LOUNGE REVIEW: First Look – Air New Zealand Sydney Lounge

This is where my latest adventure began. I was travelling on a Thai Airways A350 from Sydney to Bangkok, so my journey started in this lounge.

Thai Airways in Sydney uses this Star Alliance Lounge run by Air New Zealand since it doesn’t have one of its own.

The lounge opens 2.5 hours before the first flight of the day, usually from 6 pm to 9 pm each day. It can accommodate 300 people and has a floor space of 1,450 sqm (15,608 sqf).

When we arrived around 8:30 a.m., the lounge was pretty packed, so I couldn’t take too many pictures without feeling like I was invading people’s privacy.

Background

I used to spend a bit of time here in its former smaller incarnation. when I regularly flew on Thai Airways. That was before the lounge was refurbished and expanded in 2015.

This version of the lounge is much nicer and more spacious. Nearly 10 years later, it has been well maintained, and the design stands up well.

Location and Layout

The Lounge is located on Level 2, the next floor up from the gates. It is accessible via escalators. It’s next to the Singapore Airlines Lounge, near gate 59. A bit of a trek from the main immigration and check-in areas, it is above the gates where most Star Alliance flights depart.

With reputedly 14 different types of seating, there is a check-in desk at the entrance and a corridor that opens to the main space with an inviting bar directly in front of you. There are seating options to the left and the right, as well as a food service area to the right. Beyond that are toilets, showers, and more seating, with a small and private switchback area at the far end to the right. There is also a small kids’ room.

The lounge has wonderful apron views over gates 50 to 60. You can see aircraft being towed to the gates and the runway where aircraft take off.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is a pleasant lounge. It’s not the Qantas First Lounge, but it is a great place to spend an hour or two before your flight. Drinks are good, and the food offered is tasty, plentiful, and well-tended.

The plane spotting opportunities make it even more appealing to the av-geek.

I’ll have a full report as part of the overall trip report to come.