Emirates Ends 2025 with Five New Global Awards and a Year of Record-Breaking Recognition

Emirates is closing out 2025 on a soaring high, securing five additional global honours at the 32nd annual World Travel Awards held in Bahrain. These new distinctions add to the airline’s impressive tally of more than 20 awards collected this year, reinforcing Emirates’ position as a world-leading airline brand. The latest accolades recognise the excellence of its first-class experience, award-winning inflight entertainment system ice, premium lounges, and the Emirates Skywards loyalty programme — named the World’s Leading Airline Rewards Programme 2025.

Emirates’ Five Latest Wins at the World Travel Awards:

• World’s Leading Airline Brand 2025

• World’s Leading Airline Inflight Entertainment 2025 – Emirates ice

• World’s Leading Airline Rewards Programme 2025 – Emirates Skywards

• World’s Leading Airline – First Class 2025

• World’s Leading Airline Lounge – First Class 2025 – Emirates First Class Lounge, Emirates Terminal 3, Dubai International Airport

A Year of Major Global Recognition for Emirates

November marked another milestone for Emirates as the airline was named “Best Airline in the World” for the eighth consecutive year at the ULTRAs Travel Awards. Based on votes from Ultratravel’s global community of 1.2 million travellers, Emirates also took home awards for “Best Premium Economy Class” and a Lifetime Achievement Award for Services to Global Aviation presented to Sir Tim Clark. Aviation Business Middle East further recognised the airline with the titles “Best First Class of the Year” and “Airline of the Year.”

Emirates also excelled at the Forbes Travel Guide Verified Air Travel Awards 2025, securing “Best International Airline,” “Best International First Class,” and “Best International Airline Lounge.” Additional recognition came from The Times and The Sunday Times Travel Awards, where Emirates was named “Best Long-Haul Airline.” Sir Tim Clark was also honoured with the Wings Club Foundation’s Distinguished Achievement Award for his contributions to the aviation sector.

In September, the airline received further global acclaim at the APEX/IFSA Global EXPO in Long Beach, California. Emirates earned the 2026 APEX Best™ Global Entertainment Award for its industry-leading ice entertainment system and a 2026 APEX WORLD CLASS™ award acknowledging its excellence across all customer experience touchpoints.

Earlier in the year, Emirates added several other major recognitions to its growing list, including “Best Long-Haul Airline” at The Telegraph Travel Awards, “2025’s Most Recommended Global Brand” by YouGov, and multiple wins at the Business Traveller Middle East Awards. These included “Best Airline Worldwide” for the 12th year in a row, as well as “Best First Class,” “Best Premium Economy Class,” and “Best Airport Lounge in the Middle East.”