British Airways has been the matriarch in aviation for many years with many Britsh travellers opting to travel with the airline firsthand among many other nationalities. However, the hugely popular airline did not make the top 10 airlines at the Worlds Airline Awards, which is often considered the ‘Oscars of the aviation industry’.
BA is the largest legacy carrier and the largest by international long-haul destinations. They are known for their loyalty programs which help travellers collect avios points that can help bring down flight costs, premium quality service across cabins and sometimes moving campaigns. This time they found themseleves outside of the top 10 airlines and were placed 13th.
The Skytrax awards are based on passenger surveys and celebrate airlines that have exceeded travellers’ expectations.
Qatar Airways takes the crown as 2025’s best airline, marking the ninth time the airline has won the award.
The airline also picks up the top award for the world’s best business class while its Al Mourjan Garden Lounge at Doha Airport was named the world’s best business class airline lounge.
Edward Plaisted at Skytrax says: “It is a fabulous achievement for Qatar Airways to win the World’s Best Airline title for 2025, the ninth time they have triumphed in the awards history.’
Singapore Airlines takes second place in the awards and also picks up the gong for the world’s best cabin crew and the world’s best First Class.
Cathay Pacific rounds off the top three best airlines and takes first place for inflight entertainment and best economy class.
British Airways lands outside the global top 10, ranking as the 13th best airline in the world. It picks up its highest rating in the family-friendly category, taking second place behind Lufthansa.
The world’s best low-cost airline is AirAsia, a Malaysian budget airline, while easyJet is rated the 10th best in the low-cost category.
Eurowings is the best-rated low-cost airline in Europe (fourth in the world) with Vueling Airlines (fifth in the world) next on the list.
Emirates ranks as the world’s fourth best airline while ANA All Nippon Airways, a Japanese airline, takes fifth place.
The world’s cleanest airline is EVA Air, which is based in Taiwan, while Air Transat takes the prize for best leisure airline.
Japan dominates the world’s best airport services category with ANA All Nippon Airways taking the number one spot and Japan Airlines in second place.
Starlux Airlines, a Taiwenese carrier, is named the most improved airline in 2025 with ITA Airways in second.
Plaisted adds: “We welcomed back a large number of previous winners and were also delighted to see new faces and airlines represented here today.
“As indicated by so many former winning airlines being awarded again, quality consistency is clearly well recognised by customers when they vote for these airlines.”