BY: Victoria Barker

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) is the most trusted carrier among air travellers in the Asia-Pacific region.

And these travellers, from eight countries in the region including Singapore, Korea, China and India, are less wary of locally-based airlines than they are of carriers based in Europe and North America. Qantas, Cathay Pacific and Air New Zealand were also in the top four, although international information services provider Unisys, which released the findings, could not reveal in which order they ranked.

Unisys also would not reveal the margin by which SIA beat the other airlines.

The study examined the consumer trust of 40 airlines in Asia, Europe and America. The respondents answered questions via e-mail and phone, but only about the airlines they flew with.

It is part of an ongoing global Unisys study which explores the factors that build and erode trust in companies across a range of industries.

Conducted in January by the Ponemon Institute, it polled 2,869 consumers. Among those surveyed, 75 per cent cited safety and security as the most important factor to build trust in an airline.

Apart from safety and security, customer satisfaction and loyalty were given as factors which affected the travellers' trust in an airline.

Vice-president of commercial industries for Unisys Asia Pacific Suzanne Carter said: "Not only do customers want to trust that they will have a safe flight, they want to trust that they will arrive on time and that their luggage will arrive with them."

Subsea engineer Deon Brand, 22, who travels by air at least 15 times annually for work, agreed with the ranking.
He said: "Reputation is definitely important when choosing an airline.

"And Singapore Airlines has a great record."

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