One of the most credible airline rankings just revealed the world’s best for 2025. Even if the difference between airlines is much less noticeable in economy class (business classes and other premium cabins vary much more), there’s still great variation, and it’s good to know for all travelers.
Lots of people are sadly still afraid of anything unknown (in all areas) and therefore avoid foreign airlines that are often so much better than North American airlines (which are obviously better known here).
(This is actually partly why Air Canada sells the same flight to Americans for almost half the price, and why that’s obviously normal when you understand the basics of plane ticket pricing!)
Here’s the ranking of the best airlines for 2025, according to Skytrax’s World Airline Awards.
Basics of the Skytrax ranking
There are 2 important things to know:
- About rankings in general
- About this specific ranking
Rankings in general
Like all rankings, this obviously isn’t perfect or objective. It’s even very subjective. It’s voted on by the public, so it’s also partly the airlines that are best at convincing their fans to go vote.
But Skytrax is one of the most credible on the subject (if not the most credible), with 22 million votes collected and a pretty good reputation.
So it’s still useful to know their ranking. The order is not 100% perfect, but it gives a good idea of the airlines that are among the best, at least.
We always tell you that quality is obviously better in Asia (including the Middle East) for everything related to hospitality, as all experienced travelers already know. This applies to airline quality, of course. But Asia is big, it’s not true for all airlines. It’s a general rule. It’s good to know which specific airlines are the best.
For example, you obviously won’t find Air India at the top of any ranking. That’s why we’ve been telling you for a long time that it’s not a quality airline.
(We’re talking about passenger experience, which has nothing to do with their tragic crash last week. It’s way too early to know the causes, but if the leads pointing to pilot error or poor maintenance turn out to be true, that may come from the same principle of poor quality… but that’s far from sure, and it’s a whole other subject!)
Specific ranking
The Skytrax ranking of the best airlines is really the overall ranking of the different aspects measured.
It’s therefore very different from the ranking of the 20 best business classes specifically. We’re going to share that with you soon, if you want to do like me and fly in luxurious lie-flat pod seats that are worth thousands of dollars. I just did it again to go to Europe and also to Asia in March, for as little as 60,000 Aeroplan points per direction.
(You can check out our guide on how to travel in business class for less than economy class for the 3 simple steps to follow!)
But spoiler alert: the #1 airline overall also has the world’s best business class. Because the overall ranking takes business class into account. It takes everything into account!
There are other, more specific rankings, like just for economy class, that we’ll share as well.
But let’s start with the best airlines in the world in 2025.
List of the 10 best airlines in the world in 2025
Here’s the Skytrax ranking for 2025.
#1: Qatar Airways
- Country: Qatar 🇶🇦
- Alliance: oneworld
- 2024 rank: #1
#2: Singapore Airlines
- Country: Singapore 🇸🇬
- Alliance: Star Alliance
- 2024 rank: #2
#3: Cathay Pacific
- Country/territory: Hong Kong 🇭🇰
- Alliance: oneworld
- 2024 rank: #5
#4: Emirates
- Country: United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪
- Alliance: None
- 2024 rank: #3
#5: ANA (All Nippon Airways)
- Country: Japan 🇯🇵
- Alliance: Star Alliance
- 2024 rank: #4
#6: Turkish Airlines
- Country: Türkiye 🇹🇷
- Alliance: Star Alliance
- 2024 rank: #7
#7: Korean Air
- Country: South Korea 🇰🇷
- Alliance: SkyTeam
- 2024 rank: #11
#8: Air France
- Country: France 🇫🇷
- Alliance: SkyTeam
- 2024 rank: #9
#9: Japan Airlines
- Country: Japan 🇯🇵
- Alliance: oneworld
- 2024 rank: #6
#10: Hainan Airlines
- Country: China 🇨🇳
- Alliance: None
- 2024 rank: #12
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Summary
The world’s best airlines for 2025 were unveiled this week by Skytrax, which publishes one of the industry’s most credible rankings. Unsurprisingly, airlines from East Asia and West Asia (the Middle East) continue to dominate. The only non-Asian airline in the Top 10 is Air France (we consider Turkish Airlines to be in the Middle East more than Europe).
What would you like to know about the best airlines in the world? Tell us in the comments below.
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Featured image: San Blas Islands, Panamá (photo credit: Dresla and Skytrax World Airline Awards, edited by Flytrippers)
