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2023 SKYTRAX Best Lounge Awards (Survey Results and Overview)

Matthew Justice / Aug 7, 2023
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The 2023 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 category reports the results for the top 10 lounges.

Table of Contents

Best Independent Lounges

The Plaza Premium Lounge in Rome, Italy (FCO) scored the number one spot for the best independent lounge. SKYTRAX classifies independent lounges as lounges that are not operated by an airline or airline alliance.

Six people standing on stage to accept an award for the Best Independent Lounge award.
  1. Winner: Plaza Premium Lounge - Rome, Italy (FCO) #5 in 2022
  2. Pearl Lounge - Bahrain (BAH) #3 in 2022
  3. iGA Lounge - Istanbul, Turkey (IST) #4 in 2022
  4. Primeclass Lounge - Muscat, Oman (MCT) #2 in 2022
  5. American Express Centurion Lounge - Dallas, Texas, USA (DFW)
  6. Quito Sala VIP Lounge - Quito, Ecuador (UIO) #7 in 2022
  7. Plaza Premium Lounge - Hong Kong (HKG)
  8. American Express Centurion Lounge - Hong Kong (HKG)
  9. SATS Premier Lounge - Singapore (SIN)
  10. Plaza Premium Lounge - Heathrow London, England (LHR) #1 in 2022

Summary: In the category of Best Independent Lounge, there were four new lounge winners added, and three lounges dropped off from the 2022 list. The Centurion Lounge in Houston (IAH) was ousted by its sister location in Dallas (DFW). Plaza Premium (LHR) dropped nine places to number 10 on the list.

Best Airline Alliance Lounges

The best airline alliance lounge was won (once again) by the Star Alliance Lounge (LAX) lounge. Overall, SkyTeam had five wins, and Star Alliance scored four wins.

  1. Winner: Star Alliance Lounge - Los Angeles, California, USA (LAX) #1 in 2022
  2. SkyTeam Lounge - Vancouver, Canada (YVR) #10 in 2022
  3. oneworld Business Lounge - Los Angeles, California, USA (LAX) #2 in 2022
  4. Star Alliance Lounge - Rome, Italy (FCO) #3 in 2022
  5. Star Alliance Lounge - Charles de Gaulle - Paris, France (CDG) #8 in 2022
  6. SkyTeam Lounge - Santiago Metropolitan, Chile (SCL) #4 in 2022
  7. SkyTeam Lounge - Istanbul, Turkey (IST) #7 in 2022
  8. SkyTeam Lounge - Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB) #6 in 2022
  9. SkyTeam Lounge - Sydney, Australia (SYD)
  10. Star Alliance Lounge - Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS) #5 in 2022

Summary: In the category for Best Airline Alliance Lounge, there were two new additions to the list, which were both SkyTeam and one (Star Alliance) lounge dropped off the list from 2022. Star Alliance is the largest airline alliance, consisting of 25 member airlines, but intrestingly, they only had four winners in this category.

Best Business Class Lounges

Qatar Airways won the best overall business class lounge for their Doha, Qatar (DOH) lounge.

  1. Winner: Qatar Airways - Hamad International - Doha, Qatar (DOH) #2 in 2022
  2. Air France - Charles de Gaulle - Paris, France (CDG) #5 in 2002
  3. Singapore Airlines - Changi - Singapore (SIN) #4 in 2022
  4. United Airlines - Houston, Texas, USA (IAH) #7 in 2022
  5. Virgin Atlantic - Heathrow London, England (LHR) #1 in 2022
  6. Turkish Airlines - Istanbul, Turkey (IST) #3 in 2022
  7. Emirates - Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB) #9 in 2022
  8. Air Canada - Toronto Pearson - Ontario, Canada (YYZ) #8 in 2022
  9. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines - Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS) #6 in 2022
  10. Cathay Pacific - Hong Kong (HKG)

Summary: The Best Business Class lounge had one new addition, and one lounge dropped off for 2023. Cathay Pacific (HKG) took the #10 slot, replacing the Gulf Air, Bahrain (BAH) lounge.

Best First Class Lounges

The highest-rated first-class lounge was won by Air France and their lounge in Paris, France. Air France also scored second place for Best Business Class Lounge.

four people standing on the stage holding the award for Worlds Best First Class lounge.
  1. Winner: Air France - Charles de Gaulle - Paris, France (CDG) #5 in 2022
  2. Qatar Airways - Hamad International - Doha, Qatar (DOH) #2 in 2022
  3. Singapore Airlines - Changi - Singapore (SIN) #4 in 2022
  4. Swiss International Air Lines - Zurich, Switzerland (ZRH) #1 in 2022
  5. Lufthansa - Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) #3 in 2022
  6. ANA All Nippon Airways - Haneda - Tokyo, Japan (HND) #6 in 2022
  7. Cathay Pacific - Hong Kong (HKG) #7 in 2022
  8. Qantas Airways - Sydney, Australia (SYD)
  9. Emirates - Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB) #8 in 2022
  10. British Airways - Heathrow London, England (LHR) #9 in 2022

Summary: Air France (CDG) moved up four spots to take the win for the best First Class lounge. Qantas (SYD) made it on the list, and Thai Airways (BKK) dropped off from the 2022 awards.

The SKYTRAX results were compiled from surveys that were screened to identify duplicate or invalid user information. Duplicate or ineligible entries were deleted. The survey period ran from September 2022 to May 2023 and included customers from over 100 nationalities and 325 airlines. No payment or reward of any type was made to survey respondents, and all submissions were voluntary.

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Closing Thoughts

Sadly, I have only been to one of these lounges, so I can't comment on the results. I have visited the Centurion Lounge in Dallas (DFW), and it was amazing. It is a bit annoying that Skytrax does not indicate a specific lounge winner. For example, there are two Plaza Premium lounges in Rome (FCO), seven Air France Lounges in Paris (CDG), and seven Qatar Airways lounges in Doha (DOH), among others. This leaves a lot of ambiguity as to which lounge won the award and which one is the best. To cast your vote and be part of the survey, visit the Survey Form to submit your votes. The results of the 2024/2025 World Airline Survey will be announced on 17th June 2025 at Paris Air Show.