When will Qantas’ Sydney lounges get a refresh?

EXCLUSIVE | Qantas’ lounges in Sydney are some of the busiest in Australia. Over the years, the Roo’s lounges in other cities have had a spruce up. But for as long as I’ve been flying domestically, Qantas’ Sydney lounges have looked the same. Okay, the wall between the Business Lounge and Qantas Club was recently shifted, to open up the new Panini Bar. But a tasty sandwich counter on its own doesn’t make a new lounge.

As it stands, Sydney is home turf for Qantas. Sure, the Qantas International First Lounge here is a flagship. And Sydney’s domestic Chairmans Lounge is a mini-me with a similar design. But how about Qantas’ other domestic lounges, and Sydney’s International Business Lounge?

I put the question to none other than Qantas Group CEO and MD Vanessa Hudson to find out.

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Qantas’ lounge plans for Sydney

The “Sydney International (Business) Lounge is currently under a refurbishment plan,” Hudson acknowledges, in a nod to Qantas’ previous announcements. “That is going to be an amazing lounge, given that is our flagship and our home base. So we’re very excited about that. It adds to what is already a world-class First Class lounge in Sydney, that is still looking as good as the day it was opened.” Currently, the expectation is that refurbishments would be completed within FY27.

But what about the domestic Qantas Club, and Qantas Business Lounge in Sydney? “We are absolutely focused on our lounge experience,” Hudson continues. “It is incredibly important for our customers domestically.”

“As you know, we’ve got three lounges domestically (in Sydney). A Chairmans Lounge, a Business Lounge, and also a Qantas Club. We are constantly looking at ways to make sure that those lounges are the best they can be, including space, meal, and also service.” But Hudson stops short of sharing any concrete plans for its domestic public lounges, for now.

Speaking more broadly to on-time performance, “I speak to our customers all the time. I speak to our customers in lounges. I speak to our customers on board. We also have market research where we get feedback from our customers. And what I am hearing from customers is that they are noticing the difference. They’re noticing the improvement in on-time performance. They’re noticing the improvement in service levels.”

But “I’m also saying to them, our job is not done,” Hudson continues. “We are an organisation that are listening to our customers. And so whilst we can actually show today that things are improving, we are always going to be an organisation that focuses on continuing to improve and continuing to listen to our customers.”

Qantas’ plans further afield

While Sydney domestic lounges will have to wait, refurbishments to Qantas’ Auckland lounge space are already underway. Qantas expects that lounge to reopen in February 2026. As well, the airline plans to refresh its International Business Lounge in Los Angeles by the same month.

“That’s going to be a fantastic lounge that’s going to open at the beginning of next year,” Hudson says of Auckland. “And we’re also doing work, as you say, in LA. But our international lounges are incredibly important, and we are going to invest significantly.” It seems, the promise of non-stop flights from Australia’s east coast to the likes of London and New York will help hurry that along.

When “Project Sunrise comes, that’s going to be the next step change for us as well, in thinking about that lounge experience.” Speaking of Sunrise, Qantas expects to receive its first Airbus A350-1000ULR in October 2026. That’ll be followed by two further aircraft by the end of March 2027.

Speaking of London and New York from Sydney and Melbourne, “we intend to start commercial flying to those long destinations where we’ve got three aircraft. Because to do a daily service that far, you need three aircraft to do that. So that’ll occur in the first quarter of 2027.” However, Hudson appears to be referring to aircraft delivery timelines with that comment, as Qantas’ published financials today show that commercial flights would begin between April and June of the same year.

Qantas also hints that it plans to refresh the experience in Qantas First. Specifically, a “dining and service experience enhancement.” We asked Hudson to elaborate, but her response focused only on the lounges. Hopefully, they give a little attention to the wine list, which many airlines consider central to the experience. Last time I flew Qantas First, there were at least 10 obvious typos on that wine list, and the hero Champagne touted at the top wasn’t actually loaded onto the aircraft. Getting the basics right would be a good start.

Review: Qantas Airbus A380 First (Los Angeles – Sydney)

Featured image by Chris Chamberlin for Point Hacks.