Inside the new Qantas Auckland lounge after 15 redesigns and a new menu

Qantas has unveiled its new Auckland lounge after designer David Caon changed the floor plan 15 times, with luxury features like shower suites and more space.

Qantas has provided a preview of its new look Auckland International Airport lounge, with designer David Caon revealing he changed the plan 15 times before settling on the final product.

With the capacity for 370 passengers, the lounge has 60 per cent more room than Qantas’ old Auckland Airport lounge; 70 per cent of seats have power points and there are 15 shower suites.

It comes as the airline’s Sydney International business lounge closes for its own makeover, with eligible passengers to be informed by email whether they can access a temporary replacement, or head to another lounge.

The temporary lounge has 300 seats, 140 fewer than the old one, meaning passengers may have to make do with the Plaza Premium lounge or Air New Zealand lounge, as a guest of Qantas.

Qantas International chief executive Cam Wallace hosted the preview of the new Auckland lounge, which will open to travellers on December 17.

Qantas international CEO Cam Wallace at the new Auckland lounge.

Inspired by the natural landscape of New Zealand, Mr Caon said bringing the Auckland lounge to life had been “an incredible journey” with at least 15 changes to the floor plan and furniture.

“I changed the whole colour palette last December before we closed the office (for Christmas),” he said.

“It was like, I looked at all the leathers and changed everything again because you sit with something for a while and then you change your mind about it, and you think there might be better ways to do it, but I’m definitely happy with the end product.”

He said every element was approached with careful attention to detail including the porthole windows and sweeping curved walls, and custom designed furniture.

“Lounges are not like anything else really — they’re not a restaurant space, they’re not a lobby space because people often have their luggage with them, so you need to allow a little bit more space around them,” said Mr Caon.

“Then you need to provision for the different things people might want to do. It’s a very multifunctional type of space and yet it has to look and feel cohesive.”

The buffet area of new look Auckland International lounge, revealed by Qantas.

Mr Wallace said the new lounge represented a major investment for customers flying through Auckland.

“Our customers tell us the lounge experience is an important part of their journey, which is why we’re investing in our award-winning lounge network around the globe,” said Mr Wallace who has recently assumed responsibility for the airline’s international lounges.

“Auckland is a key hub connecting our customers across the Tasman and around the world, and this new lounge gives them more space and premium facilities to enjoy ahead of the holidays.”

Neil Perry-inspired food such as crumbed local fish and chips would be served alongside lounge favourites of salt and pepper squid and pavlova.

Airy and fresh, Qantas’ new Auckland lounge raises the bar.

Executive Traveller editor-in-chief David Flynn said the new space was a single class lounge similar to London and Hong Kong “but arguably the best lounge of its type in the Qantas network”.

“You could also say it’s clearly been designed to handle the peak transit periods of the flights to and from New York when you have a massive influx of travellers for a short stopover because of the dining and shower room capacity.”

Coinciding with the preview, Qantas announced two new routes out of Auckland, including to the Gold Coast from June 16, 2026, and to Apia, Samoa.

Designer David Caon at the entrance to new Auckland Lounge.

Mr Wallace said the Apia flights would originate in Sydney and fly to Apia via Auckland on alternative days to the Brisbane-Apia service.

An introductory fare of $364 is on offer for Gold Coast-Auckland which will depart Coolangatta at 1.05pm and land in Auckland at 6.10pm.

As a former Air New Zealand executive, Mr Wallace said Qantas was now the trans-Tasman leader in terms of seat capacity and routes, having just started Perth-Auckland, and going daily to New York.

“While the economy’s been under quite a bit of pressure here for the last couple of years, we’ve actually seen really strong returns for us, so it’s all productive capacity and we’re starting to build momentum because we’re more relevant to more customers because we have more options, more routes and we’re stimulating the market as well,” he said.

“So yes, we’re very confident about our market position here.”

Originally published as Inside the new Qantas Auckland lounge after 15 redesigns and a new menu