Oneworld Lounge Amsterdam Schiphol Airport Opening

The oneworld alliance has started the process of opening its own branded lounges. We recently saw the first lounge open at Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN), and we’re now getting ready to see the opening of the second lounge.

Amsterdam Schiphol getting oneworld lounge

The next location for oneworld’s lounge network will be Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS). There have been rumors about this dating back several months, which isn’t surprising, since it’s hard for airport construction to stay a complete secret.

This development also makes perfect sense. British Airways closed its lounge at Amsterdam Schiphol back in 2022, and since then, work has been performed to turn this space into a new alliance lounge. The lounge is expected to open to the public as of Thursday, February 22, 2024.

We can expect the lounge to follow standard oneworld lounge access policies, so it will be open to oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members, as well as oneworld first and business class passengers.

This is a logical airport for oneworld to open a lounge

Amsterdam Schiphol is a logical location for oneworld to open a lounge. Keep in mind that the intent of the oneworld lounge network is to offer lounges at airports where oneworld carriers themselves don’t operate lounges, but where there are a significant number of oneworld carriers with lounge needs.

Amsterdam is of course a huge hub for SkyTeam member KLM, which dominates the airport. Meanwhile Star Alliance operates its own lounge at the airport, and now oneworld plans to operate its own lounge there as well.

The airport is served by a variety of oneworld airlines in the non-Schengen area, including American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, and Royal Jordanian. Finnair and Iberia fly to the Schengen area of the airport, so passengers on those airlines wouldn’t have access to this lounge.

I recently had the chance to check out oneworld’s new lounge at Seoul Incheon, and I’ll be reviewing it soon. In terms of soft product, I’d definitely recommend managing your expectations with these lounges, as I didn’t find the lounge to be much better than your typical contract lounge in terms of food and drinks, aside from bartender-made cocktails.

The alliance has also certainly chosen a memorable design for its lounges, for better or worse. I still can’t decide whether I love it or hate it.

Bottom line

Amsterdam Schiphol will be the second airport to get a oneworld lounge. The alliance is planning on opening lounges at several airports with a oneworld presence, but without lounges operated by oneworld carriers. That’s why Amsterdam is a logical location, given that several oneworld carriers fly there, without any oneworld airline operating a lounge.

What do you make a oneworld lounge in Amsterdam?