Aegean Airlines Opens New Business Lounge in Athens
Greek flag carrier Aegean Airlines has opened a brand new business lounge for non-Schengen flights at their Athens Airport hub.
New lounge
The new Aegean Airlines business lounge opened on April 2nd, in time for the start of the new tourist season in Greece.
Measuring 1,250 square meters, the spacious lounge is said to offer an “unparalleled experience of travel and hospitality” according to Aegean Airlines.
To design the lounge, high quality materials like marble, terrazzo, glass and wood were used.
The lounge has four separate areas for its guests, with a quiet lounge for passengers requiring some rest and relaxation, a media lounge for networking, a social lounge for those wanting a chat and a meeting room for people wanting to get some work done.
Lounge facilities
What stands out when looking at the pictures of the new Aegean Airlines business lounge is how bright and airy the lounge is.
According to the Aegean Airlines press releases, there are recliner chairs overlooking the tarmac which will certainly prove to be a hit among avid plane spotters.
The lounge also has two cafeterias, a restaurant and a wine bar where premium Greek products are offered.
Showers
I’ve reached out to Aegean Airlines whether the lounge also has shower facilities.
Unfortunately, there aren’t any shower rooms offered at the moment, although I will hope at one point in the future this will be offered as I always found them sorely lacking at the Athens lounges given how hot the Greek summers can be.
Hey there, you'll certainly feel like home in our new lounge, thanks to the different areas we've created. Though, showers aren't offered, at least not for now. ✈️
— Aegean Airlines (@aegeanairlines) April 6, 2022
Old lounge
Although I have yet to visit the new Aegean business lounge in person, it certainly looks like a vast improvement over their old non-Schengen lounge.
The old non-Schengen lounge was notorious for being overcrowded at peak hours, which really made it feel more like a broom closet.
As Aegean Airlines has expanded operations drastically over the last years, it really was about time that they tackled this problem.
Both in aesthetics, facilities and the spacious surroundings, this new space looks like an absolutely solid business lounge.
Aegean lounge entry requirements
The new business lounge will have the same entry requirements as the old lounge.
Located in Hall A of Athens International Airport, the lounge is open for eligible passengers departing on Aegean Airlines or a flight operated by another Star Alliance carrier to a non-Schengen country.
To access the lounge, you need a same-day business class ticket on Aegean Airlines or another Star Alliance carrier, or hold Star Alliance Gold status when flying economy.
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Well, by luck I travelled ATH-LHR with Aegean yesterday! The new lounge is beautiful and a really good space. It is as good as the pics show if not a bit better. The quality of finishes is top of the range, I would say, nothing cheap here.
The food and drink options seem to be the same as in the previous lounge but look better because they are laid out more attractively and the environment is not so crowded. It’s a little bit further to walk to the gates but not much. I believe there is also work going on to make the same improvements and expand the Schengen lounge which although larger than the non-Schengen one is just as overcrowded. At least for *A in the Schengen area there is also the LH lounge with while it gets good reviews, I’ve never thought was as good as the Aegean one.
It’s worth remembering that as recently as 2017 Aegean sent their non-Schengen passengers to the Swissport lounge – a sad space at ATH if ever there was one, because they didn’t have a lounge in the non-Schengen area. The now old lounge was great when it opened but it became too small too quickly.
First Aegean expanded the scope of their non-Schengen operation considerably and second, other *A carriers, particularly in summer expanded the size and scale of their operations too meaning that particularly in the morning peak – 08.00-11.00 it was often impossible to get a seat in the non-Schengen lounge. It was OK again during the worst of Covid but clear it wouldn’t work as things return to normal so Aegean have done a great job here and it will remain a pleasure to travel with them.
I knew I could count on you as an Aegean regular to be one of the first to try it out and give a honest assessment, lhrpete! Good to hear that in real life the lounge is just as good as it looks like. Could you describe where it is located? They used an entirely different space, or incorporated the old lounge space as well?
I’ve never visited the Swissport lounges at ATH but heard from many that they are dire! On the contrary, I always thought the non-Schengen Goldair lounge was a nice little lounge with some good food/drinks. The same as LH at the Schengen side. Sure, it may be a crowded little space as well as peak hours, but it has some good food, wine and booze.
And yes, your general assessment of ATH operations are absolutely correct. More flights from the US, Turkish sending in more flights/bigger planes, and A3 expanding with flights to North Africa, Caucasus etc. I always found the evening peak bad as well in the old Non-Schengen lounge when lots of flights to TLV, CAI and other such destinations were departing around the same time. No experience visiting in the early morning! Coming from the islands, I would always connect to a late afternoon/evening flight back to OTP for most of the times.. Hopefully I can do a little island trip in May/early June and visit the new lounge as well.
Sure, the lounge is not where the old one was, I don’t think there was any room there to expand. The new one is on the level above so 3rd floor, I didn’t know there was one at ATH!
When you clear security and immigration to head to the A gates you move through the shops to what is now called the Central Square. The shops have been remodeled in recent times, I first noticed big changes in October 2021 and I’m not sure if the work is finished.
The lounge access is to the right just before you get there and it’s well signed. Once on the upper level you can’t miss the lounge entrance and IIRC, (I should have taken more notice but was focussed on getting into the lounge) there isn’t much else up there to see. I was only in the Sofitel the night before, had I known about the lounge, I would have made my way to the terminal earlier than I did but the good old wisdom of retrospect strikes again.
At the moment I won’t be back in Athens until October so it should be well established by then but I tend to leave for LHR on either A3 600 at 09.15 or A3 602 at 13.30 so not in the non-Schengen area in the evenings.
Can I use the lounge? I’m flying to Athens with BA. But after a 3 hour wait I’m flying Business class to Corfu on December 19th.
Thank you.
Not with a boarding pass to a Schengen destination I’m afraid. In fact, you will most likely not even be able to get into the extra-Schengen part of the terminal. Even if you do manage to convince the Athens security guards to let you through to that part of the terminal after arrival, you would also need to convince the Aegean lounge agents to let you in.. long shot, but you can always try!
There is however always the (less-impressive) Aegean Schengen lounge you can access, as well as the Lufthansa lounge (which usually has better quality food and drinks).