The new Qantas Business Lounge at Perth Airport is now open, and Australian Business Traveller is on the spot to bring you this first look at what's in store.
The lounge, albeit a domestic one, noticeably draws on the design characteristics of Qantas' newer international facilities - such as you'd find in Hong Kong and Los Angeles, with podiums taking the place of more traditional reception desks...
... and which give way to a space that's large enough for over 350 seated guests, but with a colour palate tailored for Perth: drawing on the vast Western Australian landscape.
It's a noticeable step up from the airline's current domestic business class lounges in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra, but continues to offer distinct zones for working, relaxing and eating/drinking, with a very strong (and very welcome) focus on the latter.
That shines through at the new wine bar, which doubles to serve up barista coffee, canapés and daily cocktails...
... at a dedicated dining area offering Rockpool-inspired 'dishes of the day' with table service for a more formal experience...
... joined by a comprehensive buffet that's tailored to the time of your visit...
... and what's sure to become a big hit with travellers: a new Italian pizza bar where a trained pizza chef pumps out fresh slices using dough that's made in-house.
“This lounge sets the new benchmark in business travel and represents the future of the Qantas Business Lounge in Australia,” said Qantas Domestic CEO Andrew David.
“It accommodates the mix of corporate, leisure and fly-in fly-out workers with business facilities, a sports lounge to relax and socialise, and dining areas with single and communal seating,” he added.
Qantas' new Business Lounge in Perth naturally welcomes business class passengers and both Platinum and Platinum One frequent flyers.
Also on the guest list are Oneworld Emerald members of other airlines when travelling with Qantas, such as American Airlines Executive Platinum and Cathay Pacific MPC Diamond, along with Emirates Skywards Platinum cardholders.
The lounge was designed by architects Woods Bagot, the same firm as behind most Qantas lounges (including the Chairman’s Lounge and the Los Angeles Business Lounge) as well as Perth Airport’s new international and domestic terminals.
Take a virtual tour of the Perth Business Lounge by watching the following short video:
Qantas continues to operate separate Qantas Club and Chairman's Lounge facilities in Perth.
The upgrade to the lounge network comes as part of a broader boost for Qantas in Perth, which saw the launch of new Business Suites on Airbus A330 transcontinental flights and the reintroduction of flights between Perth and Singapore.
Also read: New Qantas lounges coming to Brisbane Airport
Virgin Australia expects to open two new lounges at Perth Airport before the end of this year as part of the airline's dedicated terminal, which will be christened the Virgin Australia Pier and adjoin the international Terminal 1.
In addition to a Virgin Australia lounge for business travellers and top-tier frequent flyers, which will adopt the signature style of its east coast siblings, there will also be a WA outpost of The Club, Virgin's exclusive invitation-only lounge for VIPs and influencers.
Read more: Virgin Australia eyes November for new Perth terminal, lounges
Chris Chamberlin travelled to Perth as a guest of Qantas.
Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT
Chris is a a former contributor to Executive Traveller.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
18 Jun 2013
Total posts 28
Looks good, I'll get to check it out a few times next week. Can't say I'll miss the current lounge there too much.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
23 Mar 2012
Total posts 213
Looks great. Pity this took so long as I'm not going to get to enjoy it for long as will be dropping back to my lifetime gold later in the year after a dozen years at P or P1. Pity QFF doesn't have lifetime P. Still, well done Qantas on finally fixing the Perth domestic lounge situation.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
29 Jul 2013
Total posts 207
Looks great! Long overdue!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
29 Jul 2013
Total posts 207
Looks great! Long overdue!
26 May 2012
Total posts 149
Looks bloody great. Good stuff, Skippy
26 May 2012
Total posts 149
....and thanks for sneak peak, AusBT!
Cathay Pacific - Asia Miles
01 Feb 2015
Total posts 112
FINALLY something for Perth! Not that I'm in Perth or go to Perth, but hopefully this will shut those Perth whingers up!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
10 May 2012
Total posts 137
Thx for your kind words jet_setter. I guess we're all Whingers cause A) we're nearly all Poms in Perth; and B) Seeing as our State's 2 million people create two-thirds of Australia's wealth for the other 25 million citizens to enjoy, it's a little tiresome to be served like a second class citizen by the "National Carrier". Understandable really I'd say. But this new Qantas lounge is nice. Can we just have all the GST we pay to fund services in your State back? Then we'll all be happy (ish).
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
06 Mar 2015
Total posts 230
The ABS staets : On 27 August 2015 at 07:06:03 AM (Canberra time), the resident population of Australia is projected to be: 23,877,246.
I do relaise that us " other States " people are great lovers and breed fast but we can't quite make it to 25 Million just now!!! Sorry about the tardiness.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
11 Aug 2014
Total posts 51
Drgmarshall, this is about an airline lounge, don't bring the GST into it.
12 Feb 2014
Total posts 230
I had the chance to see the lounge last night. First impressions are it is much bigger than I expected. Should be a pretty social space too. The zones are small and feel like a set of large discrete lounge rooms. My pick is the front corner that currently looks out on the Virgin terminal and across to International. The pizzas are good! Probably the best lounge I've been in. Nicer than Singapore even.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 Feb 2015
Total posts 372
The traveling public are very lucky indeed with all this investment in lounges and onboard product.
QF
15 Apr 2015
Total posts 18
Can't wait to check it out next week... :))
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
08 Jun 2014
Total posts 259
It was nice last night, though is hot food always available?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
20 Sep 2011
Total posts 24
Is it open on Saturdays?
Cathay Pacific - The Marco Polo Club
20 Jun 2013
Total posts 49
Is this new lounge as brightly lit in parts as a Chinese restaurant at closing time? (Parts of the International Lounge at T1 is way too brightly lit)
QF
29 Oct 2012
Total posts 17
Hopefully the pizza appears on the east coast as well. Remember when there was pizza in the J lounges when they first opened, then it disappeared. Needs to be more difference between the J lounge the the QP.
10 Aug 2015
Total posts 117
Pizza? Carbs and fat twist. Something for the FIFO travellers I suppose.
The colour scheme is lovely, especially the blue. The increasing use of quilted stitching across the QF brand is subtle luxe, very nice. Perhaps QF could do a staff uniform collaboration with Barbour?
Qantas - Platinum Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 Jul 2012
Total posts 5
I'll be checking it out next week looking better than MEL & SYD Buiness Lounges it will definitely better then the current QC Lounge at Perth
Qantas - Platinum Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 Jul 2012
Total posts 5
I'll be checking it out next week looking better than MEL & SYD Buiness Lounges it will definitely better then the current QC Lounge at Perth
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
25 Sep 2015
Total posts 1
I'm in the lounge at the moment, and have to say, it's pretty impressive. Lighting is great, wine bar is sensational, and some of the best/most comfortable seating I've seen in a lounge to date.
The pizza's pretty decent too!
Let's hope we see similar improvements on the east coast sometime soon.
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