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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
Size is the wow factor at this lounge by far - once you get over the sheer size of the lounge (which spans the entire terminal), there isn't really that much to do or eat. However, this lounge serves its purpose, and I'm not sure it needs to be much better than it is |
3.5
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In 2024 I flew from London to Singapore via Dubai on Emirates, as part of my crazy journey to Hong Kong. Since I’d upgraded to business class on the segment from Dubai to Singapore, I had access to Emirates’ lounges at their hub airport in Dubai. I decided to visit Emirates’ business class lounge at Concourse A, where my flight was departing from. This is known as Emirates’ flagship business class lounge at Dubai Airport, partially because it spans the entire length of the terminal, and is undoubtedly the largest business class lounge in the world.
So how is this lounge? The Emirates business class lounge at Concourse A is a tranquil space where many can board their flights directly without heading back down to the terminal, and it’s well-stocked with amenities, including good food and drinks, a large variety of seating, and even a cigar bar. However, apart from that, there’s nothing that sets this lounge apart or makes it particularly fun to spend a long period of time in. That’s not necessarily a complaint, since it’s good to have a tranquil space to catch up on work, with zero chance of the lounge getting anywhere close to overcrowding.
Here’s my detailed review of Emirates’ Concourse A business class lounge, where I’ll detail the seating (there’s lots), food and beverages, and other amenities. I’ve also visited Emirates’ Concourse B and Concourse C lounges in the past, for what it’s worth.
Emirates Business Class Lounges Access and Opening Hours
All Emirates business class fliers can access this lounge, except those on Business Special fares; Skywards Gold and Silver members can access the lounge as well, whereas those in economy/Business Special fares can get in on a fee. That fee is US$183.75 (£137.65/HK$1,424) to enter, or US$157.5 (£118/HK$1,221) if you have a Skywards membership.
Emirates’ business class lounges in Dubai are open round the clock, reflecting their 24/7 departures from the airport.
Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A Location
While the lounge itself spans the entirety of the terminal, the entrance is conveniently where the AirTrain lets you off, near gate A1. I was coming from the airport’s B concourse, so made my way off the AirTrain and navigated my way up to the concourse area.
Navigating Emirates’ A Concourse at Dubai Airport
From there, there’s very clear signage to Emirates’ first and business class lounges, which required going up a set of escalators. Emirates’ business class lounge is located on the uppermost floor of the airport, with the first class lounge sandwiched between.
Signage to Emirates lounge at Concourse A
Once I reached the uppermost floor, I was able to see an expansive entrance to Emirates’ business class lounge, where I was promptly admitted.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Entrance
Emirates Business Class Lounge Layout
As aforementioned, Emirates’ Concourse A lounge basically functions as a private terminal of sorts, where you’re able to board your flight directly from the lounge. The lounge itself even features a couple of duty-free shopping stalls. This means that even within the lounge, you’ll see gates, signs, and other things that you typically wouldn’t expect to see in an airport lounge.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai
There are even a few helpful maps, which tell you about the scale of the lounge’s size more than anything.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Map
Helpfully, signage throughout the lounge is good, so you’ll be able to navigate throughout the lounge’s amenities as well.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Lounge
Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A Seating and Atmosphere
Emirates’ business class lounge spans of two identical halves, and is shaped as a long, partitioned series of rooms.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Seating
The area closer to the entrance tends to be busier and have more foot traffic, as most people without an assign gate tend to relax here. This area has an “atrium” feel, so you can look down into the levels below; most of the seating here consists of armchairs around round tables, good for small groups or families.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Seating
Then on either end of this central corridor is some more restaurant-style seating, which is conveniently situated near the various food spreads that the lounge offers.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Seating
A bit further out, you’ll find some desks with power ports that are appropriate for working. If you’re looking to do more intense work and use a printer, they do have a dedicated business center as well. I also appreciate that there are universal power ports here, unlike some lounges that only have local power ports (Turkish Airlines’ lounge comes to mind).
