South Africa’s largest airline named among the best in the world

South Africa’s biggest domestic airline, FlySafair, has been named the Best Low-Cost Airline in Africa at the 2026 Skytrax World Airline Awards.

It is the fifth time the airline has been named among the world’s best airlines, having won the award in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025.

Introduced in 1999, the World Airline Awards are independent and impartial, using customer satisfaction studies and real feedback to determine eventual standings.

“Travellers across the world vote in the largest airline passenger satisfaction survey to determine the award winners,” explained Skytrax.

This year’s survey ran from September 2025 to August 2026, and entries were screened to identify IP and user information. Duplicated, suspect and ineligible entries were deleted.

The 2025/2026 survey results comprised nearly 25 million entries covering over 300 airlines worldwide from travellers in more than 100 countries.

Skytrax offered the customer survey in English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

According to the awards host, the awards are so prestigious that the world’s media often refer to them as ‘the Oscars of the aviation industry’.

It was during the award ceremony, held on 18 September at the Langham Hotel in London, that FlySafair was named the Best Low-Cost Airline in Africa.

The airline’s CEO, Elmar Conradie, said the recognition belongs to every team member at FlySafair who shows up each day to get South Africans where they need to be, safely, on time and affordably.

“Being named Africa’s Best Low-Cost Airline reflects that consistency, and it’s an honour we don’t take for granted,” he added.

“To our customers, thank you for continuing to choose us and for trusting us with your journeys.”

On the night, Ethiopian Airlines was named the Best Airline in Africa for the seventh consecutive year.

FlySafair’s second award this year

Earlier this year, FlySafair was recognised as the leading low-cost airline in Africa. This was the first time the airline has won the award.

The 2026 World Travel Awards were held in Zanzibar on 28 August 2026, and are considered one of the travel and tourism industry’s highest distinctions, created to recognise excellence across all sectors of global travel and hospitality.

The awards were first established in 1993 and, similarly to the Skytrax World Airline Awards, are regarded by many as the travel industry’s equivalent of the Oscars.

“This recognition is a reflection of everything our team puts into the job every single day,” said Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at FlySafair.

“Africa’s Leading Low-Cost Airline is not a small claim. We compete against carriers from across a vast and diverse continent, and to come out on top in a category voted on by travel professionals and passengers means a great deal.”

Kirby noted that the recognition shows what the airline does not go unnoticed, and that the millions of South Africans who fly with FlySafair every year are advocating for the airline, which is what it strives for.

FlySafair’s awards are the latest in a string of other accolades it has received recently, having also been named the most on-time airline in the Middle East and Africa by Cirium.

According to the global aviation authority on operational performance, FlySafair achieved a 91.06% on-time arrival rating across 62,805 flights tracked in 2025.

“Affordability, reliability and a genuine care for our customers – those are the three things we’ve built this airline on,” noted Gordon. 

“We’re proud to be the airline that makes more of that possible for more South Africans. This award is for our team, and for every passenger who has chosen to fly with us.”