Qantas: International Lounge Openings

With borders open, and international passenger air travel back, some of those international lounges are coming back online. The dust covers are being removed, the hand sanitiser being topped up, and the sneeze guards being installed or repositioned. The perspex industry must be profiting wildly!

I have composed this using a combination of the Qantas website, and reports in ET.

• Hong Kong Lounge – won’t be reopening
• London Heathrow Lounge – ‘December’ – maybe the 18th
• Los Angeles International lounge – 18 December 2021 – use the Star Alliance lounge at Tom Bradly in the meantime
• Melbourne International First lounge – 22 November – when flights to Singapore start
• Melbourne International Business lounge – sometime in 2022
• Singapore International First lounge – 22 November
• Singapore International Business lounge – TBA – when enough international travellers to make it economic
• Sydney International First Class Lounge – 1 November 2021
• Sydney International Business Lounge – TBA – when enough international travellers to make it economic

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

So you are unlikely to be lounge-less as international travel from and to Australia recommenced, but things won’t quite be as they were. For some, you will have an opportunity to experience the Qantas First lounges in Melbourne and Sydney, which you wouldn’t be able to unless you are already a Platinum or above Frequent Flyer or are holding a first-class ticket!