Skytrax named Singapore Airlines the world's best airline at its awards ceremony in London on Thursday, and the carrier takes back a title Qatar Airways had held since 2024. Skytrax is the London rating firm behind the industry's biggest passenger survey, and its annual awards get called the Oscars of aviation. This is Singapore's sixth win, and the result comes from passenger votes rather than a panel of judges or any measurement of the airlines themselves.
Qatar Airways finished second in Skytrax's ranking and Cathay Pacific third, followed by ANA All Nippon Airways and Turkish Airlines. The results were announced at The Langham hotel with airline chief executives in the room.
Skytrax 2026
The World's Top 10 Airlines
Contrail
What the Award Actually Measures
The rankings come from an online survey that ran from September 2025 through August 2026, offered in eight languages, covering more than 300 airlines and drawing votes from over 100 nationalities. Passengers rate the whole journey, from booking and check-in to the seat, the food and the crew.
Skytrax says it screened every entry to remove duplicates and suspect votes, and it pays for both the survey and the ceremony so that no airline can buy its way in. What a poll like this can't control is who chooses to fill it out, which is why the same group of Asian and Gulf carriers tends to cluster at the top year after year.
Singapore Also Won for Economy
The result that matters most to ordinary travelers isn't the headline trophy. Skytrax also gave Singapore Airlines its awards for the world's best economy class and best economy class catering, a rare double for an airline better known for its suites and its business class.
Chief executive Goh Choon Phong thanked customers for their trust and credited the airline's staff for the win.
Qatar Airways didn't leave empty-handed. Skytrax gave it best business class for the thirteenth time, best business class lounge for Al Mourjan The Garden in Doha, and best airline in the Middle East. It also took a brand new category introduced this year, best onboard Wi-Fi, which tells you something about what passengers have started to care about.
Cathay Pacific won best cabin crew and best first class lounge, while Air France swept the first class categories.
Where US Airlines Landed
No US airline finished in Skytrax's top 20, and that's been true for years now. The card above has the top ten. Places 11 through 20 went to:
- EVA Air, Qantas and STARLUX Airlines
- Lufthansa, Saudia and Iberia
- Air Canada, Virgin Atlantic, Swiss and Thai Airways
American carriers did show up elsewhere. American Airlines placed fourth for most improved airline, Allegiant won best low-cost airline in North America for the third year running, and JetBlue came seventh among regional airlines. Air Canada took best airline in North America.
The most interesting American result came in lounges, where the top independent lounge award went to the Chase Sapphire Lounge at LaGuardia, with Capital One's lounge at JFK in fifth. Credit card companies are now winning awards that airlines used to dominate.
The Rest of the Winners
A few more of Skytrax's 2026 winners:
- EgyptAir was named most improved airline, with Air India second in that category.
- AirAsia won best low-cost airline for the seventeenth year in a row, and Scoot won best long-haul budget carrier for the sixth.
- Vueling won best low-cost airline in Europe for the first time.
- STARLUX, the six-year-old Taiwanese airline, was named cleanest airline in the world.
- EVA Air won best premium economy and most family friendly airline.
- Bangkok Airways took best regional airline for the tenth consecutive year.
- Ethiopian Airlines won best airline in Africa, and oneworld was named best alliance for the first time since 2021.
Should You Book Based on an Award?
Treat any of these awards as a rough signal. A survey this size is good at telling you which airlines consistently satisfy a lot of people, and the carriers near the top generally do deliver a better long-haul experience than what most Americans are used to.
It won't tell you whether the specific plane you're booking has a good seat, since airlines fly several different cabins on the same route. That gap between an industry-wide poll and the flight you actually take is where the award stops being useful, and it's worth keeping in mind when the winner turns up in an ad campaign next week.
