The world’s cleanest airlines

Shockingly, SAA is not on the list.


Flying is a filthy business. The average international flight will do four trips between proper cleans, which is probably why some studies estimate that up to 20% of passengers on commercial flights will develop a respiratory infection within a week of flying.

The Skytrax’s World Airline Awards has recently announced the cleanest airlines of 2018 after passengers rated various airlines for the “standards and quality of cleanliness in the aircraft cabin”. The cleanliness of seats, tables, carpets, cabin panels, and washrooms all contributed to the final results.

ANA – All Nippon Airways, Japan’s largest airline based on fleet size, secured the highest cleanliness ranking. Asia-based EVA Air and Asiana Airlines followed.

The highest ranked airline that touches down in SA is Singapore Airlines, which came in at fourth, and Qatar came in at 7th on the list. Sadly, SAA is nowhere to be seen.

Here is the complete top ten:

  1. ANA All Nippon Airways
  2. EVA Air
  3. Asiana Airlines
  4. Singapore Airlines
  5. Japan Airlines
  6. Cathay Pacific Airways
  7. Qatar Airways
  8. Swiss International Air Lines
  9. Hainan Airlines
  10. Lufthansa

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