Qantas to open all-new first class lounge in London

Qantas plans to open a dedicated first class lounge at London’s Heathrow Airport as the airline continues striding towards non-stop ‘Project Sunrise’ flights from Sydney and Melbourne. 

The posh pre-flight haven will be situated at a different part of Heathrow Terminal 3 to the current Qantas London Lounge, which will be subsequently rebranded as a Qantas Business Lounge when the new Qantas London First Lounge opens its doors in 2025.

“Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports so we’re very pleased to be working with them to secure a great space in the terminal for an additional lounge,” notes Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce.

Mapping out the Qantas international lounge network.

The Qantas London First lounge spearheads a $100-million investment in the airline’s lounge network, which will also include upgrades for the Sydney and Melbourne international business class lounges and the return of the Qantas Hong Kong Lounge.

It comes ahead of what’s set to a blockbuster set of financial results when the airline reveals its half-year update on Thursday February 23, with underlying profit before tax landing around $1.4 billion for the July-December 2022 period.

“London is one of the most important destinations on our network and it’s the perfect location for a First Lounge, especially with our direct Project Sunrise flights on the way,” Joyce says.

The current Qantas London Lounge, which opened in 2017, will be repositioned as a Qantas business class lounge.

The all-new Qantas London First Lounge is expected to combine “sweeping views of the airfield” with a focus on wellbeing features and an unrivalled dining experience.”

As is the case with the airline’s current first class lounges in Sydney and Melbourne, Los Angeles and Singapore, the new Qantas London First Lounge will have its own unique identity.

“We know that every one of our lounges draws from a consistent Qantas DNA, so you’ve got similarities in the experience,” says Phil Capps, Qantas’ Executive Manager of Product & Service.

“That’s partly due to the physical design, partly the service, partly the food and beverage.”

At the same time, Capps says the new London first class lounge will draw on and reflect its location in much the same way as the Singapore First Lounge – although it’s too early for design concepts.

“Right now we’re planning for the acquisition of the lounge space,” he tells Executive Traveller; “where it is, how big it is. And then we'll work through progressively the design concept, the designers (and) the architects.”

The existing Qantas London Lounge has a very elegant, almost club-like British feel.

Direct boarding from the lounge is “one of the options we'd really love to explore further,” Capps enthuses.

“It’s technically possible in Heathrow and that's something customers really value – it makes that transition from the lounge to the aircraft that much more seamless. So those are the kind of experiences we're looking to explore.”

The Qantas London First lounge is expected to open in late 2025, at the same time as the first Project Sunrise flights between Sydney and London take wing.

“London is one of the most important destinations on our network and it’s the perfect location for a First Lounge, especially with our direct Project Sunrise flights on the way,” Joyce says.

Of course, like other Qantas First lounges, entry won’t be exclusive to passengers who’ve booked a first class suite on those long-legged A350s.

A first class suite on the Qantas 'Project Sunrise' Airbus A350.

Joining them in the Qantas London First Lounge will be top-tier Qantas Platinum and Platinum one-grade frequent flyers (and their Oneworld Emerald equivalents on partners such as British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Finnair) plus of course those invitation-only members of the elite Qantas Chairman’s Lounge.

(Cathay Pacific’s London First lounge, handily located next door to the Qantas lounge, is currently a popular go-to for savvy Qantas Platinums.)

And there’s little doubt Qantas will need the extra room afforded by this new lounge.

In addition to those non-stop flights from London to Sydney and Melbourne, its two London lounges will also host travellers headed to Perth as well as Sydney via Singapore.

On the other side of the world, Qantas’ non-stop flights from Sydney and Melbourne to New York will rely on a trio of recently-opened premium lounges at JFK Terminal 8 as part of the joint venture between American Airlines and British Airways.