The latest on Qantas’ London first class lounge

Qantas remains intent on opening an all-new first class lounge at London’s Heathrow Airport, although the project has shifted from its original 2025 timeline and now appears more likely to be a ‘sometime in 2027-2028’ proposition.

This aligns with the launch window for non-stop flights from Sydney and Melbourne to London, using the globe-striding Project Sunrise Airbus A350-1000 jets.

Those flights from Sydney are now due to take wing in the second half of 2027, with Melbourne to follow.

But the first hurdle is to find suitable space at Heathrow’s crammed Terminal 3, which Qantas uses, given that the all-new Qantas London First Lounge will be located at a different part of T3 to the current Qantas London Lounge.

The current Qantas London Lounge, which opened in 2017, will be repositioned as a Qantas business class lounge.

“Everyone knows that infrastructure is really challenged at Heathrow, there are challenges with infrastructure and space, so we are working with Heathrow on what we can achieve there,” Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace tells Executive Traveller.

“We have been in ongoing discussions with Heathrow about what options there are for us there... we’ve got a series of options, but we haven’t confirmed anything at this point.”

When the lounge was first announced in February 2023, it was slated to open in late 2025 in conjunction with those non-stop Australia-London flights – which were subsequently pushed back to 2026, and later 2027.

This has arguably given Qantas some breathing space on the London first class lounge project, which the airline previously said would likely include direct boarding from the lounge to the awaiting aircraft.

Also on the cards were “sweeping views of the airfield, with a focus on wellbeing features and an unrivalled dining experience.”

As is the case with the airline’s current first class lounges in Sydney and Melbourne, Los Angeles and Singapore, the new Qantas London First Lounge would have its own unique identity, while drawing on and reflecting its location in much the same way as the Singapore First Lounge.

The existing Qantas London Lounge has a very elegant, almost club-like British feel.

But Wallace himself sounds cautious over the project.

“We’d like to do something, (but) we’ve got to make sure it’s sustainable and economic for us, and make sure there is the space there.”

The Qantas London Heathrow First lounge would admit first class passengers, along with Platinum and Platinum One frequent flyers (and their Oneworld Emerald equivalents) and members of the invitation-only Chairman’s Lounge.

The daily Airbus A380 from London to Sydney via Singapore carries 14 first class passengers, with Project Sunrise adding six more on each A350-1000 from Sydney and Melbourne.

Each Qantas 'Project Sunrise' Airbus A350-1000 will be crowned by six room-like first class suites.

Today, most savvy first class passengers and Platinum-grade frequent flyers make their way to Cathay Pacific’s first class lounge, which is conveniently located next door to Qantas’ London business class lounge.

Wallace’s comments generally accord with what Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson told Executive Traveller in early 2025.

“We’re still searching for space in London because it’s a very constrained terminal,” Hudson confirmed at the time.

“We haven’t yet been able to secure a space that enables us to start to build a first class lounge, so we are looking at options.”

“It’s definitely not been a deliberate delay on the lounge, it's more about getting the availability in space.” 

Also read: Qantas goes flat-out with new XLR business class