Qantas has announced that it will upgrade its lounges at four more airports, reopen its Hong Kong lounge and open a brand new First Lounge in London over the coming years.
This is in addition to last year’s announcement that the airline will open new Business lounges in Auckland and Adelaide during 2023.
“Being back in profit means we’re back to making long term investments for our customers. That started with the major aircraft order we announced last year and now we’re building on that with a major investment in our lounges,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said.
“We have three new and upgraded lounge spaces due to open this year and the pipeline we’re announcing today will take us through to 2025.”
Here’s a summary of the lounges Qantas will be renovating or opening in the coming years…
New Qantas First Lounge for London
Qantas already operates its own lounge at London’s Heathrow Airport. The Qantas London Lounge features a gin bar and is a combined Business & First Class lounge. This is a nice space, but it can get crowded at times.
With this in mind, Qantas plans to open a new dedicated First Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3 for Qantas Platinum & Platinum One members, Oneworld Emerald flyers and First Class passengers. This will be in a new space, much closer to the gate where Qantas flights normally depart from. It may even feature direct boarding from the lounge for Qantas flights, similar to the setup at some of Emirates’ lounges in Dubai.
“London is one of the most important destinations on our network and it’s the perfect location for a First Lounge, especially with our direct Project Sunrise flights on the way. Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports so we’re very pleased to be working with them to secure a great space in the terminal for an additional lounge,” Mr Joyce added.
The new Qantas London First Lounge is expected to open at the same time as direct Sydney-London Project Sunrise flights commence in late 2025.
Qantas Hong Kong Lounge to reopen
Qantas had “permanently” closed its Hong Kong Lounge during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. We understand that it was one of the most expensive lounges to operate in Qantas’ network and with the prospect of a drawn-out reopening at the time, Qantas made the decision a couple of years ago to hand that space back to the airport authority.
But Hong Kong has now wound back most of its pandemic-era restrictions and reopened to visitors. Demand for travel from Australia to Hong Kong has also bounced back faster than expected – to the point where Qantas will temporarily use an Airbus A380 on its Sydney-Hong Kong route this year.
The space previously used by the Qantas Hong Kong Lounge hadn’t yet been reallocated, so Qantas has taken over the space again. The lounge will reopen in April 2023 with new furniture and a lick of fresh paint. The yum cha trolley will also be back.
New Qantas Clubs in Hobart & Broome
Qantas will open brand new, larger Qantas Club lounges in both Hobart and Broome.
The new Hobart lounge will be in a new location made available by the airport terminal’s redevelopment and will have around 50% more seating. Qantas has not yet given a timeline for this new lounge to open.
The current Hobart lounge is arguably the worst of the capital city Qantas Clubs, with limited food & beverages and constant overcrowding issues. So, this will be a welcome upgrade for Hobart-based flyers.
The new Broome regional lounge will open next year with double the capacity. Qantas says it has decided to expand this lounge due to Broome’s strong premium leisure travel demand.
Renovated Qantas international Business Lounges in Melbourne & Sydney
Qantas will redevelop its dated international Business Lounges in Melbourne and Sydney with increased capacity, more modern designs and a “new signature food and beverage concept”.
Work will commence on the Melbourne lounge redevelopment from late 2023, and Qantas says it will start its Sydney lounge upgrade in early 2024.
Qantas previously announced an upgrade for its international Business Lounge in Sydney five years ago. This ultimately didn’t happen, with the airline blaming COVID for the delay. But given the airline’s vastly improved financial performance of more recent times, it can now afford to splash a bit more cash on investments like lounge upgrades.
Given the lack of natural light in Qantas’ subterranean Melbourne international Business Lounge, let’s hope that upgraded lounge features some improved lighting to simulate sunlight during the daytime.
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