‘World’s best airline’ for 2026 is named

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.

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.

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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.

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.

Bertrans Guay/AFP/Getty Images

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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.

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.”

1. Singapore Airlines

3. Cathay Pacific Airways

4. All Nippon Airways

13. STARLUX Airlines

15. Saudi Arabian Airlines

19. Swiss International Air Lines

战争、气候灾难、燃油价格飙升、还有被胶带绑在座位上的闹事乘客……在如今动荡的时代，经营一家航空公司变得越来越难，但显然有些航空公司做得比其他航空公司好得多。

为了表彰这些航空公司，一年一度的 Skytrax 大奖（因其对全球和区域航空公司的盛大表彰而被誉为航空业的奥斯卡奖，这些航空公司大多能带我们到达想去的地方）再次召开，旨在评选出全球最佳航空公司。

2026年的获奖者是新加坡航空公司。这家亚洲航空公司于周五在伦敦豪华的朗廷酒店举行的颁奖典礼上获颁此奖。在典礼上，竞争激烈的航空公司高管们短暂地达成共识，握手言和，享用小吃，并领取了一系列其他奖杯，这些奖杯表彰了从机上Wi-Fi到客舱清洁度等各个方面的成就。

这是新加坡在2018年、2023年以及2000年代的几个赛季中第六次获得该奖项的最高荣誉。新加坡从去年的冠军卡塔尔航空手中夺回了这一殊荣，卡塔尔航空在过去15年中曾九次获奖。

事实上，正如 Skytrax 首席执行官 Edward Plaisted 指出的那样，该奖项几乎一直由七家精英航空公司获得，其中大多数航空公司今年仍然跻身前 20 名。

在最终排名中，卡塔尔航空跌至第二名，国泰航空、日本全日空航空、土耳其航空和阿联酋航空位列前六名。

今年榜单上唯一缺席的是往届冠军英国航空。美国航空公司全部落选——这在Skytrax榜单上屡见不鲜——加拿大航空是北美唯一的代表。

新加坡航空公司首席执行官吴俊鹏在事先准备好的声明中表示，大奖“证明了我们员工的奉献精神和专业素养”。出席活动的众多机组人员中，有些身着制服，在以深蓝色西装为主的会场中，他们的制服格外引人注目。少数幸运儿还有机会在舞台上为在场观众表演舞蹈。

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新加坡航空的经济舱和经济舱餐饮也斩获殊荣。此外，还有许多其他奖项颁发——所有奖项均由总部位于英国的航空咨询公司Skytrax组织的一项全球客户满意度调查评选而出。

卡塔尔航空被评为中东最佳航空公司，其商务舱、机上Wi-Fi和商务舱休息室也荣获殊荣。国泰航空则凭借其机组人员和头等舱休息室摘得桂冠。

尽管双方热情寒暄，但航空业目前面临的诸多阴影依然挥之不去，伊朗冲突、俄罗斯入侵乌克兰、石油价格上涨、新飞机交付延误以及美美关系恶化等问题都在会外被提及。

或许是考虑到英国最近发生的航空交通崩溃，严重扰乱了进出该国的航班，活动的主持人宣布将提前颁发一个奖项，以便获奖者能够赶上不到三个小时后起飞的航班，并说道：“祝你好运。”

Skytrax 的 Plaisted 表示，航空公司为乘客提供的服务质量每年都在不断提高——即使在“不太好的一年”也是如此。

“乘客体验一直在改善，这主要得益于行业内日益激烈的竞争，”他告诉CNN。“只有像9·11事件这样的大事件才会真正造成问题。”

其他值得关注的奖项包括对台湾新兴航空公司星梦航空（STARLUX）晋升为Skytrax五星级航空公司的认可。更重要的是，在后疫情时代，星梦航空还获得了最清洁客舱奖。

Bertrans Guay/AFP/Getty Images

新型高端飞机座椅存在一个大问题——而且情况可能会变得更糟。

与此同时，法国航空荣获最佳头等舱奖，另一家台湾航空公司长荣航空则摘得最佳豪华经济舱桂冠。排名前五的廉价航空公司分别是：亚洲航空、酷航、伏林航空、欧洲之翼航空和伊比利亚快运航空。

曼谷航空被评为亚洲最佳航空公司，也是全球最佳区域航空公司；埃塞俄比亚航空是非洲最佳航空公司；智利跨国航空公司 LATAM 领衔南美；土耳其航空是欧洲最佳航空公司。

在北美地区，加拿大航空荣获冠军。它还获得了最佳商务舱休息室餐饮奖。

加拿大航空执行副总裁马克·纳斯尔表示，Skytrax 奖项对于航空公司的生存至关重要，因为航空公司越来越依赖大手笔的赞助来维持运营。而此时，加拿大航空正寻求扩大其作为全球航空公司的角色，而不仅仅是服务于往返加拿大的航线。

“航空业竞争日益激烈，”他告诉CNN。“目前的趋势是高端旅行市场蓬勃发展，客户眼光独到，预算充足，航空公司也在加大投入以赢得这些客户。随着燃油价格大幅上涨，能够维持运营的航空公司将是那些能够收取高价以证明其产品价值的航空公司。”

纳斯尔表示，凭借稳健的资产负债表、忠实的客户群和坚韧的员工队伍，加拿大航空有能力渡过当前的难关。此外，该公司也将承受近期由特朗普总统引发的加美两国之间的摩擦。

“随着时间的推移，双边关系会有起伏，但我们仍然相信美加伙伴关系的核心力量——经济和社会力量——我们将渡过当前的难关。”

1. 新加坡航空公司

3. 国泰航空

4. 全日空航空公司

13. 星宇航空

15. 沙特阿拉伯航空公司

19. 瑞士国际航空公司