Cathay Pacific's The Pier First Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport has taken the top spot in the first-ever airport lounge rankings from Condé Nast Traveller's Readers' Choice Awards, scoring 97.55 out of 100. The awards, decided by hundreds of thousands of frequent fliers, added lounges to the ballot for 2026 — and the message is clear: the pre-flight experience now matters as much as the flight itself.
It was a strong showing for Asia overall. ANA's Suite Lounge at Tokyo International Airport (Haneda) claimed second place with a score of 96.19, while Cathay's The Wing Business Lounge, also at Hong Kong, rounded out the top ten in tenth. The Middle East put in a serious performance too: Emirates took both third and fourth places, with its First Class Lounge (95.43) narrowly ahead of its Business Lounge (92.38), both at Dubai International. Qatar Airways managed a double at Hamad International as well — the Al Safwa First Lounge at 91.43 and the Al Mourjan Lounge at 90.00, in sixth and eighth respectively.
Europe earned four spots. Air France's La Première Lounge at Paris-Charles de Gaulle came fifth on 92.14, Turkish Airlines' Business Lounge at Istanbul Airport took seventh on 91.26, and the No 1 Lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 2 landed ninth on 89.18. Notably, Heathrow's entry is a pay-in lounge rather than an airline flagship, which means ordinary travellers without status or a business ticket can simply book in — one of the few names on the list accessible to anyone with a credit card.
For holidaymakers, the rankings double as a route-planning tool. If you're flying long-haul via a major hub, a connection through Hong Kong, Dubai, Doha, Tokyo, Paris or Istanbul could get you into some of the most praised spaces in aviation — depending on your ticket class or loyalty status. First-class lounges like The Pier and La Première are usually reserved for top-tier fares and elite frequent fliers, but business-class products such as Qatar's Al Mourjan or Turkish Airlines' lounge are within reach of anyone flying business, and lounge access memberships or day passes can unlock others.
The scores reflect overall satisfaction rather than a single feature, but the common threads among the winners are space, dining quality and calm — the things fliers say make the biggest difference before a long flight. Whether The Pier's famously generous restaurant and relaxation rooms justify booking a Cathay routing over a competitor is now, at least according to several hundred thousand voters, a fair question to ask.
Full rankings and scores are in the 2026 Readers' Choice Awards results.
