Qatar Airways will open its first-ever U.S. airport lounge in New York.
The Doha-based airline introduced Monday that it will formally transfer to the brand new Terminal One at New York’s John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport (JFK) when the ability opens subsequent 12 months.
As a part of the transfer, Qatar will open a 15,000-square-foot lounge within the new Terminal One.
Whereas particulars are nonetheless restricted — no renderings had been offered — the airline guarantees direct boarding from the lounge, in addition to a handful of different top-notch facilities, together with a premium eating expertise, rest rooms and youngsters’s play areas.
Whereas the lounge will probably be primarily designed for Qatar’s a number of day by day flights to Doha, different Oneworld business- and first-class flyers leaving from JFK’s Terminal One can have entry to the house.
That mentioned, it stays to be seen what number of different Oneworld airways will transfer to Terminal One. American Airways’ Terminal 8 is already house to the overwhelming majority of Oneworld airways at JFK, together with Qatar.
(The one present exceptions are Royal Air Maroc and Alaska Airways, the latter of which is within the means of transferring to Terminal 8. Royal Air Maroc will transfer to the brand new Terminal One when it opens.)
This makes for a much more seamless connecting expertise for vacationers transiting via JFK, particularly in the event that they’re taking an American home flight to JFK after which connecting to a long-haul flight operated by a accomplice. Plus, the prevailing premium lounge setup in Terminal 8 is definitely fairly good, particularly should you’re a Oneworld Emerald member and might entry the Soho Lounge.
On this case, you need not clear safety, and also you need not hop on the AirTrain to transit between terminals. As soon as Qatar strikes to Terminal One, anybody flying Qatar and connecting at JFK might want to do each of these steps. That mentioned, Qatar seemingly figured that lots of its New York flyers are beginning or ending their journeys within the Massive Apple, limiting the variety of vacationers that’ll be affected by the brand new convoluted connecting expertise that can outcome from the transfer.
Reward your inbox with the TPG Each day e-newsletter
Be part of over 700,000 readers for breaking information, in-depth guides and unique offers from TPG’s specialists
Many worldwide airways like Emirates, Singapore Airways and Virgin Atlantic wish to function their very own lounges at outstations. This permits them to manage the end-to-end journey expertise and provide extra constant floor transit, regardless of should you’re flying from a hub or outstation.
Qatar’s current lounge footprint outdoors of Doha consists of Bangkok, Beirut, London, Paris and Singapore.
In the meantime, JFK’s new Terminal One will probably be house to Air France, KLM, LOT Polish Airways, Etihad, Korean Air, EVA Air, Air Serbia, Scandinavian Airways, Neos, Philippine Airways, Turkish Airways, Air New Zealand, Royal Air Maroc, Air China, China Airways, Gulf Air and, now, Qatar Airways.
Associated studying:
