In early 2025, Delta Air Lines formally revealed that it would be bringing its international premium lounge concept to its biggest hub, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. However, we had virtually no details at the time. There’s now a major update, as an agreement has been reached with the city to build this lounge — it’ll be around 39,000 square feet, and we can expect for it to open in 2029, maybe (thanks to Jeremy for flagging this).
Delta One Lounge ATL size, location, opening date
Delta is investing in its network of Delta One Lounges, which are primarily for those traveling with the airline in business class (Delta One) on long haul flights. So far, we’ve seen these lounges open in New York (JFK), Los Angeles (LAX), Boston (BOS), and Seattle (SEA).
We’ve known that a Delta One Lounge is coming to Atlanta (ATL), though details beyond that have been a mystery. Thanks to a new filing with the Atlanta city council’s transportation committee, we now have a sense of what we can expect:
- The Delta One Lounge Atlanta will be located in Concourse E, which is one of the airport’s two primary international terminals, along with Concourse F
- Specifically, the Delta One Lounge Atlanta will be located in the northeast corner of the concourse center point, between gates E14 and E27; this means the lounge won’t replace an existing Sky Club, but instead, it’s a newly built facility
- The Delta One Lounge Atlanta will be roughly 39,000 square feet, so it’ll be large, just a smidge smaller than the New York location
- The Delta One Lounge Atlanta construction is supposed to take around 30 months from when it starts, so best case scenario, expect the lounge to open in 2029
- The city is reimbursing Delta up to $63 million for construction of the lounge, given that the airline is building out the space from a “shell”
What about Delta One Lounges at the carrier’s other major hubs, like Detroit (DTW), Minneapolis (MSP), and Salt Lake City (SLC)? Well, it’s something the airline is currently working on, though we don’t have any sense of a timeline beyond that, at least officially.
Airlines generally undertake these projects as they can, but it goes without saying that real estate at airports can be hard to come by. Opening a new lounge either requires the renovation or repurposing of an existing space, or an expansion of a terminal that opens up more space.
I’m happy to see this happening, but that timeline is rough
It’s great to see Delta investing in its lounge portfolio, and the actual quality of the Delta One Lounges that are open is phenomenal. The issue is, quality lounges are only worth anything if they’re actually, you know, open, so Delta’s current lounge footprint leaves a lot to be desired.
Delta did a great job opening Delta One Lounges at four hubs pretty quickly, but now we’re seeing a huge gap. The fact that we’re probably three or so years from seeing the Delta One Lounge open at the carrier’s fortress hub definitely leaves a lot to be desired in terms of the ground experience.
But of course it’s important to remember that Atlanta is a fortress hub, and airlines don’t have to try nearly as hard with passenger experience when they dominate an airport. It’s no coincidence that the first four Delta One Lounges were all at highly competitive airports.
Bottom line
Delta is working on opening a Delta One Lounge in Atlanta, located in Concourse E. Unfortunately we’ll have to be patient, as construction hasn’t even started, and once it does, it’s expected to take around 30 months, so that puts us into 2029, assuming no additional delays.
The lounge will be just under 40,000 square feet, so this will be second largest Delta One Lounge location in the network, just barely smaller than the one in New York.
What do you make of plans for a Delta One Lounge in Atlanta?