Which airline is better to Europe?

The aircraft matters as much as the airline

This came out of the research rather than being the point of it. 7 of the 15 carriers we have verified fly a materially different cabin depending on the airframe, at the same fare. On 4 of those the difference is whether you get direct aisle access at all; on the other 3 it is the privacy door, which is a real difference and a much smaller one.

• Lufthansa

  A350-900 / 787-9 (Allegris) scores 10/10 on seat. 747-8 / A330-300 (legacy) scores 5/10. The cabin Allegris is replacing. Still widely flown on US routes into late 2026.

• British Airways

  A350-1000 / 787-10 / 777 (Club Suite) scores 10/10 on seat. 787-8 / some 787-9 (old Club World) scores 5/10. The outgoing yin-yang cabin: eight seats abreast, half of them rear-facing, and window seats requiring a climb over a stranger. A materially worse product at the same fare.

• KLM

  787-9 / 787-10 / 777 (World Business Class) scores 10/10 on seat. A330-200 / A330-300 scores 5/10. 2-2-2 lie-flat: the window seat requires stepping over a neighbor.

• TAP Air Portugal

  A330-900neo scores 8/10 on seat. A321LR scores 5/10. Solo throne seats in the 1-1 rows; the 2-2 rows require stepping over a neighbor.

• Delta

  A350 / A330-900 (Delta One Suite) scores 10/10 on seat. 767-300ER scores 8/10. Same 1-2-1 lie-flat, no privacy door.

• Virgin Atlantic

  A330neo (Upper Class Suite) scores 10/10 on seat. A350-1000 / 787-9 scores 8/10. Still 1-2-1 with direct aisle access, but no closing door: the A350 uses a privacy panel and an 82-inch bed, the 787-9 an older herringbone with manual bed conversion.

• Iberia

  A350 Next (Recaro CL6720) scores 10/10 on seat. A330 / standard A350 (Stelia Solstys) scores 8/10. Same 1-2-1 lie-flat layout, no closing door.

Every comparison

105 pairs, each with seat, screens, lounge entitlement and fare on both sides.

