The Cleanest Airlines in the World Are…

It's no secret that airplanes can be exceptionally dirty places — even if you can’t see the germs teeming around you — which is why you need to know what airlines are the cleanest around the world. Skytrax’s World Airline Awards recently announced their list of winners and frequent flyers will be happy to know that cleanliness played a massive role in determining some of the top-ranking airlines.

The prestigious awards featured a category dedicated solely to cleanliness. Passengers were asked to rate the standards and quality of cleanliness in the aircraft cabins of the airlines they were travelling in. Factors such as presentation of seat areas, tables, carpets, cabin panels and washrooms all contributed towards the final results.

Taking top honors in the Cleanest Aircraft Cabins category for 2018 was ANA All Nippon Airways, the largest airline in Japan based on fleet size, Reader's Digest reported. Interestingly, all top five winners were Asian carriers. They remaining four were: EVA Air, Asiana Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and Japan Airlines.

Knowing which the cleanest airlines are can help ease the minds of travelers but it can't hurt to avoid the top dirtiest areas of a plane either. One of the top germ carriers are tray tables, which were found to have more than eight times the number of bacteria per square inch than the flush buttons in the lavatory, according to a study by TravelMath. Air vents and seatbelt buckles were other dirty culprits.

If you are planning a trip but feel uneasy about the cleanliness of your next flight then you may want to consider booking with one of these airlines, which were rated as the 10 cleanest according to the Skytrax’s World Airline Awards:

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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