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MIDDLE EASTERN AND Asian airlines have dominated an annual list of the world’s best airlines, based on passenger reviews.
Qatar Airways took out the top spot at this year’s Skytrax World Airline Awards, which were announced at the Paris Air Show, after last year finishing second in the rankings.
The passengers’ choice awards, which have been run for over 15 years by UK-based Skytrax, were based on over 18 million completed surveys covering everything from the friendliness of cabin crew to the quality of airline food.
Last year’s winner, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, slid to third in the rankings while Turkish Airlines and Australian national carrier Qantas were the only two airlines from outside the Middle East and eastern Asia to make the top 10.
Germany’s Lufthansa was the highest-placed European airline at 12th, down from 10th last year, while Virgin America was the top-rated North American carrier in 26th place.
Aer Lingus came in at 61st on the list, while Ryanair didn’t make the top 100 – or even the top-10 low cost airlines, a list which was headed by Malaysia’s AirAsia.
Labour pains
The award came as the International Labour Organisation, the UN’s labour agency, called on Qatar Airways, which is owned by the monarchist Gulf state, to scrap contracts that allowed it to sack female crew who fell pregnant.
It also criticised the airline for its rule that women workers could only be picked up from their jobs by their husbands or close male relatives.
Qatar Airways Group chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker thanked the airline’s staff for their help in achieving the award following its announcement.
Our passengers are at the heart of everything we do at Qatar Airways, and we are very proud to be recognised by them,” he said.
South Korean Asiana Airlines was rated as the best economy-class carrier and Singapore Airlines the top business-class operator. Garuda Indonesia was declared the top airline for cabin staff.
1. Qatar Airways (2)
2. Singapore Airlines (3)
3. Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong (1)
4. Turkish Airlines (5)
5. Emirates (4)
6. Etihad Airways, UAE (9)
7. All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan (6)
8. Garuda Indonesia (7)
9. EVA Air, Taiwan (12)
10. Qantas, Australia (11)
- With AFP
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Why can’t it be built beside the m50 so everyone can get to it?
Totally agree James. Another waste of taxpayers money and children’s needs forgotten about again. Shame
Sorry Jason!
Jason. Stop with the commonsense. Commonsense is dead in this country
If they’d any cop on at all they should build a pediatric/maternity/general hospital somewhere along the M50
I think they are putting another Ikea store along the m50 so I expect the children hospital be some where you cant get parking when ever its build
Exactly, it’s supposed to be a National Children’s Hospital, not an inner city Dublin children’s hospital. Imagine having to drive all the way up from West Kerry or North Donegal with a very sick child and then have to contend with that traffic. The hospital should be easily accessible from the M50, you don’t need to be a genius to figure that out.
Mary if they build it next to the M50, aka the M50 car park, no one will be able to get to it
Bog amity the M50 has improved an awful lot and is much more accessible that city centre. Just wait till it’s one lane on the northside of the quays!!
Well #Wynner it’s going to cost enough to build the children’s hospital never mind build a new maternity and general hospital (which we don’t need) at the same time. Dublin has sufficient maternity and general hospitals. The idea is to collocate the new children’s hospital with an existing maternity / general hospital. This is what they have done. The choices are limited. A green field location is not the key issue. The quality of care is.
Jason, it makes too much sense to build on a 35 hectare (140 acre) green field site. The other problem is some consultants don’t want to get passports to work on the Northside…(I actually heard one of them say that). For €650 million they are talking about you could build a maternity hospital and a children’s hospital at Blanchardstown. There is a guy that runs the Galway Clinic who would put €200 million into this project if it got the green light.
The plans are available to see on David Jordan Architects website to view. There’s even a lake and a pirate ship for the kids to play on.
Surely you should build this near a transport hub….i.e. In a city?
The guy who runs the Galway clinic also owns the Hermitage clinic. Oddly enough it’s just by Blanchardstown.
The hermitage in in Lucan
If traffic isn’t going to be a problem how come St James’ Hospital already has to shut its Rialto Gate because of, er, traffic probems?
..it’s a focking joke! HSE prioritised location over patient care. Entire selection process was a fiasco..
