This doesn’t come as much of a surprise but Etihad are now allowing passengers in all cabin to pay to enter their First Class Lounge In Abu Dhabi. Last month the airline announced that passengers could pay to enter their premium lounges but at the time excluded the First Class lounge.

The carrier isn’t the first airline to allow passengers to access their First Class lounge for a fee. At the start of the year Emirates announced pay-per-entry and they as well included their First Class lounges in the list.

Per Etihad,

You can now pay and upgrade to our First Class Lounge & Spa at Abu Dhabi Airport.

Enjoy our most remarkable lounge experience with a variety of spaces to work, rest and play. Enjoy fine-dining prepared in-house by our Chefs. Relax in our spa, be pampered at nail bar, have a blow dry, or take advantage of our wet-shave service. Work out in the Fitness Room or rest in the Relax and Recline Room.

• If you’re flying in Business or Economy Class, you can choose from 2, 4 and 6 hour upgrade packages starting from only USD $200 / AED 735.
• As a First Class guest, you can invite a companion to join you in our First Class Lounge & Spa for only USD $100 / AED 367.
• If you’re an Etihad Guest Gold member travelling in Business Class, you’ll have a preferential upgrade rate of only USD $100 / AED 367.

All Lounge access is subject to availability, so check with our Lounge staff on your day of travel. Our First Class Lounge & Spa is open 24 hours a day.

Payment is by credit card only.

As a comparison Emirates charge the exact same amount for using their First Class lounges.

Do I agree with this?

In a word, No. The Etihad First lounge is quite beautiful but very small. In peak times, like early morning for Europe flights and evening for Australian flights, the lounge won’t be able to handle extra capacity This is another sign of major cost cutting and I’m very disappointed. I spend a lot of time in this lounge and to see it be devalued I guess is a little sad. The lounge already fills up with enough Velocity Platinums, Etihad Platinums etc. Already the lounge has had major cutbacks on their menu’s so be prepared for more and you could probably say goodbye to the Emirates Palace dining menu.

Qatar are now the only airline in the Middle East to not allow passengers, not in First Class to access the Al Safwa lounge.