As Qantas awaits new aircraft and continues to aggressively expand its network, Australia’s flag carrier has now announced some significant developments in its on-ground products. The airline has pledged $100 million in an ambitious plan to overhaul many of its major international lounges, which includes some long overdue upgrades to the Qantas Sydney and Melbourne international business class lounges.
The remodelling of both flagship Australian lounges, which have become dated over the past few years, will make up the brunt of Qantas’ on-ground domestic plans, while the $100 million budget also includes opening an all-new first class lounge in London’s Heathrow terminal 3. Also on the cards is the return of the Qantas Hong Kong Lounge and, on a domestic front, a new Qantas Club for Hobart and a Qantas Regional Lounge in Broome.
The announcement follows Qantas confirming that the airline is back in profit, giving Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce the confidence to make such a big long-term investment as part of the airline’s lounge roadmap over the next few years.
“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.”
Here’s a breakdown of the sweeping changes coming to Qantas lounges in Australia. Note that a lot of these plans act as a function of wider changes to airport infrastructure. It’s however very unlikely that Joyce wouldn’t get his way.
Melbourne International Business Lounge
The long-derided Qantas Business Class Lounge at Melbourne International Airport will benefit from a “full internal refresh” with a “new signature food and beverage concept.” Considering it’s seen as one of the more dated business lounges for a major city, these should be very welcome changes that’ll also come with a nice 30% increase in capacity to prepare for passenger growth.
Work on the Qantas Business Class Lounge in Melbourne International Airport will begin later this year with a stage-one opening planned for the middle of next year.
Sydney International Business Lounge
Qantas’ busiest flagship lounge will also benefit from a redevelopment, which includes more than 600 new seats in a broad 40% capacity increase. The airline is also promising to introduce a “new signature food and beverage offering,” although we don’t have any specifics beyond that.
Work on this lounge will begin early next year with a stage one opening aimed for early 2025.
Hobart Qantas Club
The current Qantas Club in Hobart will change dramatically with a proposed relocation once the terminal has been redeveloped. Qantas’ plans target a 40% increase in capacity, which would take the current 96 seats to 150.
Broome Regional Lounge
Qantas will build a brand new Regional Lounge with completion due sometime next year. This includes doubling the current capacity from 49 seats to around 100 seats.
