Graham, Global Insights Consultant at CARMA, commented: “The report demonstrated that audience perceptions through direct research are more important and often lead to a reality check for professionals and brands alike. It’s clear that social media and traditional media may not always reflect the actual opinions of the general audience.”
The report highlighted that Emirates enjoys strong brand loyalty in its home region of the UAE and Saudi Arabia and showed that the airline performed well across various markets, except for Malaysia, where its reputation was weakest in terms of vision. Despite facing challenges such as flooding in Dubai, Emirates maintained a positive reputation, due to its strong connection with consumers and proactive communications.
In global trends, Emirates garnered an overall Reputation Score of 65 with scores of 76 in products & services, 67 in culture, 52 in sustainability, 57 in conduct, 71 in performance and 65 in vision. That was substantially better than British Airways, which had a Reputation Score of 50. The airline scored best (57) in vision, and worst (44) in conduct.
Emirates was once again the leader in regional trends for the UAE and Saudi, topping a survey of five airlines – Etihad, Qatar Airways, British and Saudia being the others.
Emirates’ Reputation Score in the region was a high 71, followed by Etihad (67), Qatar (66), Saudia (65) and British Airways (56). Emirates garnered the best scores in products & services (79), culture (75), performance (75) and vision (73). Etihad topped conduct with 70 points, while Qatar Airways and Saudia had the best sustainability reputations (59 each).
The Dubai airline scored again in the UK, topping the table with a 55-point Reputation Score compared to Singapore Airlines’ 53 and British Airways’ 50. Malaysian Airlines had the worst reputation in the UK, with a 36-point score.
The only surveyed region where Emirates was not rated the best was Asia, where it fell behind Singapore Airlines (65 total score). The Island Nation’s airline scored higher across all pillars except vision, where Emirates (61 total) scored higher. British Airlines (50), Cathay Pacific (47) and Malaysian (44), were the other surveyed airlines.
‘Reputation by CARMA’ is the latest service offering by CARMA, a media intelligence provider. To commemorate the launch, the company published the inaugural Airline Reputation Report.
Mazen Nahawi, Global CEO of CARMA, added: “Reputation by CARMA is a milestone in our commitment to helping brands build and protect their corporate reputation. This service offers businesses data-driven insights to understand what drives their reputation, helping them make informed decisions that safeguard brand value in today’s complex media landscape.”
This was originally published on Arabian Business.
