Qatar Airways is voted the World’s Best Airline for the sixth time at the 2021 World Airline Awards
by Skytrax: London, UK
Most of 2020 and 2021 has been a catastrophic period for the world airline industry, as passenger demand plummeted and countries across the world were affected by lockdowns and severe travel restrictions. The latest customer survey operated for 23 months (September 2019 to July 2021), and the 2021 Awards comprise a mix of more normal travel times combined with some travel during the global pandemic. Evaluating the Top 20 airlines, there have been some up and down movements versus 2019 results, although a core of airlines still dominates these higher positions.
» View the full 2021 Airline Awards results
Heading up the winners is Qatar Airways, named as Airline of the Year 2021, with Singapore Airlines ranked 2nd, and ANA All Nippon Airways in 3rd place, out of more than 350 airlines included in the survey results.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said:
“This award is the result of the incredible work by the Qatar Airways team and I want to thank our valued passengers for their loyalty and appreciation for all we have offered during the most challenging and uncertain times, without compromising on the service and excellence that the airline is renowned for throughout the world. We never abandoned our loyal customers when they needed us the most, we continued flying to get people home and implemented stringent biosafety measures to provide strong reassurance for travellers, all while continuing to innovate to ensure we remain the airline of choice for millions of passengers across the globe. Being named the ‘World’s Best Airline’ for an unprecedented sixth time is an enormous achievement, and provides our passengers with even greater confidence that they can travel with Qatar Airways as the first global airline to achieve the Skytrax COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating while transiting through Hamad International Airport, the Skytrax ‘World’s Best Airport’ for 2021.”
Qatar Airways also receives the awards for the World’s Best Business Class, the World’s Best Business Class Seat and the Best Airline in the Middle East.
Singapore Airlines ranked No 2 worldwide, wins the top accolade for the World’s Best Cabin Crew, and is also honoured with awards for the World’s Best First Class, the Best Airline in Asia and the World’s Best First Class Seat.
ANA All Nippon Airways maintains its No 3 global ranking and repeats its earlier success by winning the World’s Best Airport Services award. Winning the 2021 award as the World’s Cleanest Airline is a particularly high profile success during the global pandemic.
Saudi Arabian Airlines wins the 2021 award as the World’s Most Improved Airline, ahead of Rwandair in 2nd place and JetSmart in 3rd position. This is a key award that reflects an airline’s Quality improvement across the entire Awards programme, evaluating an airline’s change in the global rating, and their performance improvements in different award categories.
Some notable firsts include Scoot being named the World’s Best Long Haul Low-Cost Airline and Vueling Airlines winning the award as the Best Low-Cost Airline in Europe, one of the most competitive low cost airline markets in the world.
Edward Plaisted of Skytrax said: “To be named the World’s Best Airline 2021 is a great recognition of Qatar Airways high standards, and to win this highest accolade for a sixth time is a remarkable achievement. We congratulate Qatar Airways for this unique success. Voted by customers, the focus of our annual survey is for travellers to make their own, personal choices as to which airline they consider to be best, and it is clear that Qatar Airways has maintained its high standards of innovation and service standards, both in more normal times and through the current global pandemic. Qatar Airways dominates the Business Class categories, winning the awards for the World’s Best Business Class, World’s Best Business Class Seat, World’s Best Business Class Lounge, and World’s Best Business Class Onboard Catering. The airline also received the award as the Best Airline in the Middle East.”
Some of the Category winners are shown below, and to view the full 2021 World Airline Awards results, use the A-Z Award Winners page.
The World’s Top 10 Airlines of 2021
- Qatar Airways
- Singapore Airlines
- ANA All Nippon Airways
- Emirates
- Japan Airlines
- Cathay Pacific Airways
- EVA Air
- Qantas Airways
- Hainan Airlines
- Air France
» The Top 100 Airlines in 2021
The World’s Best Cabin Staff 2021
- Singapore Airlines
- ANA All Nippon Airways
- Thai Airways
- Garuda Indonesia
- Japan Airlines
- Hainan Airlines
- EVA Air
- Asiana Airlines
- Cathay Pacific Airways
- Qatar Airways
The World’s Cleanest Airline Cabins 2021
- ANA All Nippon Airways
- Singapore Airlines
- Japan Airlines
- Qatar Airways
- EVA Air
- Cathay Pacific Airways
- Asiana Airlines
- Korean Air
- Hainan Airlines
- Swiss International Air Lines
The World’s Best Low-Cost Airlines 2021
- AirAsia
- Southwest Airlines
- Scoot
- Vueling Airlines
- IndiGo
- EasyJet
- Jetstar Airways
- Ryanair
- Jetstar Asia
- Flynas
The World’s Best Long Haul Low-Cost Airlines 2021
- Scoot
- Jetstar Airways
- Air Canada rouge
- LEVEL
- French Bee
The World’s Most Improved Airlines 2021
- Saudi Arabian Airlines
- RwandAir
- JetSmart
- Vistara
- Vueling Airlines
- Scoot
- Xiamen Airlines
- Flynas
- Air France
- Turkish Airlines
The Best Airline Inflight Entertainment 2021
- Emirates
- Singapore Airlines
- Qatar Airways
- Delta Air Lines
- Virgin Atlantic
- Qantas Airways
- Turkish Airlines
- United Airlines
- Etihad Airways
- Air France
View the Best Airlines by region
» Best Airlines in Africa
» Best Airlines in Asia
» Best Airlines in Australia/Pacific
» Best Airlines in Europe
» Best Airlines in the Middle East
» Best Airlines in North America
» Best Airlines in South America
» Best Airlines in Central Asia
» Best Airlines in India / Southern Asia
The Best Airlines by Cabin
» Best First Class Airlines
» Best Business Class Airlines
» Best Premium Economy Class Airlines
» Best Economy Class Airlines
About the World Airline Awards
The World Airline Awards began in 1999, when Skytrax launched its first global, annual airline customer satisfaction survey. They are referred to as the Oscars of the aviation industry.
The awards survey process is not restricted to member airlines or a pre-selected choice of airline, and any airline in the world can be nominated. There are no survey entry fees, no payment to attend the awards event, and no charges for any use of the award logos and results by winning airlines. The customer surveys are provided in English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Russian and Japanese.
