Emirates will finally reopen its lounge at Brisbane Airport tomorrow after a refresh.
The new lounge features seating for 183 passengers, toilets, showers, a prayer room, free Wi-Fi and great dining options.
Emirates lounges typically also offer a great variety of drink options, including champagne and spirits.
In a unique new feature, Emirates passengers will even be able to board directly from the lounge.
The Emirates Brisbane Lounge had been closed for almost four years, ever since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dubai-based airline reopened its other three Australian airport lounges, in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, in mid-2022. But the reopening of the Brisbane lounge was delayed due to the space “undergoing renovations”.
An Emirates spokesperson told Australian Frequent Flyer in December 2023 that “the Emirates Brisbane Lounge has been undergoing a major upgrade this year, not just cosmetically, but also structurally with the installation of critical systems”.
Those upgrades are now completed and the lounge reopens to eligible Emirates passengers on 3 February 2024.
“Refreshing the lounge at Brisbane Airport is part of Emirates’ commitment to offering a collection of exceptional airport lounges that extend our world-class inflight experience to the ground and will allow passengers from Brisbane to start their journey feeling relaxed, and ready to enjoy their flight,” Emirates Vice President Australasia, Barry Brown said.
The lounge is located in the same space as the old Emirates Lounge in Brisbane, on level 4 above the international departures terminal.
Who can access the Emirates Brisbane Lounge?
If you’re flying Emirates, you can use the lounge as a Business or First Class passenger, or an Emirates Skywards Gold or Platinum frequent flyer travelling in Economy. Qantas Gold, Platinum and Platinum One members travelling in any cabin may also access the Emirates Lounge.
Emirates also offers paid access to its lounges, but this isn’t cheap. Emirates charges USD125 (~AU$192) per person for lounge entry, excluding GST. (This rate is slightly higher if you’re not an Emirates Skywards member.)
In theory, eligible Qantas Frequent Flyers and Qantas Business Class passengers flying on Qantas may also access the Emirates Lounge when travelling to some destinations. However, the Emirates Lounge is only open from 5 pm until 1.30 am each day. These timings align with the departure times of Emirates’ two daily Brisbane-Dubai services.
The only Qantas international flight departing Brisbane around those times is QF15 to Los Angeles – and Qantas customers travelling to the Americas aren’t permitted to use Emirates lounges.
Qantas’ evening services from Brisbane to Auckland and Christchurch are scheduled to board around 5 pm, but passengers might be able to get in if their flights are delayed a little bit.
Qantas also operates its own Business Lounge in Brisbane’s international terminal.
Second daily Brisbane-Dubai flight set for A380 upgrade
Emirates flies twice daily from Brisbane to Dubai. EK435, the 8.55 pm departure, is an Airbus A380 service.
The early morning EK431 departure, leaving at 1.55 am, is currently a Boeing 777-300ER. But Emirates will upgrade EK431 to an A380 service from 1 October 2024.
