New Emirates lounge at MAN to open in July

The lounge will be part of the “next generation” concept

If you’ve flown with Emirates from Manchester recently, you may have been a little disgruntled with the lounge option. Since the move to T2, Emirates has used a shared lounge, and a distinctly average one at that. Thankfully, in July 2026, that will change.

What has been announced?

It’s been widely discussed that Emirates is launching a new lounge at Manchester Airport. The airline, along with many others, moved from the old (and now closed) T1 to the newer T2. Back in T1, there was an old but actually very good lounge dedicated to Emirates. I finally got to use it just before it closed, and wrote up a review. It was a great space.

The airline left T1 back in late 2025. A new Emirates lounge was always going to open, but it has taken a surprising amount of time for it to happen. Premium and status passengers have had to make do with a temporary lounge space since then, and based on comments on my previous articles, passengers are not too happy.

Emirates is the only airline that operates a First Class cabin from MAN. They have three daily A380 flights, one of which has First.

For the last seven months, Emirates passengers have been pointed towards the 1903 Lounge, which – for the moment – is the best lounge inside the airport. Aether, the private terminal, is better, but it’s technically outside of the airport. However, the space used by Emirates wasn’t actually the 1903. It was a temporary lounge setup behind reception, away from the main lounge. It was a very odd setup.

Now Emirates has given us a date: July 2026. In a press release about their investment in their next-generation lounges, they say “the Emirates Lounge in Manchester is planned for July”. That is great news for travellers.

What will the new Emirates lounge be like?

The hope is that it replicates the facilities of the old T1 lounge, but with a new and modern look. The previous lounge had:

1. Sit-down dining
2. Excellent views of the runway
3. Showers available to passengers
4. A lot of seating – even on their busy premium heavy flights the lounge was not cramped.

If they are going to include showers in the new lounge then it would be the only lounge in T2 that had this. Manchester is not a transfer-heavy airport, and it has always lacked the shower facilities that airports like Heathrow have.

The airline has not yet released renders of the Manchester lounge, but they do have pictures from their new Munich lounge. It’s expected that the Manchester lounge will follow similar design cues.

Emirates does say that the next generation lounges will al feature:

• Power at every seat and wireless charging
• Live cooking stations
• A dedicated “bread oven” for pizzas, flatbreads and manakeesh
• A bar serving cocktails and coffees
• Shower facilities with VOYA amenities
• Male and female prayer rooms
• A quiet zone, with soft seating and blankets, eye masks and earplugs
• Quiet rooms for meetings

All lounges are noted as being quiet spaces, with no announcements being made inside.

Who will be able to access the new lounge?

Anyone flying from MAN in the First or Business Class cabins will be able to use this lounge. Emirates is also one of the few airlines that allows other passengers to pay to access the space. I wrote a longer article about how to pay to get into Emirates lounges.

It will, undoubtedly, be the best lounge at MAN when it launches.

What will the new lounge opening times be?

According to Emirates, the lounge will open from 6:15am to 9:20pm, with some breaks in between.

• The lounge opens at 6:15am to cater to the early morning flight which takes off around 9am. The lounge then closes at 9:50am for fifteen minutes.
• It opens at 10:05am and stays open till 2:05pm, which covers the afternoon flight which takes off around 2pm.
• The lounge then closes for just over three hours, re-opening at 5:20pm. This is for passengers on the evening flight (around 9pm) and the lounge then closes just after take-off, giving cover to any minor delays