The best airlines you've never heard of

The 2018 World Airline Awards, dubbed the “Oscars of the aviation industry”, were announced earlier this summer. Singapore Airlines pipped Qatar Airways - last year’s winner - to the top spot, with Japan’s All Nippon Airways completing the podium.

But which carriers that managed to earn a place in the top 100 are not even household names? We count down the best most obscure airlines in ascending order.

AtlasGlobal (100th overall)

Turkish airline AtlasGlobal replaced the equally obscure Atlasjet in 2015, and serves 58 destinations. Just one UK airport regularly welcomes its aircraft: Stansted. From the Essex hub it flies to, you guessed it, Istanbul.

Despite its relatively small size it actually flies to an impressive 27 countries, helped by Turkey’s position at the centre of the world (at least as far as Mercator projection is concerned). This geographical ideal also explains why Turkish Airlines flies to more countries - 120 - than any other carrier on the planet. That’s 27 more than its nearest rival.

An AtlasGlobal pilot was awarded a national medal of courage last year for safely landing a packed passenger jet “blind” after its windshield was smashed by giant hailstones in a violent storm. Hats off to Ukrainian captain Alexander Akopov.

First flight: 2001

HQ: Istanbul

Fleet size: 24

Destinations served: 58

S7 (98th)

Siberia Airlines, based in the staggeringly curt city of Ob, was rebranded as S7 and now flies to 146 destinations (including chilly Vladivostok and Irkutsk, the so-called “Paris of Siberia”), with a fleet of 87 aircraft (including subsidiaries). Warmer stops include Barcelona, Athens, Dubrovnik and Ibiza, but it hasn’t yet extended its reach to UK shores.

It teamed up with US band OK Go in 2016 to shoot one of the coolest music videos of all time.

First flight: 1992

HQ: Ob

Fleet size: 87

Destinations served: 146

Air Nostrum (96th)

The regional arm of Iberia has been around since 1994, but remains relatively small with just 45 aircraft - most of which are Bombardiers with a capacity of 100 passengers or fewer. It briefly owned the oddly-named Dutch carrier Denim Air from 1999-2002. “Nostrum” means “remedy” in Spanish - though the English word is usually associated with ineffective or “quack” cures. Which may or may not explain why it never cracked the UK market.

It did once offer the only direct service from London to San Sebastian, but the route sadly appears to have been withdrawn in the last year.

First flight: 1994

HQ: Valencia

Fleet size: 45

Destinations served: 58

Peach (91st)

A fairly recent arrival, Japanese low-cost airline Peach took to the skies in 2012 and now serves 21 destinations (all in the Far East and Thailand) with a fleet of 21 aircraft. A pilot shortage caused major issues in 2014. After many left for other airlines, or became sick or injured, it was forced to cancel more than 2,000 flights. One of its pilots hit the headlines a few months previously when they misunderstood instructions from air traffic control and mistakenly descended to a dangerously low altitude of 248 feet above the East China Sea.

First flight: 2012

HQ: Izumisano

Fleet size: 21

Destinations served: 21

Vistara (86th)

Launching an airline in India must be tempting. With a population of 1.3 billion and an ever-expanding middle class, the potential for growth is incredible. The Indian government’s regional connectivity scheme, meanwhile, will see the creation of up to 100 new airports in remote parts of the country over the next few years. Which might explain why Vistara took off in 2015.

Its main claim to fame? Last year it promised that female passengers would never be assigned a middle seat in a bid to provide peace of mind to those travelling in a country in which the Foreign Office urges caution from single women using public transport.

First flight: 2015

HQ: Gurgaon

Fleet size: 21

Destinations served: 22

Air Dolomiti (83rd)

Air Dolomiti’s fleet of a dozen Embraer 195s criss-cross Europe’s most picturesque mountain range, serving cities such as Venice, Bologna, Verona and Munich, where it has its base.

Its lofty ranking may or may not be explained by its ability to quickly handle compensation claims. According to 2016 research carried out by AirHelp, which considered 78 airlines around the world, Air Dolomiti is second only to Qatar Airways when it comes to rapid resolutions.