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Seating
Then even further into the lounge are a few other types of miscellaneous seating, including more restaurant style/bench seating, as well as relax areas. These tend to be further out in the lounge by some of the gates.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Seating
From these areas, you can even peep into the first class lounge below.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai View of First Class Lounge
There’s even a separate area that was cordoned off when I last visited the lounge five years ago, and it continued to be cordoned off during my visit in August 2024. This time round there were just a bunch of chairs lying around on the apparent lower floor of this lounge.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Cordoned Off Area
WiFi in the lounge was fast, free, and easy to connect to.
I’d say that the areas closer to the buffets and the center of the lounge had more foot traffic, and felt a bit more like a bustling airport lounge, whereas areas closer to some of the individual gates (particularly those without flights leaving out of them at the time I visited) were very quiet. It is worth noting that 8-10 AM isn’t necessarily peak hour for Emirates departures – you’d expect most of the departures to be either earlier in the morning, or later in the evening, so the lounge wasn’t at its fullest when I visited. There are also no departures calls at this lounge (a good thing, as a ton of flights leave Dubai Airport all the time), so you’ll have to stay attentive to the departures boards.
The lounge has lots of seating, but doesn’t feel particularly “cozy” at all – this isn’t the kind of lounge where you’d find a sofa, or extremely comfortable armchairs. Most of the armchairs are decked out in leather, and feel relatively “sterile”.
Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A Food and Beverage
Emirates’ hub lounge at Dubai Airport features exclusively buffet dining, though as you’d expect for a lounge of this size and calibre, the options are extremely extensive. The buffets are separated into “regions” – all regions were providing breakfast at the time of day I visited.
The Middle Eastern section featured various curries and cheeses, vattayappam, eggs with gourd, and more.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Middle Eastern Dining
The Western section featured eggs, sausages, mushrooms, cannelloni beans, and more.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Western Dining
There was also a Chinese section, featuring dim sum, congee, and more. In terms of drinks, red and white wines were available, as well as Moët and Chandon champagne (unlike the lounge at Concourse B, there isn’t a dedicated Moët and Chandon bar area, though).
There was also an ice cream truck, where you could have strawberry, chocolate, or pistachio ice cream.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Ice Cream
While Emirates’ lounge at Concourse B has a partnership with Costa, there’s no such partnership at this lounge, and there’s only coffee available from a machine. That’s not particularly impressive for a hub lounge for one of the world’s most premium airlines.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Coffee
I’d say that for a hub lounge, while the food was tasty, I wouldn’t consider food a strong point of this lounge. Emirates’ neighbour, Qatar Airways, features a-la-carte dining for all business class passengers, and Etihad’s lounge at Abu Dhabi features barista coffee and cocktails. While Emirates’ Concourse B lounge features a Moët and Chandon bar (and the cigar bar functions as a full-service bar, which I’ll detail below), otherwise I’d say that the playing field is roughly level as far as food goes.
Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A Shower Rooms
I’m not sure how many shower rooms Emirates’ business class lounge has, though there was no wait when I requested one at around 8:30 AM in the morning.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Shower Rooms
The shower rooms feature Voya amenities, and are clean and large enough. They are poorly ventilated, have a bit of a scent, and the water pressure isn’t amazing, though.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Shower Rooms
Emirates Business Class Lounge Skywards Help Desks
Part of Emirates’ Concourse A business class lounge is dedicated to passengers with Skywards queries, though the desks were unmanned throughout my stay at the lounge – I’m not sure why? I’d guess that other team members at the lounge would be happy to help with any queries.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Help Desk
Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A Nap Options
While you can (obviously) nap anywhere in the Emirates lounge, there are two dedicated spaces for those looking specifically to rest, both of which offer you blankets during your time there. There are daybeds dotted throughout the lounge that overlook the tarmac. Now, these aren’t particularly good at blocking out natural light, though at least it’s a good option to have.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Daybeds
Further on throughout the lounge, there are cosier partitioned areas, featuring armchairs with ottomans. These areas were less used, so you might find them to be quieter, though I’m not sure how much sleep I’d be able to get on one of these chairs.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Nap Chairs with Ottomans
I’d have appreciated a separate nap room or a darker nap area at this lounge, considering the lounge’s size otherwise.
