Emirates has opened a brand new lounge in Melbourne to surprisingly little fanfare.
The new lounge, which opened its doors for the first time on 30 December 2015, is around double the size of Emirates’ previous offering. It appears stylish, with a range of comfortable seating options and a reasonable selection of food & beverages. The airport runways and control tower can be seen out the lounge windows.
The new Melbourne Emirates lounge shares the same set of escalators as its predecessor and is located not far from the Qantas First Class Lounge.
Several members have already popped in for a visit, and their feedback has been largely positive.
I can very much confirm that there is a new Emirates Lounge in Melbourne. The day I flew was the first day it was open, and indeed is up escalators near Gate 10, facing west with a view of the runway and control tower. Certainly is an impressive lounge with approximately double the capacity of the old lounge. Most of the seating is in groups of 4 seats, which could easily be 2×2. Seats are in brown leather. Whilst it still has the feel of an Emirates Lounge it is considerably more stylish and modern that the lounge it replaced.
The opening of the new lounge took most members by surprise. Emirates had not made any announcement that it was even planning a new lounge in Melbourne. In fact, one member who had passed through Melbourne Airport just days before the opening was oblivious to the fact that a new Emirates lounge was about to open. This is highly unusual as most airlines go to great lengths to promote improvements to the customer experience, such as new airport lounges.
Im amazed, a new lounge built in secret and then unveiled with no actual announcement. What the?
Etihad and Air New Zealand both have plans to open new lounges in Melbourne’s international terminal in the near future. According to one member, Etihad will soon call home to the space next to the new Emirates lounge.
Essentially the lounge extensions upstairs saw space for 2 new lounges, though NZ decided not to take the space upstairs, EK decided it was a good idea to expand its existing lounge (or something along those lines). The other space left will be the new EY lounge due to open soon, so watch this space! Don’t worry NZ fans, because NZ has something planned for MEL too
Join the discussion and view our members’ new lounge snaps HERE.