A guy paid to design the building says there’s no problem with the site…….just like the architects, planners, consultants, developers and Uncle Tom Colby on the Mater Project……I guess we have nothing to worry about…… P.s. Look at davidjordan architects site for a picture of the children’s hospital proposed for Blanchardstown….. Look at the beautiful campus……amazing
Well Paddy that depends on where in the hospital you intend to drive to…sounds like nothing less than onto the ward will do ?
Someone also though it was a good idea to build LetterKenny Hosp, in a hole at the bottom of a hill, beside a river.
Look how well that turned out!
Well said Bridget. Ya pay a consultant and he’ll lie (i mean …put forward a positive opinion) till the bovine s return to the milking parlour.
Letterkenny is built on the side of a hill….
Im in it, or passing it almost every day, the new A&E is down below the road, in a hole.
Flooded three times now..
If this decision had gone the usual corrupt way of doing things in Ireland there’d be some group or other who influenced the decision strongly defending the minister in the media. When nobody is entirely happy about a decision that’s a very good indicator it’s fair and equitable.
Traffic is not a problem for them, because they won’t be the ones sitting in it
It’s no bother building it, that’s his job alright but does he want to try get an ambulance through the traffic to it? does he want to find parking around it maybe after a long journey to get there from the other end of the country? Does he have to ride the luas with the drug user’s? Would he like children to have open green spaces? My husband crosses the country for appointments in St James and he hates it. I can’t imagine having to bringing my children there, I hope we never have to and that the government sees sense before its too late for the families that will have to use this new hospital. The Jack and Jill foundation have put across in plain language the case against this site and the case for an alternative. Every parent needs to read it.
The site at Blanchardstown hospital is so much better for obvious reasons. It’s 2 minutes drive once you come off the M50, there are plenty of bus routes to it and a train station not too far away either. There’s a Travelodge beside it providing cheap accommodation for families travelling from other parts of the country and plenty of green space to look out on. I had the misfortune of having to go to James Hospital last week and the traffic was an absolute nightmare. People really need to speak out before this build begins.
Maybe the fuss is being made because it is in the wrong place. As usual the vested interest brigade dismiss the end users out of hand. Read this letter from
Dr Fin Breatnach if you want to learn a thing or two. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1494945244088395&id=1452092825040304
Thanks for the link Amanda. I’m more convinced than ever that James (or any constricted inner city site) is the wrong location.
Think outside the city and maybe alongside a maternity hospital. So a whole new super hospital which will meet the needs of maternity and children. This current solution is a short term fix. Again this country can’t think long term it can only think of lining it’s pockets if there is money floating around.
A large hospital along the m50 with adult,children, maternity and mental health services, one major purpose built facility that will serve for decades, yes it would be expensive but cheaper in the long run
Exactly , with the projected population increase, a new hospital will have to be built anyway. Better start now.
Sorry I should have said every parent and every tax payer needs to read the case against this site before the government wastes more hard earned money and puts children’s lives and quality of care at risk. When will they learn to listen to front line staff/patients instead of ‘experts’ such as this. I’ll give him my opinion for free.
About 90% (guestimate ) of the traffic that goes through the hospital is people taking a short cut to and from town and work, I work in James’s and that’s one of the biggest problems that we have.
It’s wasting the money on purpose. All the HSE has to keep doing is what’s it’s already doing. It’s intentional so the government can justify letting the private health sector blossom.
Same with politicians. They don’t work for us. They work for big business.
It’s obvious.
How much more money are they going to waste??
Minister Varadkar – let your legacy be choosing the correct site, for the new children’s hospital – BLANCHARDSTOWN
Read Dr. Fin Breatnach’s letter – Jack & Jill Foundation
The architect wouldn’t have a clue about traffic impact or management for the new hospital, absolute cod. No need to ask for his “expertise” on it.
Actually they would. It comes with the job. And that particular firm have been building healthcare facilities for years.
All the offices I know would consult directly with traffic engineers. The notion that architects only focus on design is a fallacy, they must take into account every aspect of the build.
I’m sorry “Multi Plicities”..I have to disagree… Architects pay traffic engineers to prove what they want to hear. I’ve worked with the best traffic engineers in the country and I know how the models work. The issue is more than traffic movement, its about car parking and congestion. Quite simply there can never ever ever ever….be enough parking provided at James unless they build a bloody big multi-storey…but that wont happen because the planners have set a maximum of 2000 car parking spaces for the place. And what about staff! Currently there are loads of nurses in Crumlin that live in Longford and Kildare….do you want them to get the bus to work???? This site just doesn’t work….and do you know…….it doesn’t work on so many levels that its simply not funny.
