Cathay Pacific has been forced to permanently close its excellent Manila lounge, and the apparent reason is not lack of demand or due to any wishes of the Hong Kong carrier. Rather, it looks like NAIA’s operator wants to push passengers into airport-operated lounges and charge airlines for the privilege.
Cathay Pacific Forced To Close Excellent Manila Lounge In Apparent NAIA Revenue Grab
Cathay Pacific has permanently closed its highly-regarded lounge at Manila Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3, a sad loss for Cathay passengers and other oneworld travelers passing through MNL.
As Executive Traveller reports, the lounge closed on May 31, 2026, at the insistence of the airport operator, not because Cathay wanted to close it.
Cathay confirmed the closure in a statement:
“As part of the ongoing terminal redevelopment at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), our Cathay Pacific Lounge in Manila will permanently close on 31 May 2026 following the last Cathay Pacific flight departure from NAIA.”
(I had to re-read that…Cathay Pacific meant after its last departure on 31 May, not it’s last departure *ever* from NAIA)
Cathay added:
“While we have endeavoured to extend the timeline for the lounge’s closure, regrettably we have been unable to do so.”
That sounds very much like Cathay wanted to keep this lounge open and was told no.
That is a shame, because this was not a mediocre contract lounge. Cathay’s Manila lounge opened in 2015 and was one of the better lounges at NAIA Terminal 3, if not the best, with Cathay’s elegant lounge design language, a Noodle Bar, and a far more refined atmosphere than is available in much of the airport.
Other oneworld passengers departing Terminal 3, including those flying Japan Airlines, Qantas, and Qatar Airways benefitted from it.
Beginning June 1, Cathay business class passengers and Cathay Gold and Diamond members are reportedly being directed to the First Meridian Lounge in Terminal 3. Maybe that lounge is fine. Reports suggest it has features like a live teppanyaki station, work pods, a golf simulator, and a kids’ playroom, so it doesn’t sound horrible.
But Cathay had a proven, branded, high-quality lounge that passengers liked. Why force it to close?
This Looks Like A Revenue Grab
Executive Traveller notes that online reports suggest NAIA intends to open its own premium lounges at Terminal 3 and then charge airlines for every eligible passenger sent into those facilities.
If true, this is a classic airport revenue grab.
Instead of allowing airlines to pay rent to operate their own (almost always superior) branded lounges, the airport operator removes the competition, pushes airlines into common-use lounges, and monetizes every lounge visit.
That may be good for the airport operator, but it is not good for passengers…
And it is especially disappointing because NAIA is in the middle of a broader transformation project that may finally turn Manila’s airport into something closer to a first-world facility befitting the people of the Philippines. Manila deserves a better airport. Filipinos deserve a better airport. International visitors deserve an airport that does not feel chaotic and dilapidated.
But forcing out a successful Cathay Pacific lounge in order to steer passengers into airport-controlled lounges reflects the exact old NAIA mentality that needs to die…this is third-world thinking dressed up as redevelopment.
We Have Seen This Movie Before In Bangkok
This reminds me of what happened at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, where several excellent airline lounges like Oman Air And Turkish Airlines were forced to drop Priority Pass as the airport pushed its own airport-operated lounges.
The result? Passengers lost access to better lounges, while inferior airport-run lounges gained more traffic and revenue. That’s called corruption (the dishonest or illegal misuse of entrusted power or authority for private or personal gain).
Airports should welcome airline investment in premium passenger facilities. A Cathay Pacific lounge is not a problem to be solved. Quite the contrary, it is a competitive advantage for the airport. It raises the passenger experience and gives international travelers one less reason to dread the airport.
If NAIA wants to build world-class airport lounges, go right and head try to make them better than Cathay’s lounge. Do what Mumbai Airport has tried to do with its lounges, which are very nice. But do not eliminate a successful branded lounge just because the airport operator wants to capture more lounge revenue. And as always, follow the. money…
CONCLUSION
Cathay Pacific has permanently closed its Manila Terminal 3 lounge, apparently against its wishes, as NAIA moves forward with terminal redevelopment.
If this was simply about temporary construction logistics, that is one thing. But if the real goal is to force airlines into airport-operated lounges so NAIA can charge per passenger, that is a very disappointing move.
