SKYTRAX: 2022 Best Lounge Awards (Survey Results)

Matthew Justice
SKYTRAX 2022 Awards
Source: SKYTRAX

The SKYTRAX 2023 Best Lounge Awards have been released.

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.

Table of Contents

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
Best Independent Lounge 2022 - Plaza Premium (LHR)

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.

Plaza Premium Group Founder and CEO, Song Hoi See

  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)

Source: https://www.worldairlineawards.com/worlds-best-independent-airport-lounges-2022/

Best Alliance Lounges

The best airline alliance lounge was won by the Star Alliance Lounge (LAX) lounge. Overall Star Alliance scored 5 wins, followed by SkyTeam with 4, and oneworld scored one for their oneworld lounge (LAX).

photo of a person holding an award
Best Alliance Lounge 2022 - Star Alliance Lounge (LAX)
  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)

Source: https://www.worldairlineawards.com/worlds-best-airline-alliance-2022/

Best Business Class Lounges

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

people posing with award for best business class lounge
Best Business Class Lounge 2022 - Virgin Atlantic (LHR)
  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)

Source: https://www.worldairlineawards.com/worlds-best-business-class-airlines-2022/

Best First Class Lounges

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

person standing on stage with award
Best First Class Lounge 2022 - Swiss International Airlines (ZRH)

I am delighted that we have again been honoured for our First Class Lounges in these latest Skytrax awards. These awards confirm our standing as a strong premium brand. And being named by travellers as one of the world’s top ten airlines makes us particularly proud. That we have continued to convince our passengers of the outstanding quality of our product even through the extremely challenging past few years is thanks in no small part to the dedication and the professionalism of our employees.

Julia Hillenbrand, Head of SWISS Brand Experience

  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)

Source: https://www.worldairlineawards.com/worlds-best-first-class-airlines-2022/

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. There were over 100 customer nationalities and 350 airlines included in the survey. No payment or reward of any type is made to survey respondents and all submissions were voluntary.

Closing Thoughts

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