SINGAPORE - Singapore Airlines (SIA) has been ranked 34th in a list of 50 most admired companies by American business magazine Fortune.

It is the only South-east Asian company in the World's Most Admired Companies list, and one of only three Asian businesses.

It ranked behind Japanese carmaker Toyota Motor (No. 31) and ahead of South Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics (No. 49).

Tech giants Apple, Amazon and Microsoft took the top three spots.

The annual ranking is done via an independent survey of about 3,800 senior executives, directors and industry analysts. It seeks to identify the companies that have the strongest reputations within their industries and across industries.

Companies are evaluated on nine attributes, such as their ability to attract talents and the quality of their management.

Other airlines in the list are American carriers Southwest Airlines (No. 14) and Delta Air Lines (No. 23).

SIA was ranked No. 28 last year and No. 18 in 2019.

The carrier said in a statement on Tuesday (Feb 2) that the award is a recognition of its commitment to product, service and corporate excellence.

"It also attests to the success of our ongoing transformation journey, and the company's continuous drive to innovate and incorporate digital technologies across our business," SIA added.

"We would like to thank all customers for their support, as well as our SIA Group staff for their dedication, as we work hard to overcome the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and continue to be a leader in the airline industry."

SIA, like all other carriers worldwide, is still struggling with the prolonged border closures brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

While it has gradually increased the number of flights in recent months, its passenger volumes are not expected to pick up any time soon, with the coronavirus still wreaking havoc worldwide.

The SIA Group is currently flying just about 2 per cent of its pre-pandemic number of passengers.