The Best Airlines in the World

Which airline is the best in the world? The Skytrax ranking for 2025 reveals it to us! We present the rankings in our travel magazine and show you which airlines made it to the top 10.

Every year, the best airlines in the world are awarded, with Skytrax presenting the top 10 airlines. In 2025, Qatar Airways has once again reached the top and has been named the best airline in the world. The highest-rated passengers from around the globe praised the delicious in-flight menus and the airline's entertainment program. The second place was secured again by the winning airline of 2023, Singapore Airlines. Cathay Pacific Airways took third place.

In June 2025, Skytrax, the esteemed rating platform, selected its World's Top 10 Airlines of 2025:

1st Place: Qatar Airways (Qatar)

2nd Place: Singapore Airlines (Singapore)

3rd Place: Cathay Pacific Airways (China)

4th Place: Emirates (UAE)

5th Place: ANA All Nippon Airways (Japan)

6th Place: Turkish Airlines (Turkey)

7th Place: Korean Air

8th Place: Air France (France)

9th Place: Japan Airlines

10th Place: Hainan Airlines

Qatar Airways defends its first place from 2024 and thus wins the coveted Oscar of the airline industry. The airline safely transports you to your vacation in the Maldives or to Dubai.

Why is the Skytrax ranking so meaningful? Because the ranking is not created by experts, but through the voting of passengers who rated the respective airlines based on various factors. In other words: The passengers of Qatar Airways were always very satisfied. We can fully understand the reasons for this satisfaction, as we too have had pleasant flights with the airline.

But how is it that the results of this survey differ so greatly from those of airlineratings.com, another polling platform? We will reveal that in the following:

Here are the top 10 airlines of 2025 according to airlineratings.com:

1st Place: Korean Air

2nd Place: Qatar Airways (UAE)

3rd Place: Air New Zealand (New Zealand)

4th Place: Cathay Pacific Airways (China)

5th Place: Singapore Airlines (Singapore)

6th Place: Emirates (UAE)

7th Place: Japan Airlines

8th Place: Qantas (Australia)

9th Place: Etihad Airways (UAE)

10th Place: Turkish Airlines (Turkey)

To even be included in the list of the 10 best airlines, airlines must meet high standards. Airlines that do not achieve a 7-star ranking in safety do not qualify for the top spots.

The "Safety Ranking" determined by JACDEC (Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre), which ranks the safest airlines, plays a significant role in evaluating airlines. Additionally, airlines must also excel in good ratings, service, and crew engagement to secure a place among the top 10.

Surprisingly, while in the Skytrax ranking, Air New Zealand is only ranked 24th, the ranking by airlineratings.com does not even mention ANA All Nippon Airways or Air France, which qualify for the top 10 in Skytrax. These differences can have various reasons, which we would like to explain further.

How do the differences in rankings arise?

Different selection processes: While at airlineratings.com the editors vote, at Skytrax it is the passengers themselves who vote for their favorite airline. Thus, in one case it is an expert voting, and in the other, a large-scale survey among passengers. Therefore, the results are not easily comparable.

Different target audiences: The Airline Ratings website is presented by "The West Australian", a news portal in Down Under. Thus, the editors here cater to a different readership than Skytrax, which is based in London. This can influence the results.

Different experiences: While New Zealanders and Australians fly west or east with Air New Zealand or Qantas, Europeans often use Emirates, Qatar Airways, or Etihad for those destinations. When it comes to choosing the best airline, personal experience likely counts first - regardless of whether editors or readers vote. Therefore, a tendency in one direction or another is not only possible but quite likely.

In general, both votings are a good measure of the quality of the airlines, but also of their service and safety on board. With these airlines, you can't go wrong.