Consumer aviation website Skytrax has released updated rankings of the best airlines in the world.
For 2021, airlines from middle east and Asia such as Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and Emirates once again dominate the upper echelons of the list.
Unfortunately, African airlines have struggled to keep up with the pack. In fact, no airline from Africa managed to crack the top 30 positions with the highest-ranking African airline, Ethiopian Airlines in 37th position among the top 100 Airlines in the world.
Nevertheless, African Airlines still offer high-quality services to passengers. Looking at the top airlines in Africa for 2021/22, according to Skytrax:
Best Performing African Airlines
Ethiopian Airlines has been crowned as “The Best Airline in Africa” for the fourth consecutive year. The airline also scooped “The Best Business class Airline in Africa” for the third consecutive year and “The Best Economy class Airline in Africa” for the third consecutive year. Ethiopian was also named as the airline with “The Best Cabin Crew in Africa.”
Royal Air Maroc was crowned as “The best Regional airline in Africa” while RwandAir scooped an award for “The Best Airline Staff in Africa”.
This year’s rankings are based on more than 13 million customer survey responses, judging 356 airlines on areas like online booking and check-in processes, friendliness of airline staff, seat comfort and the quality of in-flight meals and entertainment. The survey ran from September 2019 to July 2021, according to Skytrax.
Here’s a breakdown of Skytrax’s 2021 airline rankings, both globally and in Africa:
The world’s top 10 airlines of 2021
Here are Skytrax’s top 10 airlines of 2021, by overall rating:
- Qatar Airways
- Singapore Airlines
- ANA All Nippon Airways
- Emirates
- Japan Airlines
- Cathay Pacific Airways
- EVA Air
- Qantas Airways
- Hainan Airlines
- Air France
The top 5 African Airlines of 2021 according to Skytrax
- Ethiopian Airlines
- South African Airways
- Kenya Airways
- Royal Air Maroc
- Air Mauritius
By Victor Shalton Odhiambo
Photo: by A Doumenjou
