Will 2022 be the year Oneworld finally opens its own airport lounges?

Oneworld is well-regarded by frequent flyers, especially for the perks of its Emerald status when it comes to accessing first class airline lounges.

But the group has long lagged rivals Star Alliance and SkyTeam in opening its own Oneworld-branded lounges in strategic locations, to be shared by eligible passengers on all member airlines.

2019 was supposed to be the year that all changed, with the announcement that Oneworld would establish its own network of lounges bearing the Oneworld brand.

“The idea is that we develop these where no single airline has a massive presence, but we have multiple airlines flying into the same airport, maybe with daily flight,” Oneworld CEO Rob Gurney told Executive Traveller at the time.

“So while collectivity we (as Oneworld) have a lot of flights, no single airline could justify the cost of the lounge.”

The first Oneworld lounge was promised to open in late 2019, with Gurney admitting “we’ve actually got three (locations) we are pursuing, we just haven’t decided what the first one is going to be – it could be any one of those (three).”

Oneworld-branded lounges would be open to eligible travellers on any member airline.

Moscow was supposed to be first

Moscow's Domodedovo Airport was later revealed as hosting the debutante Oneworld lounge with an opening date set for 2020, although it wasn’t made clear how the Oneworld-branded space would co-exist with the flagship business class lounge of Moscow-based alliance member S7 Airlines.

However, long before Gurney could cut a thick red ribbon with a pair of over-sized prop scissors, the pandemic arrived and plans for the Moscow lounge were put on hold.

As international travel returns, Oneworld is now keen to pick up the pace on two delayed projects: the development of its own branded lounges and the rollout of an alliance-wide upgrade system to let frequent flyers use their miles or points from the loyalty scheme of any Oneworld airline to upgrade their seat on any other.

A Oneworld spokesperson tells Executive Traveller the group is forging ahead with plans for “the first Oneworld-branded lounge. We anticipate sharing more details later this year.”

Bur that lounge might not be Moscow, in line with Gurney’’s remarks to Executive Traveller “we had a number of lounges (planned), and the opportunity in the pipeline at that point in time saw Moscow the one we moved forward with first.” 

In late 2020, Gurney noted “it’s still the plan to have Moscow as a lounge, but whether it'll be the first one or not, I think it is an open question.” 

A range of other possible locations for Oneworld lounges have been rumoured over recent years, including the finally-open Berlin Brandenburg airport, Seoul’s Terminal 1 and Sao Paulo Terminal 3.

Berlin Brandenburg Airport could be a prime candidate for a Oneworld-branded lounge.

Gurney has previously forecast the network of Oneworld lounges could reach double digits.

“Developing a program like this is only valuable if you can get some economy of scale around it, so we think there are double digit numbers of opportunities globally,” he outlined to Executive Traveller in early 2019 – especially in the case of new airports and new or redeveloped terminals which could allow all Oneworld member airlines to co-locate of facilities including check-in desks and departure gates, similar to London Heathrow’s Star Alliance Terminal 2.

“Oneworld aims to bring its member airlines operating at all airports worldwide together under one roof, to smooth transfers for passengers connecting between different carriers’ flights, wherever the opportunities are available and wherever it makes sense,” Gurney explains.

Qantas, British Airways and Cathay Pacific jointly developed this Oneworld Business lounge at LAX.

Wherever and whenever they arise, the Oneworld lounges will be an integrated "premium lounge with a very high-quality experience,” Gurney told Executive Traveller.

They’d welcome business and first class passengers departing on all Oneworld airlines, as well as top-tier frequent flyers holding each member airline’s equivalent of Oneworld Emerald and Sapphire status.

However, Gurney allowed that “if there are airports that have a particularly high concentration of first class passengers” a seperate first class lounge would be considered.

The closest to a true Oneworld lounge that currently exists is the business class lounge at Los Angeles' Tom Bradley International Airport, which was launched as a joint project between Qantas, British Airways and Cathay Pacific and is managed by Qantas.

British Airways is one of three Oneworld airlines at Singapore with its own lounge.

Elsewhere, Oneworld member airlines have forged ahead with their own lounges : a good example being Singapore, where Changi Terminal 1 boasts four lounges operated by British Airways, Qantas and Qatar Airways.