What are the world’s most comfortable business seats and services? Readers who have experience flying business class are likely to have their own list of favorites, but, often, passengers are confused about why some airlines make the top of the lists, as their experience flying with those airlines did not meet their expectations. While acknowledging that, this article will focus on the top-ranked airlines for business class according to Skytrax.
Skytrax’s ‘World’s Best Business Class Airlines 2025‘ report is based on its global customer satisfaction survey, where millions of passengers vote for their preferred airline. The awards consider factors like service quality, physical product, in-flight experience, and amenities. Comfortable seating is one of the key considerations when generating the list. This article will focus on Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350 business class suites when airlines operate these popular aircraft types.
Qatar Airways
Topping Skytrax’s list of best business class seats is Qatar Airways. Skytrax says that “Qatar Airways continues its success in the Business Class awards, taking the top award as the World’s Best Business Class Airline, and the QSuite winning the award as the World’s Best Business Class seat.” As with most of these airlines, exactly what business class seats the carrier offers varies by aircraft type and also whether that airline is in the process of refreshing its cabin interiors.
The business class suites on its 787-9 Dreamliners are Adient Aerospace Ascent platforms. These come with a 48-inch high privacy door with center seats separated by a retractable screen. The seats convert into 77-inch flat beds. The seat width is 21 inches, and the touchscreen TV measures 18 inches. Qatar Airways’ Qsuites in many A350-900s and A350-1000s are based on the Collins Aerospace platform. These have a seat width of 21.5 inches and convert into 79-inch fully flat beds.
Qatar Airways offers in-flight WiFi on its A380, A350, 787, and some 777 aircraft. Part of the experience is the dining operations business class passengers enjoy. Qatar offers Dine Anytime, allowing passengers the convenience of choosing a meal from their à la carte menu while enjoying a spacious dining area. Qatar is also rolling Starlink in-flight WiFi out on its fleet. It has now equipped its entire Boeing 777 fleet with this technology (available on select routes) and is also fitting it to its A350 aircraft.
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Airlines is ranked the second-best airline overall by Skytrax and the second-best for its iconic business class seats. Business class is offered on all its aircraft, except for its Boeing 737-800 narrowbody aircraft. In-flight WiFi is also available on all mainline Singapore Airlines aircraft, except for the 737-800s. Note that there are some differences in business class seats and services between aircraft configured for long-haul flights and medium-haul flights.
Singapore has a “Regional Business Class” found on its A350 Medium Haul and its 787s. Long-haul A350s and 777s offer fully-flat beds that Singapore Airlines says have a “cushioned headboard for greater sleeping comfort, complete with linen, duvet, and pillows.” With these business class options, passengers can reserve their main course up to 24 hours before departure. Passengers dine in a restaurant setting with full table service with quality wines to match.
Long-haul A350s are fitted with 42 bespoke Jamco Business seats offering a pitch of 60 inches, a width of 28 inches, and an 18-inch touch screen. Singapore’s famous A350-900ULR aircraft that flies the world’s longest twin route to New York also comes with 67 Jamco Business seats, and these aircraft are notable for completely lacking standard economy class seats. The Dreamliners are configured with Stelia Aerospace Symphony seats that are 20 inches wide and convert to flat beds.
All Nippon Airways
All Nippon Airways is also famous for having a great business class, and it was voted the third best internationally. Like other airlines, ANA’s business class seat offers fully flat seats, privacy doors, large LCD widescreen monitors, closets for storage, excellent dining options, fine wines, and more. Also, like other airlines, the business class experience begins at the airport, although airport lounges and other services off the aircraft are outside the scope of this article.
Select Boeing 777-300ERs are fitted with ‘The Room,’ which is ANA’s highest business class offering. ANA says these premium seats “provide the highest level of privacy and comfort available in Business Class.” The business cabin configuration resembles something like the office cubicles found in office buildings, although that is probably not the comparison ANA would like to make.
