Telegraph Travel Awards winners announced

Readers of The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph have chosen Air Berlin as their favourite budget airline in the Telegraph Travel Awards.

The German low-coster beat the likes of Jet2.com and Zoom Airlines to the title of "Best No-Frills Airline".

Addressing voters, Telegraph journalist Charles Starmer-Smith writes: "Your choice of Germany's Air Berlin as favourite low-cost carrier might surprise some. But as it does not charge for checking in luggage (unlike its British and Irish rivals), allows passengers a relatively generous 20 kilogram limit and flies not just to Europe but to destinations including New York, Dominican Republic, Florida and the Maldives - direct from Stansted - your choice makes a lot of sense."

Runner-up Jet2.com has hubs at regional airports Leeds Bradford, Manchester, Belfast, Blackpool, Edinburgh and Newcastle. It primarily flies to sunshine destinations in southern Europe such as Alicante, Crete, Faro, Malaga and Pisa, offering a cheap and cheerful service.

"This accolade voted for by the Telegraph readers shows Jet2.com's commitment to great service at a great price," said a spokesman for the carrier.

The "Best Scheduled Airline" prize went to Singapore Airlines, which saw off competition from Emirates and Qatar Airways.

Singapore Airlines, which flies from London Heathrow and Manchester airports, has a reputation for excellent service and regularly wins travel awards - most recently taking home both major international prizes in the Zagat Global Airlines Survey.

British airline Monarch was named "Best Charter Airline", with Thomsonfly and First Choice completing the top three. Gatwick took the prize as the "Favourite British Airport", followed by Manchester and Birmingham.

The survey also found that British travellers are irritated by having to pay to check in their luggage, with even some scheduled airlines (such as Aer Lingus and bmi) charging £5 for this service.

New Zealand was voted the most favourite destination to visit, placed ahead of the Maldives and Australia in second and third place.

"It is sand-between-the-toes luxury that you hanker after - the Maldives with its white sand and turquoise waters finished behind New Zealand as your favourite place on earth," Starmer-Smith continued. "But who can blame you for following the sun after one of the wettest summers on record?"

Sydney, Cape Town and Vancouver were the top three favourite foreign cities, with York, Edinburgh and Bath topping the list for favourite UK places.

It also seems that cities often thought of as simply "stopover" destinations are finding more favour with the travelling British public.

"Your top five hotels are all in stopover cities: two in Bangkok, two in Singapore and one in Dubai," said Starmer-Smith.

"Whereas in 1998 it was the Mandarin Oriental group that captured your imagination, today it is Shangri La which boasted the top two foreign hotel berths [in Bangkok and Singapore] and three of the top nine.

"Dubai featured again in the wave-like form of Jumeirah Beach, which was your favourite foreign resort hotel."

Other winners in the survey include Tokyo, which has been named the gourmet capital of the world, and Val D'Isere, which is the number one ski resort.

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