Qatar Airways appears to be planning not one, but two lounge spaces at Frankfurt Airport’s new Terminal 3. That is excellent news for oneworld passengers, and I suspect Frankfurt will follow the London model, with a “Premium Lounge” for business and first class passengers and a separate “Frequent Flyer Lounge” for status passengers traveling in economy.
Qatar Airways May Open Two Lounges In Frankfurt, In A Move Similar To London Heathrow
Qatar Airways is moving its Frankfurt operations to the new Terminal 3 at Frankfurt Airport, and it now appears that the carrier may open two lounge spaces there.
That is very good news.
Frankfurt Terminal 3 is brand new, but the lounge situation for oneworld passengers has been a work in progress. There is already a SkyTeam lounge in the non-Schengen area, but a dedicated oneworld lounge has not yet opened. That is a big gap at an airport with service from American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, and SriLankan Airlines.
According to reporting first noted by Travel-Dealz, a permit sign has appeared outside a lounge space in Terminal 3 indicating that Qatar Airways is building two spaces in the terminal. The lounge area is reportedly located in the non-Schengen portion of Terminal 3, near the SkyTeam lounge.
That location should be useful for most longhaul oneworld passengers departing Frankfurt, but it may not flyers on Finnair and Iberia, which operate from the Schengen area.
If true, this is a major development for Frankfurt, and a positive one.
Why Two Qatar Lounges?
The obvious question is why Qatar Airways would build two lounges in Frankfurt.
My guess is that Frankfurt will follow the London Heathrow model.
At London Heathrow Terminal 4, Qatar Airways operates both a Premium Lounge and a Frequent Flyer Lounge. I have reviewed both.
The Premium Lounge is the more exclusive space. It is for first class and business class passengers and includes a much better dining experience, including à la carte service. The Frequent Flyer Lounge is for eligible oneworld Sapphire and Emerald members traveling in economy class. It is perfectly respectable, but it is not the same product.
Qatar’s best outstation lounges are not simply “oneworld lounges” in the traditional sense. They are premium cabin lounges. In many cities, oneworld elite members traveling in economy are sent elsewhere, often to contract or partner lounges. London is different because Qatar offers a separate lounge for those elite members.
If Frankfurt is getting two Qatar lounge spaces, the most logical explanation is that Qatar is planning a similar split: a Premium Lounge for premium cabin passengers and a Frequent Flyer Lounge for eligible elites.
That would be a very sensible setup.
A Win For Oneworld, But Also A Missed Opportunity?
This is good news for passengers, but it is also a little curious from a oneworld branding perspective, which One Mile At A Time picked up on.
Oneworld has started opening its own branded lounges, including in Amsterdam and Seoul Incheon, and Frankfurt would seem like an obvious candidate. It is a major global airport without a dominant oneworld home carrier and with a strong collection of longhaul oneworld departures.
So why is Qatar Airways apparently taking the lead instead of the alliance itself?
I am not complaining. I would rather see Qatar Airways operate a lounge than many other options, because Qatar does outstation lounges very well. For example, its lounge in Singapore is one of my all-time favorites.
But if the alliance is serious about building a consistent oneworld ground experience, Frankfurt Terminal 3 would have been a logical place to plant the flag. Instead, Qatar appears to be doing it. That may actually be better for passengers, but it does raise questions about how ambitious oneworld really is with its branded lounge strategy.
CONCLUSION
Qatar Airways appears to be planning two lounge spaces in the non-Schengen area of Frankfurt Airport’s new Terminal 3. That is excellent news for oneworld passengers and should dramatically improve the ground experience at FRA.
But the important detail is how those lounges will be divided. My expectation is that Frankfurt will follow the London Heathrow model, with a Premium Lounge for first and business class passengers and a separate Frequent Flyer Lounge for eligible elite members traveling in economy.
If that happens, premium cabin passengers should expect a very strong experience, potentially including à la carte dining. Oneworld elites in economy should be happy too, but it won’t be quite the same.
Either way, Frankfurt Terminal 3 should dramatically improve for oneworld travelers.
This of course highlights that Oneworld is pretty weak in Europe. Gone are AirBerlin and Malev. I anticipate that most of the use will come from BA, Iberia and Finnair, with massive bubbles of traffic whenever a Cathay, AA, JAL or Qatar widebody departs.
Does Air Serbia perhaps want a dance partner? Or might LOT tire of being *Alliance’s poor country cousin and jump to OneWorld?
LHR T3 would argue differently. Top-tier CX, QF lounges, then all the BA ones in T5.
As much as I’m not a fan of Finnar (because they stranded me… in HEL!), they do have decent lounges in their international terminal (so many Moomins!)
Oof. Air Serbia? Psh.
Cool. (Now, if QR could stop swapping aircraft last-minute, from Q-Suite to non-Q-Suite, that’d be even better.)