Most of the domestic Qantas Club lounges that still remain closed will be back up and running within the next few weeks.
A Qantas spokesperson confirmed to Australian Frequent Flyer that the airline is planning to reopen almost all remaining Qantas Clubs before Easter, except for the Qantas Club lounges in Rockhampton and Port Hedland. Those particular lounges remain closed due to terminal construction work at those airports, and Qantas says it will confirm the opening dates of those lounges at a later time.
But this means Qantas is planning to reopen its Qantas Club lounges in Melbourne, Canberra and Darwin imminently. The Qantas Club in Perth, which had been closed recently, has also reopened.
While the Qantas Clubs in Melbourne, Canberra, and Perth have been closed, affected passengers have been sent to the Business Lounge instead. This has been a nice upgrade for Qantas Club members and Gold frequent flyers. But with travel demand increasing and more passengers expected to fly over the Easter holidays, the additional capacity of the Qantas Club lounges is now needed.
AFF member BD1959 visited the Melbourne Qantas Business Lounge yesterday morning, and described it in an AFF post as a “zoo”.
Arrived 30mins before my boarding commenced to be greeted by a queue to the top of the escalators due to everyone scanning their BPs at the one point … into the J Lounge itself and although there was available seating the queue for coffees stretched all the way around the bar and almost back onto itself.
– BD1959, 17 March 2021
Meanwhile, a refurbishment of the Qantas Club in Darwin due to a mould problem has almost been completed and that lounge is on track to open at the end of March 2021.
This means that by Easter, 33 of 35 Qantas domestic lounges will be open. This compares to 7 Virgin Australia lounges and 3 Rex lounges.
But with Australia’s international border still closed, Qantas international lounges will remain shuttered for the foreseeable future. That said, the only regular Qantas passenger flights currently departing from international terminals are twice-weekly Sydney-Auckland servics and, from Friday, flights from Sydney and Brisbane to Norfolk Island.
