Qantas has announced a multimillion investment for a new First Lounge at Singapore Changi Airport which will become its fourth port worldwide with this dedicated offering after Sydney, Melbourne and Los Angeles. Qantas will work with chef Neil Perry and industrial designer David Caon in collaboration with Akin Atelier, to create the lounge.
Development of the Singapore First Lounge will begin in April 2019, with the opening scheduled by the end of 2019. The lounge will offer seating for 240 customers, as well as shower facilities, a cocktail bar, open kitchen, and a la carte dining with Asian-inspired menus.
Meanwhile, the existing Business Lounge, which opened in 2013, will also be expanded. The combination of First and Business Lounges will offer seating for more than 800 customers.
An artist impression of Qantas’ First Lounge at Changi Airport
CEO Alan Joyce announced the investment as part of the Qantas Group’s first quarter trading update, and indicated that the airline’s overall lounge capacity in Singapore would increase by 60%.
“With the return of our A380 service to Singapore we’ve got more passengers transiting through our existing lounge and strong demand for travel in premium cabins,” he revealed.
In addition to Qantas’ investment in Singapore, the airline recently announced the upgrade of its lounges in Tokyo, Auckland, Sydney, Brisbane, Hobart and Tamworth. A new Melbourne domestic lounge precinct is due to open at the end of October.
Singapore is Qantas’ largest hub outside of Australia, carrying more than 20 per cent of the airline’s widebody fleet. Qantas operates over 50 return services in to and out of Changi Airport each week, while Jetstar Group operates 298 weekly return flights to 26 destinations from Singapore.