Top-Ranked Airlines Globally in 2025

Top Airlines of 2025: AirlineRatings.com Announces Awards

AirlineRatings.com has unveiled the winners of its prestigious World's Best Airline Awards for 2025, recognising the top performers in Full-Service, Hybrid, and Low-Cost categories. The awards are based on a holistic approach that considers safety, reliability, passenger experience, fleet modernity, and environmental sustainability initiatives.

In the Full-Service category, Korean Air takes the top spot. The airline's exceptional focus on passenger comfort, particularly in Economy Class, is a significant factor in its win. Korean Air maintains industry-leading seat pitches of 33-34 inches on wide-body aircraft, offering passengers a comfortable journey. Korean Air's financial stability, groundbreaking merger with Asiana Airlines, and significant investments in modern, fuel-efficient aircraft are also factors in its win.

Qatar, Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Japan Airlines, Qantas, Etihad, Turkish Airlines, EVA Air, Fiji Airways, Virgin Atlantic, ANA, Aero Mexico, Air Caraibes, Thai Airways, STARLUX Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Sri Lankan Airlines, Air France, KLM, Air Calin, Air Mauritius, Garuda Indonesia complete the top 25 Full-Service Airlines for 2025.

In the Hybrid category, JetBlue takes the first place. The criteria for the top 20 Hybrid Airlines include a minimum seat pitch of 30 inches in economy class, complimentary non-alcoholic beverages, and recliner seats in business class. The top 20 Hybrid Airlines for 2025 are JetBlue, Westjet, Virgin Australia, Delta Airlines, United, American Airlines, Lufthansa, Air Canada, LOT Polish Airlines, TAP Portugal, Alaska Airlines, SWISS, Avianca, Iberia, British Airways, Finnair, Austrian Airlines, Hawaiian, ITA, SAS.

The World's Best Airline Branded Lounges were awarded to Qantas. Virgin Australia Regional (VARA) and Air Baltic were named the Best Regional Airline Awards winners, with Cebu Pacific as the Runner-Up for the Best Ultra-Low-Cost Carrier Award.

Vietjet has been named the winner of the Best Ultra-Low-Cost Carrier Award and the World's Best Cabin Crew was awarded to Virgin Australia. AirlineRatings.com has introduced a new category for the awards: Best Hybrid Airlines.

These awards are based on what each airline offers passengers throughout its fleet and network, rather than popularity. AirlineRatings.com evaluates airlines on aspects of safety, product quality, customer service, sustainability efforts, and operational factors. The study that evaluated 90 airlines considered punctuality, baggage allowance, route network, fleet age, and inflight amenities, all relevant to full-service and hybrid carriers. The awards also incorporate input from independent awards, reader polls, and expert reviews, enhancing the comprehensiveness of the assessment.

AirlineRatings.com has stringent criteria for selecting its Best Full-Service, Hybrid, and Low-Cost Airline award winners. The criteria used by AirlineRatings.com to determine the winners include safety record and regulatory compliance, on-time performance and reliability, quality of inflight product and service, passenger experience encompassing luggage rules and rewards programs, fleet modernity and environmental sustainability initiatives, reviews and rankings aggregated from multiple independent expert and consumer sources.

For more information about the criteria used by AirlineRatings.com, please refer to straynomad.com.au and instagram.com/p/DMQh2U9Pecm/.

The transportation industry witnessed a significant shift as Korean Air was named the top performer in the Full-Service category of airline news in 2025, based on factors like safety, reliability, passenger experience, fleet modernity, and environmental sustainability initiatives.
The finance sector also saw an impact as Korean Air demonstrated financial stability with industry-leading investments and a groundbreaking merger with Asiana Airlines, contributing to its win as the best Full-Service airline.
The lifestyle and travel industries were influenced by the awards, with Korean Air offering a comfortable journey for passengers with industry-leading seat pitches of 33-34 inches on wide-body aircraft, enhancing the overall travel experience.