The Virgin Australia Lounge at Perth Airport is now once again staying open until the evening red-eye flights depart, rather than closing at 6pm every day.

Two months ago, Australian Frequent Flyer reported that the Virgin Australia Lounge in Perth’s terminal 1 was not staying open for the late-night overnight departures to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. In addition, Virgin had made no alternative arrangements such as meal vouchers for passengers flying overnight to the east coast who would normally be eligible for lounge access.

According to the Virgin Australia website, the Perth lounge is now open “daily from 60 minutes before first Virgin Australia flight departure until last Virgin Australia flight departure”. This was recently confirmed by lounge staff at Perth Airport.

A cost saving, but at what cost?

The early closure of Virgin’s Perth lounge appeared to be a cost-saving measure as the three red-eye departures leaving between 11pm and midnight, some of which are not daily, are the only Virgin domestic flights departing Perth after 6pm. The airline apparently either couldn’t get enough staff, or had decided it was simply not worthwhile to keep the lounge open an extra 5 hours just for three flights.

But those red-eye flights can be brutal for passengers, making lounge access before departure particularly important. The ability to have a shower, a meal and a drink before boarding a short overnight flight can make a huge difference in helping passengers to maximise their rest on board the plane.

Ultimately, some Perth-based passengers may have chosen to fly Qantas or cancel their lounge memberships over this move. Thankfully, it was only temporary.

The lounge will still be closed on Saturday nights, but that’s just because Virgin Australia does not currently have any red-eye flights scheduled to depart on Saturdays.

“Lite supper” service

Overall, it’s great news that Virgin has now reopened its Perth lounge during the evening. Virgin Australia passengers arriving in Perth during the evening will also be able to take advantage of this if eligible for lounge access on arrival. However, Virgin isn’t providing full lounge catering after 6pm.

The Virgin Australia website states that a “Lite supper service” will be served from 6pm. It’s not exactly clear what this means, but it could mean that only packaged snacks are available rather than hot food or fresh salads. We expect that a full bar service would still be offered.

At other times of the day, when the majority of Virgin’s flights depart from Perth, the lounge catering is quite good. For example, this is a selection of items on this week’s breakfast menu:

Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Virgin Lounge in Perth closed prior to the redeye departures?

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.