The new lounge will open in 2028 in T5A
It’s been quite a week for Heathrow’s Terminal 5. Two new lounges in T5C, and now a non-BA lounge will open in the terminal. That means the terminal will have three spaces unaffiliated with the airline, opening up more ways to access a lounge if you’re flying out of there. Amex believe they can get their new Heathrow Centurion Lounge open by the end of 2028.
What has been announced?
Today Amex shared a lot of lounge news. Their Centurion Lounges are cardholder-only lounges aimed at the higher-end cards. I’ve visited a few Amex spaces in the US, although they were in second-tier cities and were not particularly impressive
The most interesting news, at least for UK travellers, is the launch of another Amex Centurion lounge at Heathrow T5. That complements their space at T3, and the news comes at the end of a busy week for Heathrow and BA-related announcements.
Just a few days ago we found out that T5C was going to get two new lounges. These BA spaces are expected to open in that same year (2028), meaning that capacity across all three T5 buildings will increase. Not substantially, but certainly enough to make a difference.
Other lounge announcements included:
- The Newark lounge will now be almost double the size of what was originally announced
- Philadelphia’s lounge will double in size
- The lounge at IAH (Houston) will triple in size
What will be on offer in the lounge?
This is going to be a mid-sized space of around 9,000 square feet, and will have areas to work, alongside what’s being touted as a VIP area. That is potentially for Centurion cardholders.
From the renders provided by Amex, the lounge has a more muted colour scheme than the current lounge in T3 (see a photo of that below). There’s a manned bar, and what looks like a self-service drinks facility.
The food and drink are being described as “refined”. In my experience, Amex lounges are passable spaces, with solid decor and seating, and the food and drink are good enough to keep you going.
If you’re flying from T5 and don’t automatically get access to a BA lounge via your ticket or status, then card membership can give you somewhere to hang out. That is a positive, and this space will no doubt be useful during the mammoth lounge refurbishment that BA are undertaking.
Who will be able to use the Amex T5 lounge?
If you have a UK Amex Platinum (either personal or business), you’ll be able to enter with one guest. This rule applies to the main cardholder and supplementary cardholders. You will also be able to use the lounge if you have a Centurion card.
- Business or personal Platinum cardholders (with one guest allowed)
- Centurion cardholders (also with one guest)
- Corporate Platinum cards
Access is only available if you have your card with you, and your flight must be that same day. You can enter up to three hours before your departure time.
Earlier this year, the guest policy was restricted from two guests to just one, although children under two years old are allowed in free.
What a week it has been for Heathrow
On Monday, BA announced its new lounges, a new check-in facility at T3 for First passengers and showed us a little more of the upgraded arrivals lounge in T5. It also launched four new seats (albeit, we knew that the First cabin was being revamped a year ago) for it’s retrofitted A380.
I can’t remember a time when we had so much good news in one week. The only negative is that we’re going to have to wait years to see many of these things happen, although the First check-in at T3 should be open in the next few months, and the first updated A380 should be flying before Christmas.
The BA and AA lounges for T5C help everyone answer the big question: how on earth will the terminal cope when the current lounges are closed for long periods for refurbishment? These new lounge openings may not give us the capacity that we need, but they will certainly help.
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