QANTAS LOUNGES: Auckland opens while Sydney International Business closes for 12 month plus redesign

In Australian federal politics, this time of year is known as the ‘Killing Season‘. For Qantas, this appears to be the ‘Lounge Makeover Season’. It’s a busy end of the year for Qantas lounge obsessives. As the airline’s new Auckland International Lounge prepares to open just in time for Christmas, Sydney’s flagship International Business Lounge is about to lose its serenity. This will be due to the sounds of jackhammers and hi-vis vests.

Yes, the Flying Kangaroo is rolling out another multi-year ‘reimagining’ of its Sydney International Business Lounge. It’s a project set to finish just in time for Project Sunrise to actually launch. Remember those long-promised flights from Sydney to London and New York? The new Sydney space will be 30% larger. If renderings are to be believed, it will offer a 150-square-metre outdoor terrace. You can sip your coffee here while inhaling avgas fumes in actual sunlight. This is just before spending the next 20 hours inside a carbon fibre and metal tube.

Sydney International Business Lounge: Work in progress

If you want to get a feel for how the new International Business lounge will look, then head over to Adelaide’s new domestic Business lounge. Based on the renderings, it appears that the design has been modified by redistributing the elements to fit a different space. They also substituted the red marble bar with a more carpentry-style element.

This should be no surprise. Designed by the same designer, Caon Design Office, and partner Akin Atelier who brought us the new Brisbane and Adelaide lounges, the Sydney Business Lounge claims to draw inspiration from the Blue Mountains and Bondi. I think that just means we’re going to use blue and sand colours for this lounge instead of the red and green used in Adelaide.

When it’s done, you’ll find a kitchen with plated meals, a bar serving barista coffee and cocktails, and USB-C and wireless charging at 80% of seat. Hallelujah!

During the more than one-year interregnum between the closure of the current lounge in December and the launch of the Project Sunrise flights, however, travellers will be directed to a temporary business lounge inside Terminal 1. Alternatively, they may go to the Plaza Premium Lounge, depending on the level of crowding. Opinions will soon be expressed on social media as to which lounge will be best.

Across the ‘dutch‘, Auckland gets a new lounge precinct

The good news? Auckland’s all-new Qantas International Lounge opens on 17 December, just in time for the Yuletide flights between Auckland and Sydney, Adelaide, and New York.

This is no mere fresh coat of paint. It’s a complete rebuild. Working again with Caon Design Office, Akin Atelier, and local firm Architectus NZ. It will feature New Zealand native timbers, local stone, and a touch of the moody, misty, elegant palette drawn from the landscape.

It’s also a sign that Qantas is taking the trans-Tasman seriously again. With Auckland–Perth and Adelaide–Auckland services launching in December, this lounge becomes the new front door for many Australian travellers. Prior to the launch of Project Sunrise, they will be heading onward to New York.

2PAXfly Takeout

Look, there’s a lot to like here — Qantas is clearly investing again, and the Auckland lounge looks genuinely promising.

The Sydney International Lounge, in T1, just like its sister domestic lounge in T3, have been the poor cousin of this lounge redesign and refurbishment program. Both are well overdue for complete makeovers, which, admittedly, were scheduled to commence pre-pandemic. Since then, there have been multiple announcements promising upgrades and redesigns. These are then followed by a newer announcement. Unfortunately, action has not always matched the promises. But Sydney regulars can finally expect change. In the meantime, they will need to brace for the chaos during construction and interim arrangements until sometime in 2027. That’s presuming that Project Sunrise doesn’t get delayed again.

If Qantas can deliver on its promise of more space, more style, and a terrace where you can feel the breeze before your 20-hour flight, then we’ll happily forgive the dust and the borrowed seats and design ideas from the Adelaide lounge. Even Marc Newson reused his seats, table and console designs across multiple First and Chairman’s lounges.

From December 2025 until sometime in 2027, Auckland gets the glamour, while Sydney gets the builders.

Still, it will arrive sooner than a refurbished Qantas Domestic Business Lounge, which has been promised since 2018. Seven years and still waiting.