A Canadian airline just ranked #1 in the world for leisure travel and it's not who you'd expect

A Canadian airline just walked away with one of the industry's biggest titles at this year's Skytrax World Airline Awards — often called the "Oscars of the airline industry" — but it wasn't the carrier you might expect.

The awards, handed out at a ceremony in London, England, on September 18, recognize airlines across dozens of categories, from cabin crew to cleanliness to regional performance.

But one category in particular put a Montreal-founded carrier in the spotlight: World's Best Leisure Airline.

That carrier was Air Transat, which is picking up the title for the eighth time.

It previously won in 2012, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025, and was also recognized as North America's Best Leisure Airline in 2022 — giving it a long track record of showing up on Skytrax's radar year after year.

So what exactly does it take to win this title? The World's Best Leisure Airline Award is based on customer evaluations of the quality of products and services offered by leisure airlines, both onboard and on the ground. That's everything from comfort and service quality to how well an airline meets the specific needs of leisure travellers, as opposed to business flyers.

Air Transat wasn't just up against small regional players, either. The competition for the top leisure airline spot was global, and the carrier still managed to come out on top, ahead of SunExpress in second place and TUI Airways rounding out the top three.

An Air Transat delegation, including President and CEO Annick Guérard, accepted the award in person at the ceremony.

"Being named the World's Best Leisure Airline for the eighth time is a tremendous source of pride for Air Transat and, above all, a well-deserved recognition of our teams," Guérard said in a press release.

Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax, also weighed in on the win, congratulating Air Transat on what he called a "fabulous achievement" at the 2026 World Airline Awards.

"Winning the award as the World's Best Leisure Airline is a great recognition from its customers and underlines the high levels of customer satisfaction and Air Transat's ability to deliver a reliable and enjoyable experience tailored to leisure travellers," Plaisted said.

Air Transat wasn't the only Canadian name that came up in this year's Skytrax awards, though the rest of the results paint a more mixed picture for the country's carriers.

In the broader World's Top 100 Airlines ranking, which measures airlines across all categories rather than just leisure travel, Porter Airlines ranked 34th, while Air Transat placed 59th.

WestJet landed at 85th, down 10 spots from its 2025 ranking, and Air Canada Rouge rounded things out at 100th.

Air Canada, meanwhile, placed 17th on the overall Top 100 list — respectable, but nowhere near Air Transat's leisure-category win.

For context on just how broad the World Airline Awards are, this year's ceremony also handed out honours like World's Cleanest Airline (STARLUX Airlines), World's Best Cabin Crew (Cathay Pacific), Best Airline in Europe (Turkish Airlines), Best Long Haul Low-Cost Airline (Scoot), World's Best Business Class (Qatar Airways), and World's Best Economy Class (Singapore Airlines) — putting Air Transat's win in some pretty elite company.

Here's a closer look at the full list for 2026:

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