Qantas has teamed up with wildlife warrior and rising TV star Robert Irwin to help explain some of the intricacies of Australian slang to an international audience.

” ‘Nah yeah’ means yes and ‘”yeah nah’ means no,” Qantas helpfully explains in a media release launching the campaign – which also came with an AI-generated photo of a business cabin full of Irwins.

It came as the latest airline rankings revealed the Flying Kangaroo languishing behind the world’s best airlines. It failed again to crack the top 10 in this year’s Skytrax awards, although it did manage to rise from 14th to 12th.

Singapore Airlines topped the list again, followed by Qatar Airways and Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific.

The 2026 list from international air transport rating organisation Skytrax actually looks remarkably similar to 2025. The top 10 features the same airlines as last year – with the top two simply swapping positions.

Qatar and Singapore have dominated the award for a decade, fighting out nine of the past 10 titles – with only Middle Eastern rival Emirates to break up their run in 2016. Skytrax chief executive Edward Plaisted pointed out at last Friday’s ceremony that only seven airlines had won the top title since it began in 1999 – and most remained in 2026’s top 10.

In further proof of the stiff competition among the world’s airlines, Qatar, Singapore and Cathay Pacific also made up the top three in the rival AirlineRatings best airline award when it was announced earlier this year.

Singapore Airlines also won Skytrax’s world’s best economy class title for 2026, and the award for best economy class food.

“We congratulate Singapore Airlines on this major achievement of being named the World’s Best Airline 2026, which highlights the level of product and service excellence they are providing to customers,” Plaisted said.

Singapore got another tick for its budget carrier Scoot, which was named the world’s best long-haul low-cost airline for the sixth straight year.

Qantas, meanwhile, was named the best airline in Australia and the Pacific (followed by Air New Zealand and Virgin Australia). It also collected a nod for the region’s best airline staff service.

“These awards recognise the care our people show at every stage of the journey, and the spirit they bring to it,” Qantas boss Vanessa Hudson said.

Widely known as “the Oscars of the aviation industry” the World Airline Awards began in 1999. Skytrax covers the costs of the world’s largest survey of passengers; survey results are then used to produce its ratings.

Never enough Irwins – Qantas’s campaign features this AI image. Photo: Qantas

Irwin’s ‘Australia in the sky’

Qantas’s campaign with Irwin and Tourism Australia, which launched this week, is running across North America, the Britain and Asia.

Its first images show Irwin onboard a Qantas plane before drifting off to sleep and dreaming of being back at Australia Zoo – “bringing to life,” the airline said “the idea that for Qantas customers, Australia begins the moment they step onboard”.

“Qantas has been part of my life since I was about the size of a loaf of bread. Some of my earliest memories are walking down the aerobridge with mum and getting to visit the flight deck,” Irwin said.

“When I get on a Qantas flight, I’m among friends. There is something about the warm Australian hospitality that feels like home. Getting to join forces with our national carrier to show the world just how much Australia has to offer is something that means a great deal to me.”

The program gives customers who book an international Qantas flight to Australia access to discounted economy and business fares to selected domestic destinations.

Qantas will also support the 2026 Steve Irwin Gala in Brisbane on November 7. It raises money for global conservation through the Irwin family’s Wildlife Warriors.