With the increase in international travelling in 2026, new evaluations of long-haul flight performance have made Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways the best intercontinental carriers in the world as compared to other carriers who are far behind them.
In a summary list that Money Supermarket prepared based on information published by consumer watchdog Which?, rating sites such as Trustpilot and Tripadvisor, and industry indices, such as Skytrax and Airline Quality, Singapore Airlines has been ranked the top long-haul carrier. It scored the highest by the overall, as it amazed travellers with its combination of reliability, in-flight experience as well as value for money.
Its rival Qatar Airways was trailing very closely in the second place, renowned as the Gulf carrier with the most premium service and business-award winning class. Though Qatar was declared as the top airline in the world in the Skytrax world airline awards last year, it has fallen marginally in this composite index with a lower score of value compared to Singapore.
Asia and Middle East are in the lead.
Asian and Middle Eastern airlines have occupied the top of the 2026 list, which continues to illustrate the long-term success of the carriers in these regions in long-haul operations. Cathay Pacific of Hong Kong was given the third spot and then Europe with TUI was given the fourth – a rarity of a Western airline to break into the top tiers.
At the end of the rounding out the top ten were domestic brands such as Emirates, Qantas and Malaysia airlines which performed well in the different parameters evaluated.
West Falls Behind
The image was not very pleasant to a number of British and American carriers. The top three positions were indeed taken by American Airlines, United Airlines and British Airways – highlighting ongoing criticism on value-money and customer satisfaction of long-distance travel.
The Impact on Travellers
To the UK tourists who may have long distance journeys this year, these rankings provide them with the necessary information on what to anticipate of the long distance market. Singapore and Qatar are also a model of service excellence, and some of the traditional Western airlines might have to restructure their product packages and customer experience to compete better.
As airline capacity, fleet upgrades and advancements in service standards take part in the future of travel in 2026 and beyond, this will position the long-haul carrier hierarchy to change further, although in the meantime, Singapore and Qatar are on the top.
