Business class is essentially the best way to travel today. While true first class products still exist, they’re becoming rarer and more exclusive as airlines that do offer them focus on selling them as a luxury experience for ultra-high-net-worth individuals, making business class the most comfortable way to travel that’s accessible to passengers.

Business class comes with improved seats, improved service and catering, onboard amenities, along with an enhanced airport experience. The core of the ground experience is access to the airline’s lounge. Airlines typically grant access to designated lounges for business class passengers, which come with improved food and beverage options, along with a long list of amenities. Airlines will typically send business class passengers to a partner or contract lounge, while operating their own lounges at their hub airports. These are the world’s seven best business class lounges.

Singapore Airlines’ SilverKris Lounge

Singapore Changi Airport

Singapore Airlines is universally agreed to be one of, if not the world’s best, airlines, and one of the best airlines for business class travel. Naturally, this also comes with an excellent ground experience. Singapore Airlines operates two SilverKris lounges at its hub in Singapore Changi Airport, with one located in Terminal 2 near the E gates and the second in Terminal 3 near the A gates.

The Terminal 3 lounge is the larger and better-equipped of the two. The interior features a modern design with sleek lines, warm, welcoming colors, and decorative art pieces. The lounge is particularly well-known for the quality of its food offerings, which are available from several buffet and self-serve areas. The Terminal 3 lounge also comes with a fully-staffed bar, serving a wide variety of beverages.

The Terminal 3 SilverKris lounge includes a rest area with relaxation pods, along with a diverse selection of seating options. The lounge’s size means that it seldom feels crowded, and it also includes shower suites. Power ports are located throughout the SilverKris lounge, and the lounge also includes a baby care area, a playroom for younger children, and a meeting room.

Air Canada’s Signature Suite

Toronto Pearson International Airport

Air Canada’s general lounges for premium passengers are the Maple Leaf lounge network. However, located at just two airports (Toronto and Vancouver) are the Signature Suites. The lounge is significantly more restrictive with access than the Maple Leaf lounge, and it’s also connected to the Maple Leaf lounge. In essence, it’s a seperate addition to the Maple Leaf lounge that’s only accessible to a select few.

The Signature Suite complements the Maple Leaf lounge, and as such, it is lacking some features that are expected from one of the world’s top lounges. Instead, amenities such as shower suites can be found in the Maple Leaf lounge. The highlight of the Signature Suite is the dining, as it comes with a buffet area and a la carte dining. The menu is extensive, and the dining areas feature abundant seating.

While the Signature Suite is more similar to a fine-dining restaurant, it does also feature a variety of casual seating options. In addition, there’s a private VIP room along with a cocktail bar and abundant power ports. It’s light on amenities, but more of these can be found in the Maple Leaf lounge, and the Signature Suite is one of the most private and elite dining experiences that you can find at any airport.

Cathay Pacific’s The Pier, Business

Hong Kong International Airport

The Pier business class lounge at Hong Kong International Airport is one of the largest business class lounges in the world. While Cathay Pacific is a large airline and the lounge receives high traffic volumes, The Pier is large enough that it never feels crowded. In addition, The Pier is known for its modern, spacious interior design, and it’s filled with unique dining options and amenities.

The lounge is split into a main area and a wellness area. The wellness area is dominated by a 700 sq-ft space named « The Sanctuary by Pure Yoga », featuring mats, a television screen with instructional videos, as well as meditation pods equipped with iPads and noise-canceling headphones.

The main area features well-stocked shower suites, a quiet room, a spa, a general food hall, and a cocktail bar. In addition, The Pier also features a tearoom, a noodle bar, an Italian deli, and a grab-and-go pantry. The Pier includes a relaxation area with resting pods, as well as a dedicated work area. As a whole, this is one of the most well-equipped and luxurious business class lounges in the world.

Emirates’ Business Class Lounge

Dubai International Airport

The Emirates business class lounge is not the world’s most impressive facility in terms of architectural design; most of the impressive visual elements are from the design of the terminal itself. However, Emirates wins with sheer size: Cathay Pacific’s The Pier business class lounge, already considered a large business class lounge, is slightly over 35,000 sq-ft in size, while the Emirates business class lounge in Concourse B of Terminal 3 is nearly 100,000 sq-ft.

