British Airways updates first class lounge at London Heathrow T5

The long overdue refresh of British Airways' flagship first class lounge at London's Heathrow Airport is now complete, and it looks – well, fresher.

BA steered clear of giving the lounge a makeover along similar lines to its recently-opened Singapore lounge, although that far-flung Asian cousin does contain some BA lounge hallmarks.

Over 220 new pieces of furniture, ranging from stylish high-backed chairs, occasional tables, dining furniture and sofas now dress the zooshed-up T5 lounge.

There's new carpet, too, while the 'oak-wooded floors' have been re-sanded, waxed and polished.

BA also says you'll have less of a hard time finding AC outlets to recharge your travel tech before the flight, with more powerpoints scattered around the lounge.

All that being said: we should note that this is arguably a 'BA first class lounge' in name only, as travellers in BA first class actually use the adjacent and much more exclusive Concorde Room.

The first lounge is the domain of top-tier British Airways and Oneworld frequent flyers booked into business class, premium economy or economy. So it's really more of a 'BA Gold / Oneworld Emerald lounge'.

British Airways will also open a new Concorde Bar at Dubai Airport this month, based on the Concorde Bar concept of its Singapore lounge, with access restricted to BA first class passengers and top-tier Executive Club frequent flyers holding a Concorde Room Card or the invitation-only black Premier card.

Also read: Is this British Airways' next Club World business class seat?

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David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.