Qantas to reopen lounges, but without buffet

Qantas is preparing to reopen lounges in July, but guests will notice a number of changes.

The exclusive Qantas Chairman’s Lounge in Brisbane. Picture: Supplied.

The ramping up of Qantas domestic flights next month will coincide with a staggered re-opening of the airline’s lounges at major airports around the country.

Qantas Clubs, and the Business and Chairman’s Lounges in Australia and overseas have been closed since late March to comply with the federal government’s COVID-19 restrictions on licensed venues.

The recent easing of restrictions has meant lounges are able to reopen providing operators adhere to limits on the number of guests, social distancing and strict hygiene standards.

To that end, Qantas has been undertaking intensive planning and in some cases minor lounge redesigns to meet guidelines.

The first lounges to reopen are expected to be the exclusive invitation-only Chairman’s Lounge at Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne airports, due to the well-spaced seating and a la carte food service.

Business lounges and Qantas Club lounges will follow with guests likely to notice a number of changes.

These include hand sanitising stations, limits on guest numbers at any one time, more spacious seating arrangements and the removal of food buffets in favour of pre-packaged offerings.

Serve yourself drinks may also be temporarily suspended as Qantas navigates the post-pandemic world.

Enhanced disinfection of surfaces will also occur at regular intervals throughout the day.

While Qantas would not be drawn on a timetable for the reopening of lounges, a spokesman confirmed they would start to become available to eligible travellers from July, as domestic flights increased.

The airline announced on Thursday a tripling of domestic services to more than 300 return flights a week, including 46 between Sydney and Melbourne (up from five currently), 19 Sydney-Canberra, and 21 Sydney-Brisbane.

Capacity will further increase throughout July in response to demand and an easing of state border closures, to up to 40 per cent of pre-COVID flying by the end of July.

Qantas reported strong demand for flights, and noted the most searched for routes included Sydney-Melbourne, Brisbane-Cairns and Perth-Broome.

Virgin Australia’s lounges remain closed and as yet there is no timetable for their reopening as the airline navigates administration and continues to review its flying schedule, currently limited to just 76 return flights a week.

A spokesman said those Velocity Platinum, Gold and Silver members who received lounge benefits as part of their tier, had already had their status extended by 12 months.

Qantas has also extended frequent flyer’s status by a year, and given Qantas Club members an extra six months until renewal is required.

With international flights still on hold other than government subsidised “rescue” services, Qantas has no immediate plans to reopen its overseas lounges.