• Celebrates 10 awards from five different awarding bodies in recent weeks, including 2026 APEX Best Food & Beverage in the Middle East, Gold and Silver Stevie Awards for Innovation across customer service and experience, and Aviation Achievement Award for Cargo Airline of the Year
  • Airline collects over 30 awards in 12 months

Abu Dhabi, UAE – Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, collected awards for the Airline with the Best Economy Class and Airline with the Best Cabin Crew for the sixth year in a row, at the 2026 Business Traveller Middle East Awards in Dubai on 18 June 2026. The accolades follow a string of wins for the airline this award season, with recognition also coming from the MENA Stevie Awards, the Business Traveller Cellars in the Sky Awards, the Aviation Achievement Awards, and the APEX Best Awards, bringing the airline’s tally to over 30 individual awards from international and regional industry bodies over the past 12 months.

The Business Traveller Middle East Awards are decided entirely by readers, with frequent flyers casting votes based on their own travel experiences throughout the year. A sixth consecutive win for Best Cabin Crew reflects a level of consistency that cannot be manufactured for a single campaign or moment; it is built flight after flight, year after year. For Etihad's crew, that consistency is rooted in a brand of hospitality drawn from Emirati tradition and culture, characterised by warmth, generosity, and genuine care for every guest. It is this quality, delivered onboard every flight regardless of cabin or route, that keeps travellers voting for Etihad each year.

Etihad's onboard food and drink offering was a particular highlight this season, with the airline named APEX Best Food & Beverage in the Middle East at the APEX Best Awards, and its Champagne and Red Wine served in its First cabin both awarded Silver at the Business Traveller Cellars in the Sky Awards. Elsewhere, Etihad Cargo was named Cargo Airline of the Year and won Air Cargo Pharma Service of the Year at the Aviation Achievement Awards, while the MENA Stevie Awards recognised the airline's wider innovation programme, with Gold for its future-ready contact centre, Gold for its global chauffeur service, and Silver for its AI-powered service transformation.

These industry awards carry weight precisely because they are independently judged, whether by seasoned travel journalists, aviation experts, or the travelling public themselves. For Etihad, recognition across five distinct awarding bodies in a single season, spanning customer service, cabin crew, cargo, catering, and onboard luxury, demonstrates that the airline's progress is being noticed and validated well beyond its own marketing. Each award represents an external benchmark against industry peers, and winning consistently across categories points to an airline whose standards are holding up to genuine scrutiny, not just performing well on a single metric in a single year.

Appendix: Etihad awards — rolling 12 months (June 2025 – June 2026)

  • Business Traveller Middle East Awards
    • Airline with the Best Cabin Crew
    • Airline with the Best Economy Class
  • Best Food & Beverage in the Middle East – APEX Best Awards
  • Business Traveller Cellars in the Sky Awards
    • Silver – Best Champagne in First Class
    • Silver – Best Red Wine in First Class
  • Aviation Achievement Awards
    • Cargo Airline of the Year
    • Air Cargo Pharma Service of the Year
  • MENA Stevie Awards
    • Gold – Innovation in Customer Service Management Planning & Practice
    • Gold – Innovation in Transportation & Logistics
    • Silver – Innovative Use of Technology in Customer Service
  • Airline Ratings Safety Awards
    • World’s Safest Full-Service Airline for 2026
    • Seven Star PLUS Safety Rated Airline
  • World Travel Awards
    • World's Leading Airline Customer Experience 2025
    • World's Leading Airline Economy Class 2025
    • World's Leading Airline Lounge Business Class 2025
  • 2nd Place – Top Airline Rankings 2025 AirHelp Score
  • Customer Experience Initiative of the Year 2025 – Aviation Business Middle East Awards
  • Design Airline of the Year Middle East 2025 – The Design Air
  • World Travel Awards Middle East
    • Middle East's Leading Airline - Customer Experience 2025
    • Middle East's Leading Airline - Economy Class 2025
    • Middle East's Leading Airline Inflight Entertainment 2025
    • Middle East's Leading Airline Lounge - Business Class
    • Middle East's Leading Cabin Crew 2025
  • 4th Place – Condé Nast Traveller Best Airlines in the World
  • Airline Economics' Aviation 100 MAE Airline of the Year 2025 – Airline Economics
  • Customer Centricity in B2B (Middle East) – Customer Centricity World Series
  • Five Star Global Airline – APEX 2026
  • Best Business Continuity Management Organisation of the Year (GCC) – DRI ASEAN Awards
  • Best in Seat Comfort Award in the Middle East 2025 – APEX Future Travel Experience EMEA
  • Best First Class Onboard Catering in the Middle East – Skytrax

About Etihad Airways

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, was formed in 2003 and quickly went on to become one of the world’s leading airlines. From its home in Abu Dhabi, Etihad flies to passenger and cargo destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America. Together with Etihad’s codeshare partners, Etihad’s network offers access to hundreds of international destinations. In recent years, Etihad has received numerous awards for its superior service and products, cargo offering, loyalty programme and more. To learn more, visit etihad.com.

For further details:
Duty Media Officer
Etihad Airways
Email: dutymediaofficer@etihad.ae