Asia's Travel Trade Voted Lufthansa Best European Airline, Two Weeks Before Allegris Lands in Singapore

Lufthansa was named Best Airline – Europe at the Travel Weekly Asia Readers' Choice Awards 2026, presented in Singapore on October 7. Unlike the Skytrax awards, which poll passengers, this one is voted on by travel trade professionals across Asia: the agents, corporate travel managers, and tour operators who actually book the tickets. There were 46 categories this year, spanning airlines, hotels, cruise lines, and destinations.

It's a trade award, so it won't change anyone's seat. But it says something about how Lufthansa is positioned in Southeast Asia right now, and the timing is not an accident.

Why the award landed when it did

Lufthansa is in the middle of its biggest push into Southeast Asia in years. On October 26, the airline launches Kuala Lumpur as a new destination from Frankfurt, and on the same day its Allegris cabins arrive on the Singapore route. Those are the first Allegris flights to Southeast Asia, and they put the new First, Business, Premium Economy, and Economy products on two of the region's most competitive long-haul markets.

Gilles Burgat, Lufthansa's general manager for Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei, accepted the award and leaned hard into the centenary angle. Lufthansa is 100 years old this year, and the airline's messaging in Asia has paired that milestone with the Allegris rollout and the Future Onboard Experience program. The award gives the sales team in Singapore something concrete to point to when they're pitching corporate accounts against Singapore Airlines, Qatar, and Emirates.

What Allegris means in Singapore

If you've been flying Lufthansa to Singapore on the older 747-8s or A380s, the change is significant. Allegris Business Class has direct aisle access from every seat and several seat types in one cabin, including a longer bed, an extra-wide seat, and a privacy-focused suite with a closing door. Premium Economy gets a new seat with more recline and a larger screen. The question is which aircraft Lufthansa assigns to the route, since Allegris is spread across the A350-900, 787-9, and retrofitted 747-8 fleets with slightly different layouts on each.

Kuala Lumpur is a different story. It's a new route, so there's no old product to compare against. It launches straight into Allegris, which makes it one of the few Lufthansa long-haul destinations where every flight has the new cabins from day one.

The lounge picture in Singapore

Lufthansa doesn't operate its own lounge at Changi. Business Class passengers and Star Alliance Gold members use Singapore Airlines' facilities instead, which is hardly a hardship. Depending on your terminal, that means the SilverKris Business Lounge in Terminal 3, which has 15 showers and a full bar, or the Terminal 2 SilverKris Business Lounge with ten. Both rate above 4.5 on this site.

Allegris First Class passengers have a less clear path. Singapore Airlines' SilverKris First lounges are reserved for its own First and Suites passengers and PPS Club members, not for partner First Class. Lufthansa First flyers in Singapore get the Business lounge, which is good but not the full ground experience they'd have in Frankfurt or Munich. Lufthansa hasn't said whether it's negotiating anything better.

What to watch for

The award is a nice headline for Lufthansa's Asia team, but the real test starts October 26. If Allegris delivers on the Singapore route and Kuala Lumpur fills up, Lufthansa will have a credible premium story in a region where it has long been the third or fourth choice behind the Gulf carriers and Singapore Airlines. If the rollout stumbles, next year's trade awards will tell a different story.