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2022 SKYTRAX Best Lounge Awards (Survey Results and Overview)

Matthew Justice / Sep 28, 2022
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Reviewing lounges is the main purpose of this site, so I get excited when I see a large survey done that reviews lounges from around the world. The 2022 SKYTRAX (Passenger's Choice) awards have been released, and below is the list of the best-rated lounges worldwide. They are broken up into four lounge award categories: best independent, best alliance, best business class, and best first-class lounges. Each of the categories reported results for the top 10 lounges.

Best Independent Lounges

The Plaza Premium Lounge at London Heathrow (LHR) scored the number one spot for the best independent lounge. Skytrax classifies independent lounges as lounges that are not operated by an airline or an airline alliance.

Six people posing holding up award for best independent lounge award.

Plaza Premium Group Founder and CEO, Song Hoi See said We are truly honoured to be awarded the prestigious Skytrax World Airline Awards for the sixth time, consecutively. Having awarded 2022’s Best Independent Airport Lounge Brand for Plaza Premium Lounge is a testament to our service excellence. The past two years have been challenging for the travel industry due to the pandemic and we would like to dedicate this win to all our colleagues who have been the backbone of our company.

  1. Plaza Premium Lounge - Heathrow London, England (LHR)
  2. Primeclass Lounge - Muscat, Oman (MCT)
  3. Pearl Lounge - Bahrain (BAH)
  4. iGA Lounge - Istanbul, Turkey (IST)
  5. Plaza Premium Lounge - Rome, Italy (FCO)
  6. American Express Centurion Lounge - Houston, Texas - USA (IAH)
  7. Quito Sala VIP Lounge - Quito, Ecuador (UIO)
  8. Plaza Premium Lounge - London, England (LGW)
  9. Escape Lounge - Phoenix, Arizona - USA (PHX)
  10. Marharba Lounge - Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH)
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Best Alliance Lounges

The best airline alliance lounge was won by the Star Alliance Lounge (LAX) lounge. Overall, Star Alliance scored five wins, followed by SkyTeam with 4, and oneworld scored one win for the LAX lounge.

person holding an award, that reads the Best Airline Alliance lounge.
  1. Star Alliance Lounge - Los Angeles, California - USA (LAX)
  2. oneworld Business Lounge - Los Angeles, California - USA (LAX)
  3. Star Alliance Lounge - Rome, Italy (FCO)
  4. SkyTeam Lounge - Santiago Metropolitan, Chile (SCL)
  5. Star Alliance Lounge - Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS)
  6. SkyTeam Lounge - Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB)
  7. SkyTeam Lounge - Istanbul, Turkey (IST)
  8. Star Alliance Lounge - Charles de Gaulle - Paris, France (CDG)
  9. Star Alliance Lounge - São Paulo, Brazil (GRU)
  10. SkyTeam Lounge - Vancouver, Canada (YVR)

Best Business Class Lounges

Virgin Atlantic won the best overall business class lounge for their London Heathrow (LHR) lounge.

people posing with award for best business class lounge.
  1. Virgin Atlantic - Heathrow London, England (LHR)
  2. Qatar Airways - Hamad International - Doha, Qatar (DOH)
  3. Turkish Airlines - Istanbul, Turkey (IST)
  4. Singapore Airlines - Changi - Singapore (SIN)
  5. Air France - Charles de Gaulle - Paris, France (CDG)
  6. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines - Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS)
  7. United Airlines - Houston, Texas - USA (IAH)
  8. Air Canada - Toronto Pearson - Ontario, Canada (YYZ)
  9. Emirates - Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB)
  10. Gulf Air - Bahrain (BAH)

Best First Class Lounges

The highest-rated first-class lounge was won by Swiss International Airlines and their lounge in Zurich, Switzerland. SWISS also earned first place for the World's Best First Class Lounge Dining.

person standing on stage with award.
  1. Swiss International Air Lines - Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH)
  2. Qatar Airways - Hamad International - Doha, Qatar (DOH)
  3. Lufthansa - Frankfurt, Germany (FRA)
  4. Singapore Airlines - Changi - Singapore (SIN)
  5. Air France - Charles de Gaulle - Paris, France (CDG)
  6. ANA All Nippon Airways - Haneda - Tokyo, Japan (HND)
  7. Japan Airlines - Haneda - Tokyo, Japan (HND)
  8. Emirates - Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB)
  9. British Airways - Heathrow London, England (LHR)
  10. Thai Airways - Suvarnabhumi - Bangkok, Thailand (BKK)

The SKYTRAX results were compiled from 13.42 million surveys that were screened to identify duplicate or invalid user information. Duplicate or ineligible entries were deleted. The survey period ran from September 2021 to August 2022. The survey included over 100 nationalities of customers and 350 airlines. No payment or reward of any type was made to survey respondents, and all submissions were voluntary.

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Closing Thoughts

I have only been to one of these lounges, so I can't comment on the results, but I am glad to see that so many other people have chimed in. I have visited the Centurion Lounge in Houston, and it was great, so seeing it ranked 6th place (Independent Lounge) makes me think the other lounges are likely amazing.