Queenstown Airport's GM of community affairs Sara Irvine welcomed the return of Manaia's hospitality offering to passengers, saying it was "another sign that the region is beginning to recover and rebuild."
Located in the International Terminal of Queenstown Airport the lounge caters for up to 150 lounge members and guests.
As a pay-to-access lounge, guests of any airline can access the lounge from $55 an adult.
Owned by Menzies Aviation the lounge currently caters to club members of South Island airlines, including Qantas, Jetstar Emirates and Singapore Airlines.
It is a competitor to the regional Air New Zealand Lounge in the Airport, which reopened on 19 April with the safe-travel bubble with Australia. The national carrier's post-pandemic lounges suspended self-serve buffet, and introduced contact-free food and coffee orders via app.
Other than that Air NZ's manager for global lounges Alison Swarbrick says the experience is "relatively normal, bar the several thousand bottles of hand sanitiser that customers will see everywhere."