ANA’s 787-9s, 787-10s, some 787-8s, some 777-300ERs, and its A380s come with the ANA Business Staggered seats. These are Safran SkyLounge III seats arranged in an alternating 1-2-1, 1-1-1 pattern. They convert into full flat beds (around 75 inches) and have a seat width of 19.5 inches and a pitch of 44 inches. The ANA Business Cradle is found on some Boeing 787-8 and 767-300ER aircraft, which operate on shorter routes. These regional business seats do not convert into beds, but have a width of 22 inches and a pitch of 59 inches.
Cathay Pacific
Cathay Pacific is based in Hong Kong and offers its luxurious Aria Suite as its business-class flagship. These are available exclusively on select Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, as they are still being rolled out. The most common business class seats are called simply ‘Business’ and are found on its long and ultra-long-haul routes with Cathay’s fleet of A350s, 777-300ERs that haven’t received the Aria Suite, and some A330s.
In the A350s, these are Safran Cirrus III seats arranged in a reverse-herringbone pattern. They convert into 75-inch flat beds and come with a width of 20.2 inches, while the monitor measures 18 inches. While Cathay Pacific may have designed aspects of its business class suites, it is useful to keep in mind that not all aspects of these seats are custom-made. Indeed, Safran Cirrus III seats are also found on other carriers, like Vietnam Airlines and Air France.
Cathay Pacific has regional business seats on some A330 and 777-300ER jets that do not lie back into a full bed. It also offers another Regional Business class product in the form of recliner seats on its narrowbody A321neos. While US-based airlines may talk about domestic and international routes with different services, from places like Hong Kong, all flights are international (or to the Chinese Mainland through the airport’s international sections), so the distinction here is between regional and long-haul instead.
Air France
Air France is another very highly ranked airline for its business class offerings. As expected with this class of service, Air France offers passengers space to work on their laptops, noise-canceling headphones, charging ports, and great dining options. Air France’s business class menu is “conceived by Michelin-starred chefs paired with a prestigious wine list,” with the carrier adding that “your seat converts into a full, 2-meter-long bed. It features soft, plush materials and a fully retractable armrest.”
Air France is also one of the largest operators of the A350, which it fits with Safran Optima seats that offer 18.5-inch TVs, fold into flat beds, and are 20 inches wide. The carrier also flies 787-9s, which are fitted with Safran Cirrus II seats. Here, the width and length of the flatbed are about the same as the Safran Optima seats. Air France also operates a large fleet of 777-200ERs and 777-300ERs, and the seats in these aircraft can be Safran Cirrus II, Safran Cirrus II, or Safran Optima seats, depending on the configuration.
Part of the reason why it can be difficult to compare airlines is that the length of the route typically matters, and there can even be multiple differently configured aircraft assigned to that route. Sometimes airlines put multiple aircraft types on the same route, so the experience may differ depending on the time of day. For example, on the New York JFK to London Heathrow route, Delta operates A330s and 767s, British Airways operates 787-10s, 787-9s, and 777-300ERs, and Virgin Atlantic operates A350s and 787-9s.
Plenty Of Airlines Offer Great Widebody Business Class Seats
This is just scratching the surface of airlines with excellent business class offerings on their widebody aircraft. Other excellent business class seats are found with Hainan Airlines, STARLUX, Japan Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Emirates, EVA Air, Qantas, and Delta. The latter of these carriers is notable for being the first North American-based airline to enter Skytrax’s list, and is consistently ranked the top US-based carrier.
Meanwhile, Turkish Airlines is called out as a repeat winner of the Best Business Class Onboard Catering award, and Hainan Airlines won the award for the Best Business Class Airline Onboard Amenities. Air Canada did not appear in the top 15, but, nevertheless, it still won the Best Business Class Lounge Dining Award. In general, the best business class will depend in large part on each passenger’s personal tastes.
When comparing business class seats, it is important to keep in mind that airlines may have different business seats on different aircraft types or the same aircraft type configured for medium or long hauls. Some airlines have regional business class seats on widebodies that may find themselves on long-haul flights if the airline needs them on that route for whatever reason, and vice versa.