South Africa’s biggest low-cost carrier secures its first World Travel Award in the category, capping a landmark year of operational and customer recognition
JOHANNESBURG, 2 September 2026 — FlySafair has strengthened its position as one of Africa’s leading low-cost carriers after being named Africa’s Leading Low-Cost Airline at the 2026 World Travel Awards, marking the first time the South African airline has claimed the prestigious continental title.
The award was presented at the World Travel Awards Africa Gala Ceremony in Zanzibar on 28 August, placing FlySafair among the continent’s leading travel and tourism brands and providing a significant endorsement of its value proposition in an increasingly competitive aviation market.
For an airline built around affordability, operational reliability and accessible air travel, the recognition represents more than another industry trophy. It signals growing brand equity among both consumers and travel professionals across Africa.
“This recognition is a reflection of everything our team puts into the job every single day,” says Kirby Gordon, Chief Marketing Officer at FlySafair.
“Africa’s Leading Low-Cost Airline is not a small claim. We compete against carriers from across a vast and diverse continent, and to come out on top in a category voted on by travel professionals and passengers means a great deal.”
The World Travel Awards, established in 1993, are widely regarded as one of the travel industry’s most prestigious global accolades, with winners determined through nominations and voting across hundreds of categories covering aviation, tourism, hospitality and travel.
For FlySafair, winning a category shaped by the votes of travel professionals and passengers gives the award particular commercial significance.
“It tells us that what we’re doing is being noticed, and that the millions of South Africans who fly with us every year are advocating for us. That’s what we work for,” Gordon says.
A year of industry recognition
The World Travel Award adds to an impressive collection of accolades secured by FlySafair during 2026, reinforcing the airline’s positioning around reliability and customer value.
The carrier was previously recognised by aviation data and analytics company Cirium as the most on-time airline in the Middle East and Africa, recording an exceptional 91.06% on-time arrival rate across 62,805 tracked flights in 2025.
FlySafair also secured the Skytrax Best Low-Cost Airline in Africa award for the fourth time, while its performance across the South African aviation industry was further recognised at the SACAA Civil Aviation Industry Awards, where it collected five awards, including Best Airline by Public Vote.
Taken together, the accolades point to a business strategy that has increasingly centred on delivering value without compromising the fundamentals of airline performance.
In a market where passengers are increasingly sensitive to price but equally conscious of delays, customer service and convenience, FlySafair has positioned reliability as a critical component of its low-cost proposition.
Scale meets accessibility
Since launching operations in 2014, FlySafair has grown into South Africa’s largest low-cost carrier, operating dozens of Boeing 737 aircraft and more than 1,250 flights a week.
The airline currently carries approximately 230,000 passengers every week, highlighting the scale at which its low-cost model operates within the South African aviation market.
Its network has also expanded significantly, covering domestic routes across 10 destinations, alongside five international routes connecting South Africa with neighbouring countries.
That expansion reflects the broader role affordable aviation plays in the economy.
Lower-cost air travel does not only make leisure travel more accessible. It also facilitates business mobility, domestic tourism, family connections and access to regional markets, allowing more people to travel by air who might otherwise rely on slower or less convenient alternatives.
For FlySafair, maintaining that accessibility while scaling its network represents both a commercial opportunity and an operational challenge.
Gordon says the airline’s philosophy remains grounded in three core principles.
“Affordability, reliability and a genuine care for our customers – those are the three things we’ve built this airline on,” he says.
Building a stronger African aviation brand
Receiving the award in Zanzibar also carries symbolic significance for FlySafair.
Zanzibar is one of Africa’s most prominent tourism destinations, attracting travellers from across the continent and around the world. The setting provided a fitting backdrop for an airline whose growth has been closely connected to making travel more accessible.
“Receiving this award in Zanzibar, one of Africa’s most iconic tourism destinations, feels fitting,” Gordon says.
“It connects people, it opens opportunities, and it creates experiences people carry with them for life.”
The recognition comes at a time when African aviation continues to face the dual challenge of expanding connectivity while ensuring that air travel remains commercially sustainable and accessible to consumers.
For low-cost carriers in particular, the ability to combine competitive fares with dependable operations is becoming increasingly important as travellers demand greater value from every trip.
FlySafair’s latest recognition suggests that its formula is resonating beyond its traditional South African customer base.
The passengers behind the award
While industry recognition provides credibility, the strongest measure of an airline’s brand remains the experience of the people who use it.
That makes the passenger vote behind the World Travel Awards particularly meaningful for FlySafair, which has built its growth around a high-volume, value-driven model.
The airline says the latest accolade belongs as much to its employees as it does to the corporate brand.
“We’re proud to be the airline that makes more of that possible for more South Africans,” Gordon says.
“This award is for our team, and for every passenger who has chosen to fly with us.”
As FlySafair continues expanding its network and carrying hundreds of thousands of passengers each week, the challenge will be to maintain the operational discipline and customer proposition that have helped drive its rise.
For now, however, its first World Travel Award in the continental low-cost airline category provides a powerful endorsement of the strategy — and a clear indication that South Africa’s low-cost aviation success story is increasingly being recognised on the broader African stage.
