Qatar Airways named No.1 airline for 2024 at the ‘Oscars of Aviation’, BA moves up to 13th, Delta triumphs again in America – and Ryanair BEATS easyJet and Jet2 in the budget ranking

Qatar Airways has been named the world’s best airline at the ‘Oscars of Aviation’.

The airline triumphed over 350 airlines Skytrax World Airline Awards 2024beating last year’s winner, Singapore Airlines, into second place.

Emirates ranks third, ANA All Nippon Airways fourth and Cathay Pacific comes fifth.

British Airways has two reasons to celebrate: the airline rises from 18th to 13th in the overall rankings and takes home the crown as the world’s most family-friendly airline, after finishing 10th in this ranking last year category.

Delta Airlines once again reigns supreme as the best airline in North America – although it fails to crack the top 20 globally – and Fiji Respiratory tract secures the gong for best airline in Australia/Pacific. Ryanairhas meanwhile shaken up the category of the world’s best low-cost airlines, finishing ninth ahead of British rivals easyJet in 10th place and very popular Jet2.com on the 12th. The overall winner of the category is AirAsia.

Qatar Airways has been voted the world’s best airline at the ‘Oscars of Aviation’

Overall winner Qatar Airways also tops the 'World's Best Business Class' category.  Above - the airline's Qsuite

Overall winner Qatar Airways also tops the ‘World’s Best Business Class’ category. Above – the airline’s Qsuite

SKYTRAX GLOBAL AWARD WINNERS FOR 2024

The world’s top 20 airlines of 2024

1 Qatar Airways

2 Singapore Airlines

3 Emirates

4 ANA All Nippon Airways

5 Cathay Pacific

6 Japan Airlines

7 Turkish airlines

8 EVA air

9 Air France

10 Swiss international airlines

11 Korean air

12 Hainan Airlines

13 British airways

14 Fiji Airways

15 Iberia

16 Vistara

17 Virgin Atlantic Ocean

18Lufthansa

19 Etihad Airways

20 Saudi Arabian airlines

THE WORLD’S BEST FIRST CLASS AIRLINES 2024

1 Singapore Airlines

2 Air France

3 Emirates

4 Swiss

5 ANA All Nippon Airways

6 Lufthansa

7 Japan Airlines

8 Saudi Arabian airlines

9 Cathay Pacific Airways

10 Etihad Airways

THE WORLD’S BEST BUSINESS CLASS AIRLINES 2024

1 Qatar Airways

2 Singapore Airlines

3 ANA All Nippon Airways

4 Emirates

5 Cathay Pacific

6 Hainan Airlines

7 Air France

8 Delta Air lines

9 EVA air

10 Turkish airlines

THE BEST PREMIUM ECONOMY CLASS AIRLINES IN THE WORLD 2024

1 Japan Airlines

2 Emirates

3 EVA air

4 Singapore Airlines

5 Virgin Atlantic Ocean

6 ANA All Nippon Airways

7 Delta Air lines

8 Cathay Pacific

9 Air France

10 Qantas Airways

THE WORLD’S BEST ECONOMY CLASS AIRLINES 2024

1 Cathay Pacific

2 Qatar Airways

3 Singapore Airlines

4 Japan Airlines

5 EVA air

6 ANA All Nippon Airways

7 Emirates

8 Hainan Airlines

9 Turkish airlines

10 Saudi Arabian airlines

The World’s Most Family-Friendly Airlines 2024

1 British respiratory tract

2 Emirates

3 Air Canada

4 Singapore Airlines

5 Qatar Airways

6 Cathay Pacific Airways

7 Virgin Atlantic Ocean

8 ANA All Nippon Airways

9 Air New Zealand

10Lufthansa

THE CLEANEST AIRLINES IN THE WORLD 2024

1 Cathay Pacific Airways

2 ANA All Nippon Airways

3 EVA air

4 Qatar Airways

5 Singapore Airlines

6 Asiana Airlines

7 Hainan Airlines

8 Japan Airlines

9 China Airlines

10 Korean air

World’s Best Cabin Crew 2024

1 Singapore Airlines

2 ANA All Nippon Airways

3 Garuda Indonesia

4 EVA air

5 Cathay Pacific Airways

6 Hainan Airlines

7 Japan Airlines

8 Thai respiratory tract

9 Qatar Airways

10 Malaysian airlines

The world’s best low-cost airlines 2024

1 AirAsia

2 Volotea

3 Flynas

4 Transavia France

5 Indigo

6 Vueling airlines

7 airBaltic

8 Iberia Express

9Ryanair

10 easyJet

11 flyDubai

12 Jet2.com

13 Eurowings

14 SKY airline

15 JetSMART airlines

Source: Skytrax

British Airways rises from 18th to 13th in the overall rankings.  Upstairs - the chic business class ('Club World' cabin)

