SKYTRAX: 2023 Best Lounge Awards (Survey Results)

Matthew Justice
SKYTRAX 2023 Award logo.
Source: SKYTRAX

Reviewing lounges is the main purpose of this site, so I get excited each year when I see the SKYRAX travel survey come out. 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 of the categories 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. SKYRAX classifies independent lounges as lounges that are not operated by an airline or airline alliance.

people holding up a sign for best independent lounge 2023.
  1. Plaza Premium Lounge - Rome, Italy (FCO)  #5 in 2022
  2. Pearl Lounge - Bahrain (BAH)  no change
  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)  new
  6. Quito Sala VIP Lounge - Quito, Ecuador (UIO)  #7 in 2022
  7. Plaza Premium Lounge - Hong Kong (HKG)  new
  8. American Express Centurion Lounge - Hong Kong (HKG)  new
  9. SATS Premier Lounge - Singapore (SIN)  new
  10. Plaza Premium Lounge - Heathrow London, England (LHR)  #1 in 2022

Source: https://www.worldairlineawards.com/worlds-best-independent-airport-lounges-2023/

Best 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. Star Alliance Lounge - Los Angeles, California, USA (LAX)  no change
  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)  new
  7. SkyTeam Lounge - Istanbul, Turkey (IST)  no change
  8. SkyTeam Lounge - Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB)  #6 in 2022
  9. SkyTeam - Sydney, Australia (SYD)  new
  10. Star Alliance Lounge - Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS)  #5 in 2022

Source: https://www.worldairlineawards.com/worlds-best-airline-alliance-2023/

Best Business Class Lounges

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

  1. 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)  no change
  9. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines - Amsterdam, Netherlands (AMS)  #6 in 2022
  10. Cathay Pacific - Hong Kong (HKG)  new

Source: https://www.worldairlineawards.com/worlds-best-business-class-airlines-2023/

Best First Class Lounges

The highest rating 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.

people holding sign with award of best first class lounge 2023.
  1. Air France - Charles de Gaulle - Paris, France (CDG)  #5 in 2022
  2. Qatar Airways - Hamad International - Doha, Qatar (DOH)  no change
  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)  no change
  7. Cathay Pacific - Hong Kong (HKG)  no change
  8. Qantas Airways - Sydney, Australia (SYD)  new
  9. Emirates - Dubai, United Arab Emirates (DXB)  #8 in 2022
  10. British Airways - Heathrow London, England (LHR)  #9 in 2022

Source: https://www.worldairlineawards.com/worlds-best-first-class-airlines-2023

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. There were over 100 customer nationalities and 325 airlines included in the survey. No payment or reward of any type is made to survey respondents and all submissions were voluntary.

Closing Thoughts

Sadly, once again I 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 Dallas (DFW) and it was amazing, so it coming in 5th place (Independent Lounge) makes me really want to visit more lounges in future.