‘World’s best airline’ for 2026 is named

By Barry Neild, CNN

London (CNN) — Wars. Climate chaos. Soaring fuel prices. Disruptive passengers duct-taped to their seats. It’s not getting any easier to run an airline in these turbulent times, but some are clearly doing it better than others.

In recognition of that, the annual Skytrax Awards — known as the aviation industry’s Oscars for their glitzy celebration of the global and regional airlines that mostly get us to where we want to go — has once again convened to crown one as the world’s best.

For 2026 the winner is Singapore Airlines. The Asian carrier was presented with the award at a ceremony on Friday at London’s posh Langham Hotel, where fiercely competitive airline bosses briefly gathered under a mutual truce for handshakes, canapés and a slew of other trophies recognizing everything from onboard Wi-Fi to cabin cleanliness.

It was the sixth time Singapore has picked up the top prize in the awards’ 25-year history, adding to previous wins in 2023, 2018 and a clutch in the noughties. It reclaimed it from last year’s victor, Qatar Airways, which has won nine times in the past 15 years.

In fact, as Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted noted, the award has almost exclusively remained in the possession of an elite cadre of seven airlines, most of which still managed to place in this year’s top 20.

Dance routines

In the final rundown, Qatar dropped down to second place, with Cathay Pacific Airways, Japan’s All Nippon Airways, Turkish Airlines and Emirates rounding out the top six.

Only past winner British Airways was missing from this year’s list. US carriers were completely absent — a frequent state of affairs on the Skytrax list — with Air Canada the sole North American representative.

The big prize, said Goh Choon Phong, Singapore’s CEO, in a pre-prepared statement, was a “testament to the dedication and professionalism of our people.” Some of those people were among the many flight crews attending the event in full uniform — a dash of color in a room dominated by dark blue suits. A lucky few got to perform dance routines on stage for the gathered crowd.

Singapore also picked up trophies for its economy class and economy class catering. There were plenty of other prizes to go around — all determined by a global customer satisfaction survey organized by Skytrax, a UK-based aviation consultancy.

Qatar was named best carrier in the Middle East, and also won prizes for its business class, onboard Wi-Fi and business-class lounge. Cathay Pacific picked up prizes for its cabin crew and first-class airline lounge.

All the glad-handing couldn’t quite cast off the numerous shadows facing the aviation industry right now, with the Iran conflict, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the rising cost of oil, new aircraft delays and souring US international relations among the topics discussed on the sidelines.

‘A bit of a bad year’

Perhaps acknowledging a recent UK air traffic meltdown that heavily disrupted flights in and out of the country, the event’s emcee — announcing that one award was being presented early to allow its recipient to dash for a flight departing in under three hours — remarked: “Good luck with that.”

Yet, said Skytrax’s Plaisted, the quality being offered by airlines to flyers continues to grow each — even in “a bit of a bad year.”

“The passenger experience, mainly driven by the industry’s increasingly fierce competition, is always getting better,” he told CNN. “It takes a big event — a 9/11 event — to really cause a problem.”

Other notable awards included recognition of emerging Taiwanese carrier STARLUX’s ascendancy to Skytrax’s five-star rating category. Importantly, in the post-Covid age, it also took home the award for cleanest cabin.

Meanwhile, Air France won best first class and EVA Air, another Taiwanese carrier, won best premium economy. The top five budget airlines were named as: AirAsia, Scoot, Vueling, Eurowings and Iberia Express.

Bangkok Airways was named best airline in Asia — and best regional airline globally. Ethiopian Airlines was the best in Africa, Chilean multinational carrier LATAM led in South America, while Turkish Airlines was the best in Europe.

In North America, Air Canada was declared the winner. It also picked up the trophy for best business class lounge dining.

Fight for premium

Mark Nasr, Air Canada’s executive vice president, said the Skytrax awards — which come as the airline is looking to expand its role as a global carrier, not just serving routes to and from Canada — are crucial for survival as carriers increasingly look to big spenders to keep them afloat.

“The industry is getting more competitive,” he told CNN. “There’s a theme right now around the growth of premium travel and customers that are very discerning. They have large budgets, and airlines are investing to earn that business. With fuel prices increasing so much, the airlines that will be able to sustain themselves will be the ones able to charge a premium to justify their products.”

Air Canada was well-placed to survive the current storms thanks to a healthy balance sheet, loyal customer base and resilient staff, Nasr said. The airline will also endure the recent President Trump-fueled spats between Canada and the United States.

“Relationships ebb and flow over time, but we continue to believe in the core strength of the partnership — economic and social — between the US and Canada and we’ll weather the current circumstances.”

Skytrax’s airlines of the year 2026

• Singapore Airlines
• Qatar Airways
• Cathay Pacific Airways
• All Nippon Airways
• Turkish Airlines
• Emirates
• Air France
• Hainan Airlines
• Japan Airlines
• Korean Air
• EVA Air
• Qantas Airways
• STARLUX Airlines
• Lufthansa
• Saudi Arabian Airlines
• Iberia
• Air Canada
• Virgin Atlantic
• Swiss International Air Lines
• Thai Airways

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