Qantas Brisbane Lounge opens for Cathay’s 1am flight

Qantas’ Brisbane International Lounge is now rolling out the welcome mat for the 1am departure of the Cathay Pacific flight from Brisbane to Hong Kong.

Cathay previously directed its business class passengers and frequent flyers to Brisbane’s Plaza Premium lounge – but as previously reported, this independent lounge permanently closed on May 31, and will eventually be replaced by a new Escapes Lounge.

Not wishing to leave its premium passengers on the hook, Cathay Pacific has now arranged with Oneworld partner Qantas for the opening hours of the Qantas Brisbane International Lounge to be extended into the wee hours, well beyond the departure of the last Qantas flight.

It'll be a little darker outside those windows by the time Cathay's 1am flight is ready to board...

A spokesperson for Cathay Pacific tells Executive Traveller that the agreement sees the Qantas lounge remaining open “at least three hours” prior to the 1am departure of CX156.

And that’s definitely an upgrade, with the Qantas lounge boasting a relaxed contemporary design and a decent spread of food and drinks.

ET review: Qantas Brisbane International Lounge

The revised opening hours of the Qantas Brisbane International Lounge are now as follows:

• Monday and Thursday: 6am to 11.45am, and 3.15pm to 12.30am
• Tuesday, Friday and Sunday: 6am to 12.30am
• Wednesday: 6am to 11.45am, and 3.15pm to 10pm
• Saturday: 6am to 12.15pm, and 3.15pm to 12.30am

Qantas itself has yet to resume flights between Brisbane and Hong Kong, and they appear unlikely to return for now, due to red-tailed fleet being stretched by a shortage of aircraft and the lure of new routes.

It’s also not gone unnoticed that the forthcoming Qantas Brisbane-Manila service launching on October 28 2024 has adopted the same QF97/QF98 flight numbers which used to belong to Brisbane-Hong Kong. 

For its part, Cathay Pacific has a busy few months ahead, beginning with the mid-year launch of its new 777 Aria Suites business class and premium economy seats, along with free WiFi in business class and for Cathay Diamonds.

That’ll be followed in 2025 by the promise of high-luxe and high-privacy Cathay 777 first class suites and the possibility of new lounges at its Hong Kong hub after the opening of the airport’s Terminal 2.

Also read: Cathay Pacific’s last plane departs the Australian desert