First flight: 1991

HQ: Munich

Fleet size: 12

Destinations served: 11

Juneyao Airlines (81st)

This Chinese carrier is actually pretty big - 64 aircraft and 70 destinations at the last count - but it doesn't fly beyond the Far East and south-east Asia, which is why you probably haven't heard of it. Its low-cost subsidiary, 9 Air, founded in 2015, is even less well known (but didn't make the Skytrax top 100).

First flight: 2005

HQ: Shanghai

Fleet size: 64

Destinations served: 70

Copa Airlines (66th)

Panama's flag carrier has been around since 1944 - but still hasn't ventured beyond The Americas. One of its planes was involved in one of the most inept hijacking attempts of all time in 1994. A man demanded to be flown to Mexico and wielded a fake bomb. He didn't count on there being three military agents on board, who immediately realised the bomb was a fake and detained him. So uneventful was the hijacking that none of the other passengers even realised there was a problem.

Copa has chiselled a curious niche for itself by putting all its weight behind long-haul services using narrow-body aircraft (in this case, 737s). According to research by the aviation website Anna Aero, no airline on the planet operates more long-haul flights using single-aisle jets. It means that Panama City has fantastic links with North and South America, including flights to 13 US cities, two in Canada, four in Argentina (with a fifth, Salta, coming in December) and 10 in Brazil.

First flight: 1947

HQ: Panama City

Fleet size: 100

Destinations served: 80

Porter Airlines (62nd)

Based at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (named after a Canadian First War World flying ace), Porter Airlines was named 62nd best airline in the world by Skytrax this year. Founded in 2006, it has a fleet of 29 aircraft - all Bombardier Dash 8s with room for 74 passengers. The airline’s mascot is a rather debonair raccoon named "Mr Porter". Despite its lofty ranking, it has never left North American soil, serving 16 Canadian destination and a few across the US border.

Toronto City isn’t the best airport for nervous fliers. Its runway is less than 4,000 feet long - shorter than the likes of Skiathos, one of Europe’s most notoriously titchy terminals - and is surrounded by water. Pilots must also negotiate a complicated approach path, avoiding everything from boat masts and tall chimneys to a nearby wind turbine.

First flight: 2006

HQ: Toronto

Fleet size: 29

Destinations served: 24

SilkAir (56th)

The 56th best airline in Skytrax’s rankings (better than United, Alitalia and Air China, to name a few), SilkAir - a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines - was formed in 1982 (as Tradewinds Airlines), making it the city state’s second oldest carrier. It serves 49 destinations with a fleet of 33 aircraft. They include dozens of Chinese, Indian and south-east Asian cities, but also Cairns and Darwin in Australia, Kathmandu, and the Japanese port of Hiroshima. Its hub is Singapore Changi - the world’s best airport, according to Skytrax.

SilkAir was involved in a controversial disaster in 1997 when one of its Boeing 737s crashed into a Sumatran river, killing all 104 on board. While evidence was deemed inconclusive by Indonesian authorities, the US National Transportation Safety Board ruled it a murder-suicide by the pilot.

First flight: 1992

HQ: Singapore

Fleet size: 33

Destinations served: 49

Azul (53rd)

South America's fourth largest airline, and Brazil’s second biggest (after Gol Transportes Aéreos), does not fly to Europe, which might explain why most people (or at least most of us on Telegraph Travel) have not heard of it. It owns an impressive 127 aircraft, however, despite being only 10 years old. It earned its moniker (Azul means “Blue”) in a naming contest, with it narrowly pipping “Samba” for popularity.

The vast majority of its destinations are Brazilian, with Lisbon, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Cayenne (French Guiana), Montevideo and Punta del Este (both Uruguay), and four Argentinian cities (Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Rosario and San Carlos de Bariloche) the only exceptions.

Brazil, for the record, has more than 4,000 airports – more than any other country other than the US (which has around 13,500).

First flight: 2008

HQ: São Paulo

Fleet size: 127

Destinations served: 108