Air Canada has opened a new Air Canada Café at Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport, expanding a lounge concept that love this concept: good coffee and local specialities in a quiet environment ideally situated for smaller airports like YQB.
Air Canada Opens New Café Lounge At Québec City Airport
Air Canada has opened its newest Air Canada Café at Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB), giving the airport its first dedicated premium lounge experience.
The new 97-seat café is operated in partnership with Plaza Premium and is located in the terminal for eligible domestic passengers, including Aeroplan 50K members and above, Star Alliance Gold members, Aeroplan premium co-brand cardholders, and business class passengers departing on Air Canada or Star Alliance flights.
This marks the seventh Air Canada Café and follows the recent opening of a new café and refreshed domestic Maple Leaf Lounge at Montréal-Trudeau.
I have long been a fan of this concept. I reviewed the original Air Canada Café at Toronto Pearson and thought it was one of the smartest lounge concepts in North America. I later covered the opening of an Air Canada Café-style lounge at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, and more recently wrote about Air Canada expanding the Café concept to Montréal and Vancouver.
Why do I like it so much? Barista coffee. I would much rather have a smaller, calmer lounge with excellent coffee and a few thoughtful food items than a giant crowded lounge with bad machine coffee and tired buffet food.
The new Québec City café sounds great. It’s always nice when lounges feature domestic and especially local specialities. Air Canada says the menu includes signature breakfast pancakes with maple butter, fleur de sel, and Sigewigus pumpkin seed spread from the Mi’gmaq Nation of Gespeg Indigenous community, a build-your-own power bowl bar, local cheeses, artisanal jams, vegan and gluten-free options, and a full-service bar with Lavazza specialty coffee, cocktails, and local beer from La Souche.
This reminds me of the old SAS Café lounges at smaller Scandinavian airports, including the charming one I visited in Tromsø. Those lounges were modest, but they were civilized: coffee, a quiet place to sit, and a sense that even smaller airports deserved something better than a gate area.
Sadly, those SAS Café lounges have shut down. Air Canada appears to be moving in the opposite direction, and I applaud that.
CONCLUSION
Air Canada’s new Café at Québec City Airport is a welcome addition and another sign that the airline understands how useful this format can be. Not every airport needs a huge lounge. Sometimes a smaller space with good coffee, local food, power outlets, and calm seating is exactly what travelers need.
I love barista coffee (what I deem the most essential lounge feature), and I love seeing Air Canada bring this concept to Québec City.
I’m a fan of most of Air Canada’s lounges. The new one they have at LGA Terminal B is nice (and it’s where Chase sends its overflow from Sapphire lounge). More airlines should do this ‘cafe’ or mini-lounge thing. I’m surprised American has nothing at FLL, for instance; couldn’t they at least open up a mini-Admirals Club.