Emirates Business Class Lounge Cigar Bar
One of the best-known features of Emirates’ business class lounge is their cigar bar, which is located to one of the sides of the lounge. This area is a long and very classily decorated room, featuring more comfortable and high-backed leather armchairs compared to the rest of the lounge.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Cigar Bar
Apart from cigars, this is where you’ll also find the lounge’s most “premium” drinks, including a Grapefruit Jalapeño Sour or a Sips Fizz, and I’m sure you can order cocktails here as well. I didn’t indulge as I was there in the early morning, though it’s easy to miss, given that specialty drinks aren’t available anywhere else throughout the lounge.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Cigar Bar
It’s a bit odd that Emirates’ best drinks are hidden away somewhere where many passengers won’t access, as they don’t smoke. I would’ve much rather this bar been somewhere else throughout the lounge. However, if you don’t mind briefly popping into the cigar bar to get a drink, the placement of this bar is something to be aware of.
Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A Children’s Play Area
The Emirates Concourse A lounge features a couple of children’s play areas, which are located on either side of the busier “center” area of the lounge.
Emirates Concourse A Business Class Lounge Dubai Play Area
Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A Duty Free Stall
As aforementioned, since this lounge basically functions as a premium terminal of sorts, there are a few duty free stalls dotted throughout the lounge. As the UAE has strict rules on alcohol, I imagine that these duty free areas can be quite popular with locals, who are looking to buy a bottle of wine before leaving the country.
Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A Dubai Duty Free Stall
Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A Business Center
There are a couple of business centers dotted around Emirates’ business class lounge, which feature a few PCs/monitors, as well as a couple of printers. These are tucked away on the side of the lounge where there’s not much access to natural light.
Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A Dubai Business Center
Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A Timeless Spa
While I didn’t visit, Emirates’ business class lounge at Concourse A also has a Timeless Spa. While treatments are free for first class passengers, they aren’t free for business class passengers. The cheapest massage therapies range from AED 157.50 (£32/HK$333) for a 25-minute back massage or Indian head massage.
Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A At-Lounge Boarding
One of the cool features of this lounge is that you can board directly onto your flight, assuming that your flight is leaving from an “A” gate.
Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A Dubai At-Gate Boarding
Some gates feature biometric boarding, so you can just scan your boarding pass and have your face scanned, before you are let onboard.
Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A Dubai Biometric Boarding
My gate, A16, didn’t have this capability – in fact, boarding was well underway downstairs before someone showed up to scan our boarding passes, so they were actually during a final call before any premium passengers were let onboard the aircraft. This wasn’t a big deal at all, though as someone who likes taking pictures of the cabin before people arrive, I’d wished I’d headed downstairs to board the plane.
Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A Dubai Boarding
After your boarding pass is scanned you have to take a lift down a couple of levels before boarding the aircraft.
Conclusion: Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A
Emirates’ business class lounge impresses on sheer size, though isn’t the kind of place you’d want to arrive at the airport early for. On one hand, the lounge is showing its age (including the showers especially), and some of the food and beverage options are on the sparse side for such a large hub lounge. I think barista coffee is an easy add-on for a lounge of this size, and the lack of any made-to-order items is a little disappointing.
However, I’m not sure if I can say that the lounge doesn’t serve its purpose? You can literally get from lounging in an armchair to boarding your flight in 10 seconds, and there’s something to be said about that. On top of that, the lounge offers a guaranteed tranquil space with WiFi for working and relaxing, since there’s no way this lounge gets anywhere close to capacity (even at peak times). There’s plenty of seating options, and with Emirates’ expansive route network and the way flights are “banked” to arrive and leave Dubai at certain times, there aren’t many cases where you’ll be at the lounge for more than 3-4 hours (unless your flight is delayed).
This lounge isn’t one of the best business class lounges in the world, and I think the above investments would substantially upgrade the experience. However, I don’t think it’s crying out for a full overhaul, and think it serves its purpose well. In terms of the passenger experience, I prefer the Concourse B lounge, though wouldn’t go out of my way to head to that lounge instead, especially if my flight was departing from Concourse A.
Have you visited Emirates’ business class lounge at Dubai Airport before? Which one is your favourite?