British Airways rises from 18th to 13th in the overall rankings. Upstairs – the chic business class (‘Club World’ cabin)

BA also takes home the crown as the world's most family-friendly airline, after finishing 10th in this category last year.  Above - one of the airline's Boeing 777s

BA also takes home the crown as the world’s most family-friendly airline, after finishing 10th in this category last year. Above – one of the airline’s Boeing 777s

Overall winner Qatar Airways also topped the ‘World’s Best Business Class’ category and was voted the cleanest airline in the Middle East and the airline with the world’s best business class lounge, at Hamad International Airport.

Receiving the World’s Best Airline award during the awards ceremony at Fairmont Windsor Park, near London Heathrow, Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Airways Group, Engr. Badr Mohammed Al-Meer said: “This is a proud moment for Qatar Airways and it is my honor to share this award with my hardworking colleagues. This award is a testament to our continued commitment to delivering unparalleled service and innovation. We look forward to more wins in the future.”

Skytrax’s Edward Plaisted said: ‘This is a remarkable achievement for Qatar Airways to win this title of the world’s best airline for 2024, the eighth time they have been victorious.

‘Qatar Airways achieved excellent results across many award categories, highlighted by the recognition of their Business Class cabin as the World’s Best Business Class, and their Al Mourjan Garden Lounge named the World’s Best Business Class Airline Lounge.

Singapore Airlines is ranked as the second best airline in the world

Singapore Airlines is ranked as the second best airline in the world

Singapore Airlines ranks second and takes top honors in the rankings of the world's best cabin crew.  Above: A Singapore Airlines business class cabin

Singapore Airlines ranks second and takes top honors in the rankings of the world’s best cabin crew. Above: A Singapore Airlines business class cabin

Delta Air Lines reigns as the best airline in North America.  Above - a Delta A330-900neo

Delta Air Lines reigns as the best airline in North America. Above – a Delta A330-900neo

Above is a Delta Air Lines A330-900neo cabin

Above is a Delta Air Lines A330-900neo cabin

“We congratulate Qatar Airways on this success, which should be a source of great pride and satisfaction for the airline’s management and staff.”

Second place Singapore Airlines takes top honors in the World’s Best Cabin Staff rankings and occupies the top spot on the podium in the prestigious World’s Best First Class category.

Third place Emirates wins World’s Best Airline Inflight Entertainment and fifth place Cathay takes credit for the world’s best Economy Class.

The rest of the top 10 in the overall rankings consists of Japanese airlines (sixth and the world’s best Premium Economy Class), Turkish airlines (seventh and best airline in Europe), Eva Lucht (eighth), Air France (ninth and the world’s best first class catering) and Swiss international airlines (10th and best first class airline lounge for Zurich).

Expand on Bass Skytrax, the winner of World’s Most Family Friendly Airline, said: ‘This award covers many aspects of the experience including family seating policy, family check-in facilities, priority boarding, children’s meals, children’s amenities/toys/activity packs, child-specific inflight entertainment , children’s baggage and travel cot/stroller policies, and the standards for service assistance from ground staff and cabin crew during the family travel experience.”

Allegiant air receives the distinction as the best low-cost airline in North America for the first time and Ethiopian Airlines has won the Best Airline in Africa award for the sixth consecutive year.

Commenting on how the awards came about, Skytrax said: ‘The World Airline Awards are completely independent and impartial and were introduced in 1999 to provide a customer satisfaction survey that is truly global. Travelers around the world vote in the largest airline passenger satisfaction survey to determine the award winners.

‘More than 100 customer nationalities participated in the 2023/2024 survey, with 21.42 million eligible entries counted in the results. Survey submissions are screened to identify IP and user information, removing any duplicate, suspicious or ineligible submissions. The final Award results include more than 350 airlines.’

For last year’s results click here.