The original post was an Air New Zealand press release, so I thought I would check the source.
What they said WAS true, Air NZ WAS in 5th place, both now and in 1999, ahead of Cathay and there is NO mention of Qantas, which I find hard to believe when Sri Lankan and Lan Chile are there?
Also of course the Air NZ press release was not going to say who was number 1, both now and in 1999.
Top Major Airline % (in 1999)
1. Singapore Airlines 94.3 (1st)
2. Emirates 88.4 (3rd)
3. Thai Airways 88.2 (2nd)
4. SAS 84.7 (12th)
5. Air New Zealand 83.7 (5th)
6. Virgin Atlantic 83.0 (6th)
7. Cathay Pacific 83.0 (8th)
8. Sri Lanka Airlines 82.5 (–
9. LanChile 82.3 (–
10. Swissair 81.8 (4th)
Total votes: 3,570; Total airlines: 189; Average score: 74.3%
But those are the facts in this survey, so congratulations.............