New International Lounge Opens at Adelaide Airport

A brand new Plaza Premium Lounge has opened in the international departures area of Adelaide Airport.

The lounge first opened its doors on 17 February 2023, with a soft opening for the first couple of months while Plaza Premium obtained a liquor licence for the space. The lounge now has its liquor licence, has opened a wine bar and is fully operational – albeit only for three hours per day.

Australian Frequent Flyer recently visited the new lounge. We found it to be a very pleasant and quiet space to wait for your international flight from Adelaide Airport. While it was moderately busy ahead of the Singapore Airlines departure, there was enough seating for everyone and good breakfast food and drink options were available.

The new Plaza Premium Lounge at Adelaide Airport also has clean bathrooms, showers and work booths. There are also floor-to-ceiling glass windows providing plenty of natural light, although the view is just of the road outside the airport.

Adelaide Plaza Premium Lounge location & opening hours

You can find the lounge between the international security checkpoint and duty-free at Adelaide Airport. It’s located on the right as you exit security screening.

As of June 2023, the Adelaide Plaza Premium Lounge is open daily from 7am until just 10am. This means the lounge is open for the Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines departures from Adelaide Airport.

When it first opened, those opening hours were previously from 7.30am until midday each day, except on Mondays and Thursdays when it would close an hour later to coincide with the Fiji Airways departure times on those days.

The Adelaide Plaza Premium Lounge is not currently open for the departure of Jetstar or Virgin Australia’s flights to Bali, Air New Zealand’s flights to Auckland or Qatar Airways’ evening departures from Adelaide to Auckland and Doha.

How to access the Plaza Premium international lounge at Adelaide Airport

If you’re flying out of Adelaide on an international flight, you can purchase access to the Plaza Premium Lounge at a cost of $39 for 1 hour or $71 for 2 hours. Children aged 2-11 get a 30% discount and there is no cost to bring infants with you into the lounge.

You can pre-purchase access to this lounge on the Plaza Premium website, or simply pay at the reception counter. There are also discounts available if you purchase a pass for multiple Plaza Premium Lounge visits.

Complimentary Plaza Premium Lounge access is available to American Express Platinum cardholders.

From 20 June 2023, Plaza Premium will also rejoin the Priority Pass network. From this date, Priority Pass members will receive complimentary access to this lounge.

Singapore Airlines Business Class passengers, KrisFlyer Gold Elite and Star Alliance Gold members can use the Plaza Premium lounge for free as well when flying out of Adelaide. Simply show your boarding pass at the lounge entrance.

So far, other airlines are not providing complimentary Plaza Premium Lounge access to their Business Class passengers or frequent flyers prior to departure from Adelaide. At this stage, Malaysia Airlines is still sending passengers eligible for lounge access to the Qantas Club in Adelaide.

The only international lounge at Adelaide Airport

Prior to the Plaza Premium Lounge opening, there were already four domestic airline lounges at Adelaide Airport – the Rex Lounge, Virgin Australia Lounge, Qantas Club and the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge (which is not open to the public). Qantas will also open a domestic Business Lounge in Adelaide later this year.

Prior to COVID-19, Singapore Airlines also operated a SilverKris Lounge in the international departures area of Adelaide Airport. This lounge permanently closed during the pandemic as redevelopment works took place at the airport.

The Plaza Premium Lounge is now the only one located after the immigration and international security screening checkpoint at Adelaide Airport.

“We’re excited that for the first time, all our international departing and transit passengers have the option to relax in a wonderful premium lounge space before their flight,” Adelaide Airport Managing Director Brenton Cox said.

“This is one of the final pieces of our AUD200 million terminal expansion project that has also seen a significant upgrade of our international arrivals and departures facilities including expanded duty free, more room for immigration processing and more baggage belts for arriving passengers,” Cox added.

Eligible passengers on some airlines can still use the Qantas or Virgin Australia domestic lounges before heading through immigration and security.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.