No matter how many passengers frequent Dubai International Airport, the Emirates business class lounge essentially never gets busy. Emirates operates multiple lounges for business class passengers at Dubai, but the Concourse B lounge stands out as offering the most amenities.

The buffet areas offer a virtually endless selection of food and beverage options, while the lounges naturally offer a spa and working areas. There are various seating options and resting areas. In addition, the Concourse B lounge features a Moet & Chandon champagne bar, as well as a Costa Coffee store with complimentary coffee. The lounge also offers direct boarding from select gates, a children’s play area, and even two cigar bars.

Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class Clubhouse

London Heathrow Airport

Virgin Atlantic operates a network of Clubhouse lounges for Upper Class passengers at select high-demand outstations, but the largest and most opulent location is the one at London Heathrow Airport. The Clubhouse is located within the Upper Class Wing, featuring dedicated check-in desks and security desks to expedite these aspects of the ground experience.

Virgin Atlantic advertises that chauffeur-driven passengers can reach the Clubhouse within 10 minutes of arriving at the airport. Inside, guests will find à la carte dining, along with a buffet. The bar area is staffed with multiple bartenders, and the drinks, as well as the food and service, are known to be excellent.

The design is visually striking, fitting with Virgin Atlantic’s ethos of being a fun, trendy airline. It features an outdoor terrace and a wide variety of seating options. In addition, the lounge features a complimentary spa that includes shower suites and a hot tub, along with a screening room, a game room, a children’s playground, and a separate area for office work.

Delta Air Lines’ Delta One Lounge

John F. Kennedy International Airport

The Delta One lounges are the newest out of any of the lounges on this list, and while US airlines have never been known for being quite on the same level as Asian carriers in terms of onboard quality, the Delta One lounges are truly exceptional. The first only opened in 2024, and the network competes directly with United’s Polaris lounges and American’s Flagship lounges. As Delta was the last of the three to open dedicated business class lounges, it took the opportunity to observe and best its competition.

There are currently four Delta One lounges operating in New York-JFK, Los Angeles, Boston, and Seattle, but the location at JFK’s Terminal 4 stands out as being the largest of the four. Visually, the Delta One lounge has stunning architecture with high ceilings and large windows, along with a modern, upscale color palette. In addition, not only is the lounge at New York-JFK Airport the largest within the Delta One network, but at nearly 40,000 square feet, it’s one of the largest business class lounges in the world.

The lounge’s restaurant is renowned for its friendly service, stunning visual design, and high-quality meals. It features a breathtaking terrace along with abundant power ports and working areas. The lounge’s wellness area includes massage chairs and a treatment area, and passengers using the luxurious shower suites can opt to have their clothing steamed and shoes shined.

Qatar Airways’ Al Mourjan Lounge

Doha Hamad International Airport

Qatar Airways operates two world-class Al Mourjan lounges at Doha Hamad International Airport, and each is as impressive as the other. Visually, the lounges are stunning, spanning multiple floors with unique architecture, and the Al Mourjan Lounge South measures at nearly 110,000 square feet, while the Al Mourjan Garden Lounge North is slightly under 80,000 square feet.

Both lounges feature high ceilings with spiral staircases, and the South Lounge also features an impressive water display. The Al Mourjan lounges include a deli and restaurant, where dining is à la carte, and meals are made to order. There are numerous beverage options as well as a buffet, and the lounge also includes a wellness area with a spa, a well-equipped children’s playroom, a smoking room, a prayer room, and shower suites, while the entire space is filled with self-serve beverage stations.

The South Lounge features a more contemporary and open design, while the Garden Lounge features a heavy use of greenery. Both are visually impressive and are as well-equipped with amenities as a lounge can get. As such, it’s no surprise that the two Al Mourjan lounges at Doha Hamad International Airport are the world’s best business class lounges.