SIA crowned world’s best airline in global survey

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.

On Sept 8, Singapore Airlines’ 25.1 per cent stake in Air India was discussed in Parliament between Workers’ Party MP Kenneth Tiong and Transport Minister Jeffrey Siow.

This came after it was made public in August that Air India was reportedly seeking about US$1.5 billion (S$1.9 billion) in fresh equity from its owners, Tata Sons and SIA.

In a filing with the Singapore Exchange on July 20, this topic was raised, given that Air India has been facing well-publicised challenges such as the depreciation of the Indian rupee, supply chain disruptions, Pakistan airspace closures and the plane crash in June 2025 that killed 260 people.

Separately, 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.

Esther Loi is a journalist at The Straits Times, where she covers transport issues.