Yeah I’m not really debating the choice of site, the whole saga has been ridiculous. There seems to be a lot of misinformation about what architects etc. do. For example the CEO of Jack & Jill questioned the current architects continued participation in the project given the previous rejection by An Bord Pleanala. So he was effectively recommending the removal of the team who have worked on the project from the beginning and have nothing to do with the political wrangling over it’s location. This would drive costs even higher (bringing in a new team and getting them up to speed) and showed a serious lack of judgement on his part.
Great ormond st london has no parking one of the worlds leading hospitals no problems .Any site in a city will face traffic the m50 to blanch at certain times is saturated with traffic
@ Frank are you seriously comparing the transport infrastructure of London to that of Dublin?
Access from Naas road and Galway road is absolutely brutal. A halfwit would see that this is the wrong location.
Jaysus Frank you can’t be bringing facts to the great Irish past time of complaining about stuff for the sake of complaining
I do be at St James once a month donating Platelets, One time while coming from work I tried to get in at the Rialto entrance which has barriers.
I was told that I could not use that entrance and to use the main entrance at James Street.
Anyone with a bit of cop on would know not to build the hospital there, If you take a look at the major transport & logistics warehousing around the country.
They are built right beside or not far from motorways with some of these sites having scope to extend the buildings if need be, Blanchardstown should have been the chosen site easy access for people travelling from the west of Ireland and anywhere else, Also has it’s own dedicated Entrance with plenty of green fields around the facility.
You also have one of the major shopping centers 2 minutes drive away, If the parents need to get things for the kids etc.
The Mater was the wrong choice so is St James there is no scope to expand the hospital at these sites.
Blanchardstown site much better for everyone. St james is a disaster to get to especially for people from the country.
In the name of god how is blanch herd s town suitable are you on drugs
It was moved from the Mater to James because of political interference
How could the idiots in the HSE not see the folly of a city centre site.
How could the idiots in the HSE not see the traffic problems ahead.
How could the idiots in the HSE not see the advantages of the Connolly site just 100mtrs off of the M50 artery with its own junction onto the motorway.
Unbelievable decisions by self centred egos ……
Give it a rest Connolly is in the arsehole of nowhere if you live on the north side
Very near where your attitude comes from.
It’s a national childrens Hospital not a Dublin hospital…. 10 min from Naas road & 10 min from M1 with all major infrastructure already In place and a planned extension to Luas going there also.
You bore me Paul with your ignorance
Look what they are trying to do is build a hospital beside a maternity hospital and adult hospital for training and a fluid transfer of medical histories
They are NOT building it for little johnnies parents to park
Stop focking talking absolute shite some of you
Howzatme I am the father of little johnnie as you put it a jack and Jill child who has spent months at a time in hospital and you’re right it’s not about me or any other parents but unfortunately it’s not about my son either. It’s about politics, egos, inter hospital rivalries and vested interests. I have read every article written listened to every interview and done my own research and the only conclusion a sane person could come to is that this proposed site is all wrong. This proposal will not meet the needs of our expanding population in 20 years with no room for expansion. Why not just do it right now and save money and arguments later. I challenge anyone to find the parents of a child with complex medical needs who know they will spend weeks and months in this hospital in the future who don’t live beside James hospital and think this is the right location. Do you not think we want the best for our children? That is why we are so against this proposal.
By the way I spent 35 minutes this morning going around in circles around temple st looking for a car parking spot. When one of the two wheelchair spots became available I returned to find a car parked so close behind me I had to pull my car out onto the road to get my son in. In James I won’t even get into the car park.But what do I know you’re the expert apparently.
