Double trouble: oneworld alliance opens their first new lounges
In the space of two months, the oneworld alliance has gone from zero lounge presence to two exclusive spaces at key global airports. Here’s a look at what you can expect.
Where are the new lounges?
In late January, oneworld opened their first lounge at Seoul Incheon Airport followed by Amsterdam’s Schipol Airport in February. Oneworld lounges were originally announced in 2019 as part of their twentieth anniversary and were due to open in Moscow…which was effectively cancelled after the suspension of Russian member S7 Airlines as a result of the invasion of Ukraine.
Who can access the lounges?
Passengers travelling in Business or First Class on a oneworld member will be able to enter the lounges as well as those with oneworld Emerald or Sapphire status flying on a oneworld airline. There is no dedicated space for those in First or with Sapphire status.
At Amsterdam, those flying on Iberia or Finnair would need to clear immigration to enter the non-Schengen zone of the airport in order to access the lounge, before clearing it again to take their departing flight. If you’re in that situation, don’t bother - it’s way too much hassle especially if you are travelling on a non-EU passport.
What do they look like?
Stylish and very colourful, reflective of the oneworld slogan to ‘travel bright’ - whatever that means.
Here’s some media pics of the Amsterdam lounge, which feature some Dutch touches:
While the Incheon lounge also features some Korean inspired styling to represent it’s home country:
Some have been critical of the lounge design as being IKEA-esque but I quite like it. I do think that the design may age quickly though compared to the classy design of a Cathay Pacific lounge. Regardless, having a dedicated oneworld facility is going to be better than relying on a third party operated lounge.
Equally, there have been comments on the size of the lounges not being big enough to cater for the number of people across all alliance flights. Overcrowding may become an issue in future but, as commented by Head for Points, the Amsterdam lounge is as large as the previous British Airways lounge which acted as the defacto alliance lounge pre-pandemic.
What’s the purpose of a oneworld lounge?
While many alliance members are known for their lounge design, including Qatar Airways and Cathay Pacific, these are usually located at their home (hub) airports or those with a strategic significance. An example of the latter is London Heathrow where Cathay operating at Terminal 3 with four daily flights and Qatar operating six flights with both having their own excellent facilities.
However, there are some airports where they are served by many alliance members but not at a high enough frequency to justify opening a lounge. Incheon is a clear example since American, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways and Sri Lankan all serve the Korean hub.
Amsterdam is more questionable though, despite not being a hub for any oneworld member. British Airways had a lounge presence prior to the pandemic but later closed, however the airline operates up to a stagering sixteen daily flights from Amsterdam to one of their three London bases. Yet the airline maintained a lounge presence at Rome and Geneva which are served far less frequently…
Operated by Aspire
While I did note earlier that a oneworld lounge will be better than a third party lounge, they are actually run by one of the major lounge operators, Aspire, along with ground services provider Swissport. While that may cause some concern of a less than stellar experience, don’t be too concerned.
This news shouldn’t be too much of a surprise as many airline operated lounges outsource aspects such as dining, cleaning and front of house. For example, Cathay Pacific works with Sodexo and Qantas works with Sofitel in London.
Final thoughts
The introduction of dedicated oneworld lounges are a welcome and long overdue move. With a great design and promising offering, I look forward to visiting the lounges, although thanks to its proximity I expect I’ll be at the Amsterdam outpost much sooner than Seoul.
The real question, though, is where next? Here’s some of my thoughts:
Paris (CDG) - Similar to Amsterdam, it’s a key business and leisure destination across the alliance with limited lounge presence (American’s lounge is awful and currently closed for terminal refurbishment, while Cathay’s space closed during the pandemic).
Berlin Brandenburg (BER) - well served by many oneworld airlines.
Istanbul (IST) - already features a SkyTeam and Turkish (for Star Alliance) lounge with zero oneworld lounge presence.
Latin America - my knowledge of the region isn’t as extensive as Europe or Asia but Latam did leave the oneworld alliance several years ago resulting in a distinct gap. While most oneworld airlines outside American maintained a relationship and access to Latam lounges, opening an alliance lounge at one of the key Latin American bases would be logical with no member in the region.
Where do you think the next oneworld lounge will or should open? Drop a comment down below.
