SIA crowned world’s best airline in global survey
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SIA also bagged awards for best airline in Asia, world’s best economy class, and world’s best economy class onboard catering.
PHOTO: ST FILE
- Singapore Airlines (SIA) was named the world’s best airline in the 2026 Skytrax global survey, surpassing Qatar Airways and earning multiple awards including the world's best economy class and best airline in Asia.
- SIA Group achieved a record revenue of $20.5 billion in 2025/2026 and carried 42.2 million passengers; Scoot also won best long haul low-cost airline for the sixth year.
- Challenges include delays in new seat launches on Airbus A350-900 and Boeing 777-9 .
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SINGAPORE – National carrier Singapore Airlines (SIA) has won the title of the world’s best airline in a 2026 global poll involving more than 24 million travellers.
It beat the 2025 winner, Qatar Airways, which came in second this year. Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways, Japan’s ANA All Nippon Airways and Turkish Airlines were in third, fourth and fifth positions, respectively.
SIA had finished second behind Qatar Airways in 2025, as well as in 2024, 2022, 2021 and 2019. It topped the list in 2023, 2018, 2008, 2007 and 2004.
The annual world rankings survey was conducted by London-based research firm Skytrax from September 2025 to August 2026, with travellers of more than 100 nationalities rating over 325 airlines.
Scoot, SIA’s low-cost subsidiary, was named the best long-haul low-cost airline for the sixth consecutive year. It also placed second in the world’s best low-cost airline category, after winner AirAsia.
SIA also bagged awards for best airline in Asia, world’s best economy class, and world’s best economy class onboard catering at the 2026 Skytrax World Airline Awards ceremony held on Sept 18 in London.
It was runner-up in the world’s best cabin crew category, which Cathay Pacific Airways won.
Goh Choon Phong, SIA’s chief executive officer, said the award is a testament to the dedication and professionalism of the company’s staff, who continually work towards upholding the airline’s standards for service and operational excellence. He expressed gratitude to the airline’s customers for their trust and support.
For the 2025/2026 financial year, SIA Group logged its highest-ever revenue of $20.5 billion.
SIA and Scoot carried a record 42.2 million passengers from April 2025 to March 2026, up 7.7 per cent from the year before.
The Singapore carrier has had to delay the introduction of its new first- and business-class seats on its Airbus A350-900 fleet to the first quarter of 2027, from the second quarter of 2026.
The new seats were also meant to be launched on the next-generation Boeing 777-9 jets as early as 2021, but production of the new wide-body aircraft has been hit by delays.