Qantas premium flyers will soon have some new spaces in which to rest, work and play, after the flying kangaroo announced a massive $100 million upgrade to its lounge network in Australia and abroad.
The Qantas investment will be spearheaded by a new flagship First Lounge at London Heathrow Airport and will also include an upgrade to several existing international and domestic lounges.
These include the re-opening of an enhanced Hong Kong International Lounge, a complete refurb and expansion of the airline’s International Business Lounge in Sydney, an update and expansion at its International Business Lounge in Melbourne, a brand new Hobart Qantas Club, and a new Broome Regional Lounge.
In the single biggest investment in the Qantas lounge network in more than 10 years, the venture will be rolled out over three years and comes as the airline looks to expand upon its fleet, and domestic and global networks.
Investments expedited
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said soaring air travel demand had brought forward the major investment.
“Being back in profit means we’re back to making long term investments for our customers,” Joyce stated.
“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.
“Millions of people a year visit our lounges and they are typically our frequent flyers who travel with us the most, so anything we do to improve them is a way of saying thank you to our most loyal customers.”
The Qantas boss said the four new and upgraded lounges would open this year “and the pipeline we’re announcing today will take us through to 2025”.
“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,” he added.
“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.”
Project Sunrise / London First Lounge double-act
Due to open as the first nonstop flights between Sydney and London commence in late 2025, Qantas says the Heathrow lounge will offer direct access to boarding gates, runway views, wellness features and an “unrivalled dining experience”.
The new London first lounge will be the fifth destination to offer a Qantas First Lounge after Los Angeles, Singapore, Sydney and Melbourne airports.
Set to open in April 2023, the refreshed Hong Kong lounge will reopen after it was vacated during the pandemic. The comeback of the lounge will also see the return of the yum-cha trolley.
Expected to open in mid-2024, the Melbourne International Business Lounge will feature up to 30 per cent greater capacity, a full refresh, and a new signature food and beverage concept.
The proposed Sydney International Business Lounge upgrade will include a full rebuild and grow capacity by 40 per cent to more than 600 seats. Completion of stage one at SYD is expected by early 2025.
The new Hobart Qantas Club will move into a larger premises and target a 50 per cent rise in capacity to around 150 seats.
The brand new Broome Regional Lounge is set to open in 2024, doubling the capacity of the existing lounge to 100 seats.
The Qantas lounge network includes 42 lounges in Australia and nine abroad.
Qantas is also once again the cream of the crop when it comes to safe airlines.
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