Air New Zealand will unveil its new Great Walk-inspired Lookout Lounge at Auckland Airport’s international departures terminal tomorrow.
The airline says the new lounge will provide an additional 200 seats during the construction of the airport’s new Koru Lounge, due to open next year.
“We know that our Koru Lounge gets really full, particularly in peak hours,” Alisha Armstrong, customer general manager for Air NZ, told the Herald.
“So opening this space allows us to leverage both [lounges] ... particularly in peak travel season ... and the outcome will be that both sets [of passengers] will get more space than they would have.
The new lounge, opposite the Koru Lounge on Level 2 of the terminal, will operate daily during peak periods between 5am-10am and 3.30pm-9.15pm.
There are no bathrooms in this lounge, and that is intentional. The closest toilets are a two-minute walk away, by McDonald’s. Passengers seeking showers will be directed to the ones in the Koru Lounge.
Food and drinks will be made to order, unlike the self-service in the Koru Lounge, while also featuring the same summer menu served in the Koru Lounge, with several New Zealand wines.
Guests can expect a full buffet, a chef station serving made-to-order dishes that change throughout the day, and a fully serviced bar and barista station, stocked with New Zealand beer and wine, and Coffee Supreme.
Armstrong explained that, during the planning phase of the lounges, the airline asked customers what would be more important to them.
“What came through really clearly was that they wanted the Air NZ experience. They wanted our service, they wanted our food and beverages, they wanted the start of their journey to be with us if they chose to fly with us.”
The company was aware it might still need to make changes, “particularly as we get to the back end of the construction”.
Both the Koru Lounge and Lookout Lounge will be accessible to passengers while renovations take place for the new Koru Lounge. Travellers belonging to Air NZ’s Koru Black and Platinum tiers, and business travellers, will be prioritised for the Koru Lounge.
Construction on the Lookout Lounge project began only three months ago.
Its design is starkly different to the Koru Lounge. Inspired by the Great Walks, Air NZ’s project team told the Herald they wanted to bring “the outside in”.
They collaborated with the Department of Conservation, with whom Air NZ has been in partnership since 2012.
The space incorporates a large amount of natural light let in from the glass wall, natural materials and real plants.
Some of the Great Walks and their various elevations are written on the front of the short flight of stairs leading to the lounge. There are also purple trail markers along the floor.
Its most distinctive feature is the huge lookout to the runway and surrounding hills, which inspired the lounge’s name.
The lounge offered a fresh take on the Koru Lounge experience, Armstrong said.
“As we head into our busiest travel season, the Lookout Lounge will give our customers more space and comfort before they head overseas. It’s a friendly and relaxed environment influenced by the very best of Aotearoa.”
Construction of the new Koru Lounges will take place in two phases next year.
The current lounge will remain open with reduced capacity while work is completed on the Koru Premier Lounge for Koru Platinum (currently Airpoints Elite), Koru Black and Business Premier customers. That work is due to finish in 2027.
The current lounge space will then be redeveloped and opened by late 2027.
Varsha Anjali is a journalist in the lifestyle team at the Herald. Based in Auckland, she covers travel, pop culture and more.