The airline, which offers a route from Birmingham Airport, has been named the best in Europe beating competition from both budget carriers and major airlines such as Air France and Lufthansa
The European airline beat many budget and flag carrier brands(Image: Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
An airline that offers regular flights from Birmingham has been named the best in Europe, ranking ahead of major names such as Virgin Atlantic and British Airways.
The Skytrax World Airline Awards took place in London on Friday (September 18), with a number of categories including World’s Best Airline, Best Cabin Crew, and the World’s Best Low-Cost Airlines.
Among the honours was the award for the Best Airline in Europe, and the winner is an airline that’s perhaps not known widely by Brits. However, they have direct routes to Istanbul from Birmingham Airport, Manchester, Edinburgh, Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted, connecting these airports to a major hub for the Middle East and beyond.
Turkish Airlines offer a Birmingham to Istanbul route(Image: Moe Zoyari/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)
Turkish Airlines scooped the award, and the flag carrier for Turkey also holds the distinction for flying to the most countries of any airline in the world. Its UK routes arrive in Istanbul, which has recently overtaken Heathrow as Europe’s busiest airport, welcoming 8.15 million arrivals in July compared to Heathrow’s 7.86 million.
Upon landing, passengers can either explore vibrant Istanbul, famous for being a rare city that spans two continents, or take an ongoing journey to destinations across the world. From Istanbul, Turkish Airlines flies to destinations across Asia, Australasia, the USA, and many more.
Turkish Airlines receives mixed reviews on TripAdvisor. The majority of reviews are either five or one-star, showing the divison of passenger experiences. One recent review said: “The flight was very comfortable, the service was excellent, and the staff were friendly, professional, and attentive throughout the journey.
“Everything was well organised, from check-in to boarding and the overall flight experience. The cabin was clean, the food was enjoyable, and the crew made the journey pleasant and relaxing. “
However, a less positive passenger said: “Awful! The standards have dropped. I once put TA in the same category as Emirates, but over the past few years, TA has fallen to a very average airlines. The departures and arrivals are consistently late on the London/ Dalaman legs.”
Coming second in the rankings was Air France, which has a number of connections across the UK, including regular flights from Birmingham to Paris–Charles de Gaulle. In third was Lufthansa, the German flag carrier which offers direct flights from Birmingham to the cities of Frankfurt and Munich.
The highest ranking British airline was Virgin Atlantic, which came in fifth place, while British Airways took seventh. When it came to the Best Low-Cost Airlines in Europe, Spanish budget airline Vueling took the crown, while Ryanair came in six, beating Jet2 into seventh place and easyJet into eighth.
The Best Airlines in Europe 2026
- Turkish Airlines
- Air France
- Lufthansa
- Iberia
- Virgin Atlantic
- Swiss International Air Lines
- British Airways
- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
- Austrian Airlines
- Finnair
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