It’s pretty evident, international travel has almost stopped around the world, and that’s pretty crazy to gasp and get your head around. Airlines are facing some of the toughest times they’ve faced, and it’s not looking like it’ll end too quickly. Qantas has been very vocal and good with updating passengers during this time – it’s nice to see.
So far already, we’ve seen changes in cancellation policies, a first significant reduction, another one after that, again another massive cut and recently, a status extension was announced. In today’s news from the airline, all of Qantas’ international lounges will be closed temporarily.
This will affect both international facilities as well as select lounges within Australia.
All Of Qantas’ International Lounges Will Be Closed Temporarily
The airline has put forward changes today that outline what they will be doing in regards to lounges both in Australia and also overseas. Qantas has an extensive lounge network for all of our leading domestic ports and regionally all the way to brilliant first class facilities in Los Angels. These changes are pretty impactful as it’s not only just Qantas passengers that will be affected by this.
Which lounges are going to closed?
Listed below are all of the lounges that Qanats operate themselves:
- Auckland business & first lounge
- Brisbane lounge
- Hong Kong lounge
- Honolulu lounge
- London business & first lounge
- Los Angeles business & first lounge
- Melbourne business & first lounge
- Perth T1 and T3 lounges
- Singapore business and first lounges
- Sydney business & first lounge
- Wellington lounge
As you would expect with 90% of the international traffic being removed and Australia introducing strict travel rules, there’s absolutely no need to keep lounges open as there will be probably less than a handful making use of the facilities.
The airline has also said that passengers who get access to a partner lounge will even no longer get access as these facilities are also shutting and are temporarily closed. To see the full list of partner lounges, you can check the updated page here. The list includes airlines like Emirates, Fiji Airways, American Airlines etc.
Qantas First Class Lounge
What about the domestic lounges?
It’s not only just the international lounges that will be closing, but some of the domestic facilities will also be shutting their doors for some time. The airline is doing something quite interesting; the airline will move all flyers into the business lounges. It will instead be closing the Qantas Clubs in Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth & Sydney. All of the other airports that have a Qantas Club will remain open.
Chairman’s Lounge members may not be too impressed with news, but there’s nothing that can be done to fix it. The lounges in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
As for all of the regional Qantas Clubs like the one in Emerald, these will continue to operate as usual due to low risk right now travelling within Australia.
Qantas Domestic Business Lounge
When will the lounges re-open?
At this present time, Qantas says that they will be postponing just about all of their international flights until May. This could be extended further depending on how fast the virus keeps spreading. Australia also just announced last night that they would be closing their borders for six months at least which also could profoundly impact the decision on restarting flights.
Qantas Los Angeles First Lounge
Overall
This decision is a smart and sensible choice that was only inevitable. This virus is terrible, but it’s not going to last forever, we will get back to regular travel, and things will be ok. I think many will be a little disappointed, especially travellers using it if they are OWE.
