NEW YORK, Aug 15 — Airline finalists in categories such as best overall passenger experience and best in-flight dining have been announced out of the US.

Based on votes from the public, the Passenger Choice Awards released the finalists across 13 categories for the 2012-13 edition.

In the category of best overall airline, the finalists are Emirates, Etihad Airways, Garuda Indonesia, Virgin America, and Virgin Atlantic.

Dubai-based carrier Emirates also took the top spot recently at the Skytrax World Airline awards in Paris earlier this summer. Winners are based on customer surveys that measure passenger satisfaction.

Emirates also dominates the Passenger Choice Awards along with Virgin America, both of which are nominated in seven of the 13 categories.

Aside from best regional carriers, other categories include best in-flight food and beverage programme, best cabin ambiance and best in-flight video, for which Air New Zealand is the hands-on favourite.

Earlier this year, the carrier tapped into the popularity of Kiwi native and movie director Peter Jackson’s film “The Hobbit” to create a spoof in-flight safety video entitled “An Unexpected Briefing”.

Winners will be announced on September 9 out of Anaheim, California. Flyers can vote for their favourite airline at passengerchoiceawards.com year-round. — AFP/Relaxnews