• Aer Lingus vs Air France13 routes priced head to head
• Aer Lingus vs Azores Airlines
• Aer Lingus vs British Airways20 routes priced head to head
• Aer Lingus vs Delta13 routes priced head to head
• Aer Lingus vs Finnair1 route priced head to head
• Aer Lingus vs Iberia4 routes priced head to head
• Aer Lingus vs Icelandair16 routes priced head to head
• Aer Lingus vs KLM17 routes priced head to head
• Aer Lingus vs Lufthansa4 routes priced head to head
• Aer Lingus vs SAS28 routes priced head to head
• Aer Lingus vs SWISS11 routes priced head to head
• Aer Lingus vs TAP Air Portugal23 routes priced head to head
• Aer Lingus vs United12 routes priced head to head
• Aer Lingus vs Virgin Atlantic2 routes priced head to head
• Air France vs Azores Airlines
• Air France vs British Airways24 routes priced head to head
• Air France vs Delta10 routes priced head to head
• Air France vs Finnair11 routes priced head to head
• Air France vs Iberia19 routes priced head to head
• Air France vs Icelandair9 routes priced head to head
• Air France vs KLM22 routes priced head to head
• Air France vs Lufthansa18 routes priced head to head
• Air France vs SAS32 routes priced head to head
• Air France vs SWISS38 routes priced head to head
• Air France vs TAP Air Portugal29 routes priced head to head
• Air France vs United8 routes priced head to head
• Air France vs Virgin Atlantic
• Azores Airlines vs British Airways
• Azores Airlines vs Delta1 route priced head to head
• Azores Airlines vs Finnair
• Azores Airlines vs Iberia1 route priced head to head
• Azores Airlines vs Icelandair
• Azores Airlines vs KLM
• Azores Airlines vs Lufthansa
• Azores Airlines vs SAS
• Azores Airlines vs SWISS
• Azores Airlines vs TAP Air Portugal4 routes priced head to head
• Azores Airlines vs United1 route priced head to head
• Azores Airlines vs Virgin Atlantic
• British Airways vs Delta13 routes priced head to head
• British Airways vs Finnair10 routes priced head to head
• British Airways vs Iberia13 routes priced head to head
• British Airways vs Icelandair17 routes priced head to head
• British Airways vs KLM20 routes priced head to head
• British Airways vs Lufthansa22 routes priced head to head
• British Airways vs SAS41 routes priced head to head
• British Airways vs SWISS32 routes priced head to head
• British Airways vs TAP Air Portugal27 routes priced head to head
• British Airways vs United13 routes priced head to head
• British Airways vs Virgin Atlantic5 routes priced head to head
• Delta vs Finnair3 routes priced head to head
• Delta vs Iberia7 routes priced head to head
• Delta vs Icelandair14 routes priced head to head
• Delta vs KLM13 routes priced head to head
• Delta vs Lufthansa4 routes priced head to head
• Delta vs SAS16 routes priced head to head
• Delta vs SWISS9 routes priced head to head
• Delta vs TAP Air Portugal18 routes priced head to head
• Delta vs United18 routes priced head to head
• Delta vs Virgin Atlantic3 routes priced head to head
• Finnair vs Iberia2 routes priced head to head
• Finnair vs Icelandair2 routes priced head to head
• Finnair vs KLM9 routes priced head to head
• Finnair vs Lufthansa13 routes priced head to head
• Finnair vs SAS21 routes priced head to head
• Finnair vs SWISS10 routes priced head to head
• Finnair vs TAP Air Portugal5 routes priced head to head
• Finnair vs United5 routes priced head to head
• Finnair vs Virgin Atlantic
• Iberia vs Icelandair
• Iberia vs KLM8 routes priced head to head
• Iberia vs Lufthansa7 routes priced head to head
• Iberia vs SAS15 routes priced head to head
• Iberia vs SWISS16 routes priced head to head
• Iberia vs TAP Air Portugal20 routes priced head to head
• Iberia vs United8 routes priced head to head
• Iberia vs Virgin Atlantic
• Icelandair vs KLM13 routes priced head to head
• Icelandair vs Lufthansa12 routes priced head to head
• Icelandair vs SAS29 routes priced head to head
• Icelandair vs SWISS9 routes priced head to head
• Icelandair vs TAP Air Portugal26 routes priced head to head
• Icelandair vs United19 routes priced head to head
• Icelandair vs Virgin Atlantic4 routes priced head to head
• KLM vs Lufthansa26 routes priced head to head
• KLM vs SAS37 routes priced head to head
• KLM vs SWISS26 routes priced head to head
• KLM vs TAP Air Portugal23 routes priced head to head
• KLM vs United7 routes priced head to head
• KLM vs Virgin Atlantic
• Lufthansa vs SAS44 routes priced head to head
• Lufthansa vs SWISS34 routes priced head to head
• Lufthansa vs TAP Air Portugal22 routes priced head to head
• Lufthansa vs United9 routes priced head to head
• Lufthansa vs Virgin Atlantic
• SAS vs SWISS39 routes priced head to head
• SAS vs TAP Air Portugal49 routes priced head to head
• SAS vs United22 routes priced head to head
• SAS vs Virgin Atlantic4 routes priced head to head
• SWISS vs TAP Air Portugal36 routes priced head to head
• SWISS vs United10 routes priced head to head
• SWISS vs Virgin Atlantic
• TAP Air Portugal vs United14 routes priced head to head
• TAP Air Portugal vs Virgin Atlantic4 routes priced head to head
• United vs Virgin Atlantic1 route priced head to head

Common questions

Which airline has the best business class to Europe?

On verifiable product alone — seat geometry, screens, power, lounge and bag entitlement, and fare — Lufthansa on the A350-900 / 787-9 (Allegris) scores highest at 9/10. But the honest answer is that the aircraft matters as much as the airline: 7 of the 15 carriers we have verified fly materially different cabins on different frames.

Why are only some airlines compared here?

A comparison with one empty half looks like an answer and is not one. A pair appears only when both carriers have a verified cabin product and appear in our fare grid, which is what lets every row of the table be filled. That is 105 pairs from 15 carriers rather than the several hundred a full cross-product would produce.

How are these scored?

Four dimensions from verifiable facts: Seat (layout, lie-flat, direct aisle access, privacy door), IFE (screen, wifi, power), Lounge and bags (what the fare includes), and Value (computed from economy fares priced on one fixed week, which is a proxy for how a carrier prices rather than a business-fare figure). Service, food and ground recovery are not scored here, because they cannot be known without being on the aircraft. They appear in Jon's own reviews, labeled Flown.