Emirates tops again as ‘Best Long Haul Airline’ at The Telegraph Travel Awards 2025

Emirates has once again claimed the top spot as ‘Best Long Haul Airline’ at The Telegraph Travel Awards 2025. Recognised for its world-class products, exceptional services, and unmatched travel experiences - the airline was voted the best long-haul carrier in the world by 20,000 Telegraph Travel readers. 

The award ceremony was held at the Pompadour Hotel Café Royal in London last week. Helen Breen, Emirates’ Leisure Sales Manager in the UK, accepted the award on behalf of the airline. 

Emirates continues to be the airline of choice for customers worldwide, and was recognised this month as ‘2025’s Most Recommended Global Brand’ by YouGov. It was also the only airline to be featured on the top 10 global list. 

Over the past three consecutive years, Telegraph Travel has recognised Emirates’ outstanding travel experiences, awarding the airline with ‘Best Long Haul Airline’ in 2023 and 2025. In 2024, Emirates was also named ‘World’s Best Airline,’ ranking first amongst 90 global carriers in a comprehensive consumer study, with ratings calculated from more than 30 criteria such as punctuality, baggage allowance, route network, quality of home airport, age of fleet, value of rewards programme and in-flight meals. 

Serving ‘fly better’ experiences worldwide:

Emirates continues to uphold its top-ranking score with its extensive global network and innovative products. Over the past year, the airline has: 

• Expanded its network with the launch of four destinations including Shenzhen, Da Nang, Siem Reap, Damascus and Hangzhou (30 July). 
• Deployed its newest aircraft, the Emirates A350, to 10 destinations worldwide including Edinburgh, Lyon and Bologna. By the end of this year, the Emirates A350 is expected to serve 17 destinations. 
• Opened its doors to nine reimagined travel retail stores across Asia, Africa and Europe. 
• Rolled out 61 refurbished aircraft with refreshed interiors as part of its US$ 5 billion retrofit programme (31 A380s and 30 Boeing 777s). 
• The airline also introduced an elevated onboard dining experience for Business Class passengers with 18 new dishes expertly paired with exclusive Champagne. 
• Emirates Skywards, the airline’s award-winning loyalty programme, recently enhanced its airline partnerships to offer reciprocal loyalty benefits with Garuda Indonesia and AEGEAN; rolled out Classic Rewards on all flydubai flights starting at 5,000 Miles; and enhanced its hotel partnerships with Marriott Bonvoy and ALL loyalty programme to offer members seamless two-way points and Miles conversions. 

Committed to the UK 

Emirates currently serves the UK with 133 weekly flights including: six times daily A380 to London Heathrow; three times daily A380 service to Gatwick; twice daily service to Stansted; three times daily A380 service to Manchester; twice daily service to Birmingham (including a daily A380 service); daily service to Newcastle; daily A380 service to Glasgow; and a daily A350 service to Edinburgh. 

According to Emirates’ latest global booking data, flight searches on emirates.com in the UK have increased 12% year-on-year, with strong interest to long-haul destinations such as New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Sri Lanka and Mauritius. 

Customers travelling with Emirates can look forward to the warm hospitality of the airline’s multinational crew, regionally gourmet cuisine, and award-winning inflight entertainment system – ice – offering up to 6,500 channels of the best movies, TV shows, podcasts and more.