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This Australian airline has just ranked third-best in the world for customer satisfaction

A new study puts Qantas in third place globally for passenger experience, but it’s number one in our hearts

Melissa Woodley
Written by
Melissa Woodley
Travel & News Editor, Time Out Australia
Qantas plane flying in sky
Photograph: Supplied | Qantas
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Qantas is flying the red kangaroo sky-high right now. Just months after being crowned the best airline in the Australia-Pacific region for 2025, it’s cracked a global list of the world’s highest-rated airlines for customer satisfaction. Considering the endless gripes about flying – from cramped seats and glitchy screens to soggy meals and long delays – scoring a podium finish in this comprehensive new ranking is something to be proud of.

To identify the world’s top-performing airlines, Sparrow analysed how well the 30 biggest carriers delivered across seven key factors: annual passenger number, destinations served, Skytrax rating, search volume, accident history, lost luggage rate and most importantly, passenger experience. The heaviest weight was given to that last indicator, which reflects customer ratings for comfort, service quality and overall in-flight satisfaction.

Topping the list with a near-perfect aggregated score of 99, Singapore Airlines has been crowned number one for customer satisfaction worldwide. Despite flying 18.1 million passengers annually across 79 destinations, it still maintains a five-star Skytrax rating and the highest passenger experience rating of 6.9 out of ten. Cathay Pacific wasn’t far behind, scoring an impressive 98. Like Singapore Airlines, it carried 18 million passengers across 88 locations while maintaining its five-star Skytrax score.

Australia’s very own Qantas finished in third place with a commendable customer satisfaction score of 94. Flying 46 million passengers each year across more than 100 destinations, it strikes a balance of volume and quality. Qantas’ 6.7 passenger experience rating and 0.02 per cent lost luggage rate match Cathay Pacific, but it edges ahead with a wider global network and just two reported incidents in the past year. If Qantas can lift its Skytrax rating from four to five stars, it could have a good shot at clinching the top spot in 2026.

Here are the 10 best airlines for customer satisfaction

  1. Singapore Airlines
  2. Cathay Pacific
  3. Qantas
  4. Lufthansa
  5. JetBlue
  6. EasyJet
  7. British Airways
  8. Emirates
  9. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
  10. United Airlines

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