“We congratulate Singapore Airlines Group on the major achievement” — Skytrax CEO offers praise as SIA is named world’s best airline for 6th time

Summary

• Singapore Airlines was named the world’s best airline at the 2026 Skytrax World Airline Awards in London on Sept 18.

• The national carrier also won best economy class, economy catering, and best airline in Asia at the awards.

• Scoot won best long-haul low-cost airline for the sixth straight year, while AirAsia took the overall low-cost title.

SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines has been named the world’s best airline for 2026, taking the title for the sixth time. The award was announced at the Skytrax World Airline Awards in London on Sept 18. SIA last won the top prize in 2023.

Qatar Airways placed second, followed by Cathay Pacific Airways, ANA All Nippon Airways and Turkish Airlines. The results came from a global survey covering more than 300 airlines.

SIA collects several major awards

SIA also won the world’s best economy class, best economy-class onboard catering, and best airline in Asia.

The national carrier placed second in the world’s best cabin crew rankings, behind Cathay Pacific. SIA also ranked among the top five for first class, business class, premium economy, inflight entertainment, airport services and cleanest airline.

Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted congratulated Singapore Airlines Group, saying the results showed strong product and service standards: “We congratulate Singapore Airlines on this major achievement of being named the World’s Best Airline 2026, which highlights the level of product and service excellence they are providing to customers.”

Mr Plaisted added: “Singapore Airlines achieved excellent results in other categories, with their Economy Class winning the World’s Best Economy Class title, and the World’s Best Economy Class Onboard Catering awards. These successes should be a source of great pride and motivation for Singapore Airlines management and staff, made even more special by the fact this is the sixth occasion in the awards history that Singapore Airlines has won this highest accolade.”

SIA Group CEO Goh Choon Phong credited customers and the airline’s staff for the recognition, pointing to their work in maintaining service and operational standards: “We are grateful to our customers for their trust and support, and we are committed to delivering an exceptional, world-class travel experience every time they fly with us.”

Mr Goh further added: “This award is a testament to the dedication and professionalism of our people, who continually strive to uphold SIA’s renowned standards for service and operational excellence.”

Skytrax said its 2026 survey ran from September 2025 to August 2026, with more than 100 nationalities taking part.

Scoot keeps its long-haul crown

SIA’s budget subsidiary Scoot was named the world’s best long-haul low-cost airline for the sixth consecutive year. Scoot also ranked second among the world’s best low-cost airlines, behind AirAsia and ahead of Vueling Airlines.

The results give Singapore’s two major airline brands another strong showing across different parts of the travel market.

Six wins for SIA, alongside Scoot’s sixth straight long-haul title, show that customer service still carries plenty of weight in aviation services and success.