What Are The Cleanest Airlines in the World?

Are you one of those people who goes through a full bottle of hand sanitizer on days when you have to fly? If so, you might want to take note of this new list of the cleanest airlines in the world (or at least, the least-dirty ones). And as someone who is currently getting over a cold contracted from a day of air travel, I am beginning to see the value in that kind of germaphobia.

This list was compiled by Skytrax World Airline Awards and based on surveys from 8 million travelers worldwide. These travelers rated flights based on cleanliness in various areas of the plane, from the seating to the restrooms; then, based on those responses, Skytrax World Airline Awards compiled a top 10 list. The bad news for germaphobes? No American airline made the grade. In fact, all of the airlines are based in Asia. So unless you're traveling to or from Asia anytime soon, you're probably not going to get the option of flying with any of these top contenders.

As for American airlines, maybe the reason they seem so dirty all the time is because there is no federal agency that actually inspects airplanes for cleanliness — not the FAA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or the FDA. Instead, American airlines are allowed to make their own standards for cleanliness, and if there is anything we know about the private sector, it's that lack of regulation and the absence of oversight always works out well for the consumer.

Anyway, here are some airlines that apparently get the whole "keeping clean" thing right.

10. Hong Kong Airlines

9. Korean Air

8. Hainan Airlines

7. Japan Airlines

6. Garuda Indonesia

5. Asiana Airlines

4. Cathay Pacific

3. ANA All Nippon Airways

2. Singapore Airlines

1. EVA Air

Happy flying!

Images: Wikipedia Commons (10)