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

The award, announced March 3, 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.

Other airlines in the top ten included major international carriers such as Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, Cathay Pacific Airways, Qantas, British Airways and ANA.

Despite the award, a quick look at the figures show some improvements to be made for Delta.

Although the company topped its peers for social responsibility, quality of management and global competitiveness (among others), it was lower placed in other areas, most notably quality of products/services where it scored a relatively low ranking in 7th.

That criteria was led by (you guessed it) Singapore Airlines, with Air France/KLM in second place, Cathay Pacific in third and Lufthansa fourth.

The world's most admired airlines:

1       Delta Air Lines
2       Singapore Airlines
3       Southwest Airlines
4       Lufthansa Group
5       Air France-KLM Group
6       Cathay Pacific Airways

Compiled by Fortune Magazine