Emirates is making the move to T2
The airline is making the move to Manchester’s Terminal 2, which means its premium passengers will be looking for a new lounge. Sending those discerning customers to the airport’s catch-all lounges wouldn’t do, which means that Emirates had some building work to do.
Emirates Lounge at Manchester Airport
At the time of writing, Emirates flies from the aged Terminal 1. They will move to Terminal 2 in 2025, as Terminal 1 will close.
A number of airlines have already made the move to T2, including Lufthansa, Swiss and oneworld airline Royal Jordanian. Emirates, along with Etihad, Finnair, SAS and Turkish remain at Terminal 1 for the time being.
Emirates has a lounge in T1, which opened back in 2009. It closed briefly during the pandemic and re-opened late in 2021.
The decor is typical Emirates; a mixture of dark and light browns, with plenty of wood on display. It’s a well-sized lounge, and could easily be considered one of the better lounges at MAN. Despite it’s size it can get very busy – those A380s that fly to the UAE have a lot of business class seats.
It’s easy to consider the lounge dated – it was opened 16 years ago after all, Recent openings like Stansted in 2024 follow a similar colour scheme but they have modern touches.
Why Emirates?
Other airline passengers are crying out for a dedicated lounge. I flew with Qatar from Manchester a few years ago and we ended up in a long queue for lounge access. A single reception desk serves the two shared lounges run by MAN, so passengers for the Escape Lounge and the 1903 lounge have to stand in the same line. It took an age, and then we ended up in an understaffed, pretty average lounge. Not a bad lounge, but not a lounge that felt truly premium.
So why would Emirates jump the queue? It’ll come down to cold hard cash, and their willingness to invest is based on how critical premium passengers are at MAN. The airport has the second-highest number of premium seats for Emirates outside of London Heathrow. Three A380s jet off to Dubai, with a lot of business class seats and usually one flight a day featuring first class. That makes Emirates the only airline that flies from Manchester with a First cabin.
Does this mean no oneworld lounge at MAN?
Qatar, BA, Iberia and Aer Lingus are just a few of the airlines that carry premium passengers from MAN, which is why there have been persistent rumours of a oneworld lounge at Manchester Airport. This is not, strictly speaking, off the cards now that Emirates has a lounge. However, the chatter around BA has changed. It’s now expected the shared Escape Lounge will be used by BA when they move to Terminal 2.
What can we expect from the lounge?
Information right now is scant, but what we know about Emirates is that their lounges are decent. Their flagship Dubai lounges are good. Not quite as good as Qatar’s First Class lounge but still head and shoulders above most carriers. Emirates satellite lounges are equally good.
One thing that has been mooted is direct boarding from the lounge. This will be a first for Manchester and make a big difference. The current boarding arrangements at T1 are a pretty horrible scrum, it is a challenge getting hundreds of people on to an A380. Direct boarding would mean the lounge is located in a pier rather than in the central part of the terminal.
When will the new Emirates Lounge open?
You would expect the airline to be tying the lounge opening date into their move from T1 to T2. There is no indication of when this move will take place. Since the initial spurt of airline moves in late 2024 only Aurigny has switched to T2, in February 2025. My best guess is before Summer 2025.
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