The Cathay Pacific Manila lounge was one of the few genuinely premium spaces at NAIA. Closing it makes the airport experience worse, not better. Manila’s airport may finally be undergoing the transformation it badly needs, but removing one of its best lounges sure seems like step backward.
image: Cathay Pacific
Departing tomorrow from MNL on CX. This is a huge loss, it’s almost hard to put into words how much better the CX lounge is than the other miserable lounges at the airport.
Yeah, not great for MNL (or CX/OW customers), but, it’s more an MNL-problem, than caused by CX.
Separately, but related: The new First lounge at The Wing at HKG is epic. May be a new favorite.
Cool! Any pictures you want to share?
(I’m not sure I want to give up my anonymity.) But, I will say, flew both true First and Business with OWE, and only true First (like on 773) got access to the Wing (they said it just opened about a month ago). The Pier First is still good (and even the Bridge is nice, compared to many other lounges around the world.)
Fair enough! I have reviews of all three lounges on LALF, but am wondering how much The Wing has changed.
Cabanas are gone; massive new dining area (similar design as The Pier); beautiful new shower/restrooms (Dyson hair dryers… I know some really like those); there is a new speakeasy concept; of course, 15-minutes massage (4 styles) still a-thing. Overall, quite nice!
Cathay is not alone on this, SQ was forced to give up theirs as well.
I was looking for info on that but saw no similar story. Do you have a source?
I read it on Milelion.
Thanks!
Maybe CX is not giving NAIA enough bribe pesos. Manila is way too corrupt to be considered a decent SE Asia destination.
BOM forced this a decade or so ago. Their Adani lounge which I believe all airlines are forced to use is good but it’s growing a little long in the tooth. Wish there were other options.
Corruption, you say? Welcome to the Philippines! This type of shady shenanigans is one of the prime deterrents of foreign investment in a country that’s remained virtually stagnant while its neighbours have come ahead in leaps and bounds. The lack of real opportunity drives their human capital overseas in search of work, thus compounding the stagnation effect. It’s not as bad as it was during Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship, but it’s still not great.
Yeah, not as bad as Duterte either. Oh, the irony that Ferdinand’s son Bongbong is now the leader (at least he’s a bit better than his father and his predecessor).
This is definitely bad news, but I’ve always been a little amused at the praise that was always heaped on this lounge. They didn’t serve proper champagne, and their wines were Yellow Tail. I’m guessing NAIA and not CX was to blame for that, but serving $4 wines always seemed to overshadow how premium everyone thought it was.
This is bad, but I would push back against the idea that this is “third-world thinking dressed up as redevelopment.” Development can carry with it different ideologies, and a common-use model doesn’t automatically mean this is “third-world.”
There are plenty of airports (especially in Europe) where the airport operates a common-use lounge. And if the airport authority thinks this model is a better way to monetize lounges for the benefit of the vast majority of the traveling public (who don’t use lounges), you can argue that’s a plausible justification.
I think that at most of those European airports it’s a case of the airlines not being interested in running their own lounges. MAN has a dozen *Α carriers flying to it and VS operating a bunch of widebodies from the airport, yet there’s only the Emirates lounge beyond the common use ones.
Just flew ex-MNL on CX and used the new First Meridian Lounge.
Quick thoughts:
1. It’s a nice space. and it does feel fairly premium. Very spacious, seating is fairly spread out and and there’s a large variety.
2. There is quite a lot to do. Around 4 PM there is no teppanyaki station. There were a handful of hot food options but none were particularly appetizing (I would say more variety but less quality than what the CX noodle bar offered), along with a “bakery” that is like a small coffee shop with pastries, a kids room, the room with what looks like the golf simulator, and some private dining rooms. The dining room space is also large and separated off a bit from the other half of the lounge.
3. However there was terrible planning for electrical outlets. The vast majority of the seats don’t have accessible outlets.
Definitely an improvement overall for NAIA, but probably a bit of a step down for CX passengers.
There are no airline lounges at BOM (I was supposed to be flying on the inaugural SAS flight this morning before it got cancelled and the contract lounges hadn’t even heard of the airline!) so it looks like those at MNL are copying exactly what’s been done there.
Another reason to never visit MNL.
Manilla is indeed often a hot-mess; but, one usually does not go all the way to the Philippines just to be stuck in traffic there. Sure, most of the time you need to route via MNL, but then you spend your actual time on-the-ground elsewhere. Like, it is worth the hassle of MNL to go to El Nido or Boracay, IMO.
Flying qantas business, in the replacement lounge and it sucks
Appreciate your comment. What’s wrong with it?