In early 2023, Qantas announced plans to expand its network of first class lounges, by opening a new location in London. Qantas’ first class lounges are exceptional, so this is something that many of us were very excited about. There’s now an update, as this lounge is no longer in the cards. Not only that, but I think it has to be mentioned how there wasn’t actually any plan all along, and this was all fake hype, best I can tell.
Qantas First Lounge Heathrow no longer happening
In early 2023, plans were announced for a new Qantas First Lounge to open in late 2025 at London Heathrow Airport (LHR). This was part of a larger announcement by Qantas about investing in its lounge network, though this was no doubt the most exciting aspect of that.
Qantas already has an excellent lounge in London, though it’s shared among all premium passengers, including those in first and business class, as well as oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members. The new Qantas First Lounge was supposed to give oneworld first class passengers and oneworld Emerald members a more exclusive lounge option.
The new Qantas First Lounge was supposed to be a completely separate space from the current lounge, so would add significant capacity to the oneworld carrier’s lounge footprint at the airport.
London would’ve been the fifth dedicated location with a Qantas First Lounge, after Sydney (SYD), Melbourne (MEL), Los Angeles (LAX), and Singapore (SIN). Qantas does a stellar job with its lounges, and they’re among my favorite oneworld Emerald lounges anywhere.
This lounge investment was supposed to coincide with the launch of “Project Sunrise” flights, whereby the airline will fly nonstop between Sydney and London, as the airline will even have an all-new first class suite on the plane.
Qantas currently flies from Perth to London with a Boeing 787, as well as from Singapore to London with an Airbus A380. It’s expected that those routes will continue to operate even when the new record-breaking flights launch.
Anyway, that brings us to the latest update, reported by Executive Traveller — Qantas has scrapped plans to open this new lounge at Heathrow, because the airline couldn’t find sufficient space in the terminal to open it. Management at the airline claims they’ve spent years trying to find a suitable space, but have been unsuccessful.
Okay, that’s fair enough, but I also think it has to be pointed out what a complete hype machine Qantas can be. In early 2023, the airline claimed that the first lounge is “expected to feature direct access to boarding gates, sweeping views of the airfield, a focus on wellbeing features and an unrivalled dining experience.”
Maybe it’s just me, but that made me believe the airline actually had a lounge space secured already. I mean, there’s only a single lounge in the terminal that offers direct access to a boarding gate from the lounge (the Emirates Lounge), and that has been the case for many years, and required a lot of coordination, and it’s not something any airline has been able to replicate. So I’d think that’s not a claim you’d just casually make, unless you actually had a plan.
I know there are a lot of really loyal Qantas flyers, so forgive me, but as I see it, this is so on brand for Qantas. The company love to hype things for years, regardless of how much of a delay there will be, and regardless of whether it’ll actually happen or not. I mean, how do you know Qantas is planning on maybe doing something? They’ll start telling you about a decade in advance.
The existing Qantas Heathrow Lounge undergoing changes
There is a bit of a silver lining, though, with the Qantas First Lounge no longer being in the works. Instead, Qantas plans to make changes to its existing lounge at Heathrow. The space won’t physically be expanded, but instead, will undergo changes to increase capacity, and improve the experience, at least for some.
The lounge is expected to get an additional 40 to 60 seats. This will partly be done by making the bar downstairs smaller (it takes up a lot of space), and making the staircase smaller as well, among other initiatives.
Not only will more seats be added, but the lounge will also add a special dining section that has the same entry requirements as a Qantas First Lounge, so it’ll be open to all oneworld first class passengers, as well as oneworld Emerald members. This is modeled after the concept we’ve seen at the recently reopened Qantas Lounge Auckland (AKL).
Now, the lounge already has a dining area on the lower floor that’s available to everyone, with a limited menu. It remains to be seen if the airline will maintain two distinct a la carte experiences, or if that’s being cut… I imagine that’s being cut, but we’ll see.
Work on this project is expected to start within the next six months, and be complete by late 2027, coinciding with the launch of Project Sunrise flights.
Terminal 3 at Heathrow is an absolute delight for premium oneworld passengers. While the Qantas Lounge is great, I also love the Cathay Pacific Business Lounge and Cathay Pacific First Lounge, which are among my favorite outstation lounges anywhere.
Bottom line
In 2022, plans were announced for a Qantas First Lounge to open at London Heathrow Terminal 3. As it turns out, that’s no longer happening, because the airline was never actually able to secure any lounge space, despite promising a lounge that would feature sweeping views and direct boarding. I find it kind of wild how the airline hyped a lounge with those specific amenities, without having actually secured a space.
On the plus side (at least for some), changes are coming to Qantas’ standard lounge at Heathrow, and they’ll include a new a la carte dining area with a menu similar to what you’d find in a dedicated first class lounge, open to oneworld first class passengers and oneworld Emerald members.
What do you make of this Qantas First Lounge Heathrow development?