Airline review site Skytrax has named the best airlines of the year – based on surveys of passengers – at the Paris Air Show.

Qatar Airways beat Singapore Airlines to first place in the 2011 rankings, rising from third place, while Asiana dropped from the top of the table to take third place.

Cathay Pacific won fourth place in the overall rankings, while Thai Airways took fifth and Etihad took sixth at the awards, which were announced June 22.

American Airlines is seeking to improve the entertainment side of its service by making Samsung’s new Galaxy Tab 10.1 available to premium class travelers.

In a June 13 announcement Virasb Vahidi, American’s Chief Commercial Officer, announced that “through our agreement with Samsung, American is the first North American airline to offer a branded tablet onboard its aircraft.”

“We are working hard to revitalize our fleet and invest wisely in new products and services to modernize and enhance the travel experience”

Spanish airline Iberia has announced a new Mediterranean-themed food lineup, drawing on the experience of some of the country’s top chefs.

Emulating the top-notch German cuisine offered by Lufthansa and Air France’s gastronomic offering by Alain Ducasse, Iberia has invited a committee of culinary experts to come up with a new menu to be rolled out for business class passengers.

The chefs include Paco Roncero of Madrid’s La Terraza del Casino, Ramón Freixa, the head of Ramón Freixa Madrid, Caceres chef Toño Pérez of Atrio and Malaga’s Dani García, chef at Calima restaurant in Marbella.

Marriott has won two major awards at the Frequent Traveler Awards, held April 28 in New York.

The chain’s Marriott Rewards scheme picked up the award for Hotel Program of the Year in both the Americas and Europe and Africa, although Priority Club by rival chain InterContinental took the Program of the Year in Middle East and Asia/Oceania.

Air Canada’s Aeroplan, Lufthansa’s Miles & More and Emirates’ Skywards were the big winners in the airline Program of the Year category, taking the Americas, Europe and Africa and Middle East and Asia/Oceania respectively.

The world’s greenest airlines have been named at the ITB Berlin travel show, with European carrier Monarch topping the list.

The study of airline efficiency was conducted by Atmosfair, a carbon offsetting company, and looked into factors such as how efficient an airline’s fleet was and how full its planes normally fly.

Monarch, a charter and scheduled airline operating predominantly from the UK, was judged the world’s most efficient airline, with Atmosfair praising its efficient aircraft and high seating density.

Delta Air Lines has been voted the world’s most admired airline by Fortune magazine, managing to push Singapore Airlines into second place.

The award means that Delta came out top in a string of assessments including social responsibility and quality of product, as well as business-related criteria such as quality of management and global competitiveness.

Delta has moved steadily up the ranks over the past four years to reach top spot, which was awarded to Singapore Airlines last year — the airline’s boss Richard Anderson described the award as a “remarkable achievement” in a note to staff.