Ronan I fail to see your aegument it’s about saving lives and maintaining lives through their life not about parking
If you want me to embarrass you I can tell you the clerys car park is just down the road
I can tell you the porters will look after your car if you leave it down the lane way to drop your kid off
I know because I have been there
What is your argument
I agree James will be a nightmare to park but politics against Bertie made that happen
Well said Ronan. By the way Cleary’s car park is about 10 minutes walk away in a dodgy part of town. You wouldn’t want to walk from there to Temple street in (A) the rain (B) at night. The thing is “Howz” that if you build it, you build it correctly and not with immediate and obvious flaws. Simply put, parents bring children to hospital by car…often in an emergency and never at convenient times of the day. Dublin City Centre is a bloody nightmare to drive around at the best of times and building such a facility smack bang in the centre of the most congested section of town is not something you would do unless you were being arm-twisted. This hospital must go to Blanchardstown where adult, maternity and childrens hospitals can be provided on a well services and future proof campus.
They have to build it near a maternity hospital and adult hospital
Do I need to say it slowly until it fockin sinks in
Some of you guys embarrass us Irish people
I can tell you that clerys car park is not an option on a wet day with a sick child and bags of equipment, I can tell you that the porters can have all the goodwill in the world but there won’t be any room down the lane to leave my car in the first place. I can also tell you that my argument is not about parking it’s just a glaringly obvious fault (one of many) at the James,s site that everyone can relate to. Co location with an adult hospital is a pup being sold to the public to suit an agenda, the McKinsey report did not insist on co-location saying there was very little connection between an adult hospital and children. Co-location with a maternity hospital was recommended. A separate report (the dolphin report) had one point in favour of James’s that being the luas. This has nothing to do with “getting the best outcomes through co-location” as the government spin doctors keep repeating. It’s a sound bite they have latched onto to further their political agendas. They are playing politics children’s with lives not saving them.
Howz the Combe needs to be moved to collocate with James. Where will it go on that site….it’s already bloody congested….and where will the additional cars go? Can anyone imagine a woman with contractions 10 minutes apart taking the Luas to James …..you’d need sawdust on the ground for when the waters break……or special Luas novelty birth Certs for anyone who didn’t make it to the hospital at all.
Nowhere is ideal for one reason or another…time to get going on the project after all the stalling.
Just build the bloody hospital beside St James’s and get on with it, what is the obsession of certain people in having it built off the M50? It has to be co located with a leading adult hospital, as others have noted Great Ormond St is in London City centre with no parking and remarkably it can still provide a world class service. Luas, bus & taxis will all bring you to the hospital
You wouldn’t go anywhere by car in London but we don’t have the underground….they do!
What is this obsession with cars, we have the Luas, one of the most efficient tram services in the world, going right to the door of this new hospital, and the Luas park n ride in citywest for our country cousins to avail of.
St. James site the correct location, really? You are having a laugh. Issues:
1. Access – how can you get your child help if you’re stuck in traffic. I challenge anyone who has a child needing urgent medical attention to say they would get the luas or bus before driving.
2. Site – no room for expansion, seriously cramped already. Read James Sheehans article, he built the Blackrock clinic and Galway clinic.
3. Proposed development – no green areas for children or parents who are patients for extended periods. Imagine living in a hospital with your sick child and the only place for fresh air is stuck in the middle of the city.
4. Parking – not enough for no of beds. No parking for staff.
5. Cost – considerably more expensive to build there versus a greenfield site.
6. NATIONAL ch – it’s for our current and future nations kids, not for Dublin and surrounding counties. EVERYONE knows it 10 times easier to get up and down M50 versus getting into Dublin City centre.
Leo Varadkar said today the decision was made 2 years ago so it’s going ahead. Just because it was made 2 years ago doesn’t means it’s the right decision. If he meets with the opponents with an open mind, he would see it’s the wrong location. He needs to be brave.
Just do it, in this country everyone thinks they have the right idea, there is no such thing as the ideal site, you have got to work and plan with what you got, i have been in other citys in many countries that have far denser populations and traffic than Dublin and yet they still manage to surmount them with underground parking and proper road and street planning, why does everything have to be so hard to do in this country,when it would be easier to do it right.
Richard totally agree.Will the medical professions and vested interests give us all a break.
The problem with where to locate this hospital is that opinions are like arseholes…everyone’s got one !
this is the same guy that put together theFailed Matter Proposal and got 40 MILLION EURO OF TAX PAYERS MONEY…. Of course it won’t be a problem. They are being paid 35 Million this time….. Political pondering and inexcusable poor decisions have meant a full generation of our sick children have had to ‘make do’ with poor services and facilities….
have your say