Qatar Airways has once again triumphed at the annual Skytrax World Airline Awards, winning three top accolades including the main honour of the world's best airline for the second year running.

The Doha-based carrier retained the coveted title of Airline of the Year 2012 and notched up two further awards - Best Airline in the Middle East for the seventh consecutive year and the Best Airline Staff Service award in the Middle East.

The winners were announced at an awards ceremony attended by leading figures from the global aviation industry at the Farnborough Air Show.

The Skytrax awards, conducted by the global aviation research organisation, polled over 18 million business and leisure air travellers from more than 100 countries.

"I am extremely proud of the adulation given once again by the very people who fly, the travelling public, for their support and faith in Qatar Airways," said airline chief executive Akbar Al Baker.

"Qatar Airways set out on a mission 15 years ago when we launched to be the world's best airline and spread the airline's quality brand to all corners of the world.

"Last year we achieved that. Retaining awards is always difficult, but we have managed to do so amid the tough competition which only shows we remain focused in our day-to-day job of offering passengers what they fully deserve, the highest standards of service both in the air and on the ground," he said.

"The achievements further reflect the high standards that we set for ourselves and receiving the awards is fantastic recognition of the hard work and commitment of our staff across the world who help make Qatar Airways the success it is today," he added. "To win the Airline of the Year award for a second successive year is a remarkable achievement for Qatar Airways, and a clear recognition of the continued efforts by airline's management and staff to be the world's best airline," said Skytrax chief executive Edward Plaisted.