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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
The decor is easily my favourite out of the Star Alliance lounges at Heathrow Airport, and the lounge has good food and great beverages (including barista coffee and a specialty cocktail). However, the WiFi is slower than what you'll find onboard most airplanes, which I consider as a huge "miss" |
4.0
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During my Star Alliance lounge milk run, I visited all lounges at Heathrow Airport available to Star Alliance business class passengers. This included the Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge at Heathrow Airport.
The Air Canada lounge is a beautiful facility, and I prefer the decor here to any of the other Star Alliance lounges at the airport, particularly if you’re looking to lounge or relax. I also love the range of seating, as well as made-to-order croffles/waffles and barista coffee. The catch is that the lounge had the slowest WiFi I’ve experienced at any lounge in recent years, let alone at a major airport that operates many corporate-heavy transatlantic flights.
The benefit of reciprocal lounge access is that you can hop around between lounges, so it’s possible to lounge around and get coffee (and/or a croffle) here, before heading to the neighbouring Singapore Airlines lounge for some WiFi and a drink at the bar.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Access and Opening Hours
The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge at London Heathrow is open from 6 AM until 5:30 PM, covering all Air Canada departures from Heathrow Airport. This will adjust depending on the last Air Canada flight of the day.
Access is opening to the following guests:
- Star Alliance business class passengers (including Air Canada, but also including United, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa group, LOT, etc.)
- Star Alliance Gold members departing on a Star Alliance flight (incl. Aeroplan 50K, 75K and Super Elite Status members), plus one guest
- Aeroplan premium co-brand cardholders
- Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers flying a Star Alliance airline, plus one guest
In all cases above, additional guests are welcome to enter for £59 (HK$613). Premium economy passengers on Air Canada can purchase lounge access for CA$49 (£26.86/HK$279) 24 hours in advance, whereas there are other options for purchase for higher economy class fare classes.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Location
The Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge at London Heathrow is located in the B-gates area of Heathrow’s Terminal 2. Once you pass through immigration, head downstairs into the main area, and follow the signage to gates B31-B49.
While Heathrow Terminal 2 has very long walking times for a relatively new airport terminal, I find signage throughout the terminal to be quite good.
London Heathrow Terminal 2 Signage
You’ll see signage estimating the walk at 17 minutes, though in reality most people will be able to do the walk in a shorter time than that, especially with the moving travellators throughout Terminal 2. Realistically the actual time to travel between the A-gates and B-gates took just under 10 minutes for me. That time can add up, though, especially if you’re just looking to lounge hop before your flight from the A-gates.
Hallway to B-gates at Heathrow Terminal 2
While the B-gates has a much smaller retail selection, you’ll find a majority of the Star Alliance lounges here. Most longhaul flights (including all widebody flights) leave from the B-gates, and the quality of the lounges in this part of the terminal reflects this.
Signs to lounges at Heathrow Terminal 2
The United Club is located at Lounge B1, whereas the Singapore Airlines and Air Canada lounges are located in a separate complex, adjacent to one another. These are labelled lounges B2 and B3 (the Singapore Airlines lounge is Lounge B2, whereas the Air Canada lounge is Lounge B3).
Signage to Singapore Airlines and Air Canada lounges at Heathrow Airport
Indeed, the two lounge entrances are a few metres away from each other, so just follow the signage towards the Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge (located by the right of the lift lobby, when you’re coming out of the lift).
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Entrance
Once I entered the lounge, I was checked in by a friendly lounge associate. Even from the entrance, the rattan maple wood finishes are unmistakably “Air Canada”-esque, which I liked.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Entrance
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Seating and Atmosphere
Turn left at the entrance and you’ll find the main lounge area. I personally thought the lounge looked gorgeous, and loved the high-ceilings. lamps, and the maple wood and Canadian stone tones. The lounge was refurbished in 2024, and much of the furniture had a fresh feel.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Seating
There was a lower level of seating, featuring some 2×2 communal armchairs facing one another, as well as some seat pairs with a round coffee table setup in between.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Seating
The mezzanine level featured some similar armchairs, though also featured a long sweeping bench with some tables. Power ports were abundant here, and could be found particularly by the consoles between armchairs, as well as under the bench.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Seating
Then to the back of this area was a different seating layout, featuring a communal workstation table, as well as some plush olive green sofas and armchairs. I would’ve loved just sitting on one of the green sofas and looking out onto the tarmac, whereas the workstations gave the best setup for hot-desking. While the options for working weren’t as extensive here as in some of the other lounges at the airport, I really enjoyed the range of seating, from high-top seating, to sofas of multiple sorts, to armchairs, to benches, to loveseats.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Seating
While the above photo was taken shortly after the lounge opened, later in the morning an Air India A350 pulled in right in front of the lounge, which made for an incredible view. The B-gates at Heathrow Terminal 2 make for some incredible plane spotting, and I loved the opportunity to do that from this lounge as well, given the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Tarmac View
If you’d like to relax, there are also three daybeds located approximately around this area, which come with a reading light. There are power ports handy here as well.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Daybeds
Meanwhile, on the other side of this seating area, there were some work cubicles with small tables, as well as another sofa setup.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Seating
The work cubicles felt like mini-business class seats (minus the recline function), and also came with power ports and a reading light.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Seating
I loved how plush these sofas felt, and they were also a great place for a family to settle down. There were other options for group seating in this space as well, which I enjoyed.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Communal Sofas
Additionally, if your phone needed a charge and you didn’t have a charger on hand, portable chargers were available. I would assume these can’t leave the lounge, though I’m not sure.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Charging
Further into the seating area there’s a little interior section, which features some more bench seating, armchairs, as well as a beautiful 787 model (in Air Canada’s new livery no less).
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Seating
Then to the back was some high-top bar seating, which was featured closest to the food spread. This area featured the least amount of lighting (while not being very sleep friendly), so would be my last pick for where to sit.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Seating
Out of the few Star Alliance lounges I visited at Heathrow Airport, I’d consider the Maple Leaf lounge to be my favourite in terms of seating options. I also loved the ambience and decor here.
Here’s a major catch, which I personally consider to be a big deal, especially given how many people use lounges to catch up on emails and get some bits and bobs done before their flight. The WiFi at this lounge was terrible. It’s rare that I use such strong language to describe at a feature or amenity, though I’d have been disappointed with 3.02 Mbps down and 0.96 Mbps up at an airline lounge in a small rural airport, let alone at London Heathrow. (The Swiss flight I subsequently boarded had faster WiFi than this.) Air Canada really needs to get their WiFi fixed at this lounge, as it’s unacceptable for a modern-day airline lounge.
Also, while the lounge was fairly deserted during my stay from around 6 AM to 8 AM, apparently it can get very busy before Air Canada flights. I didn’t experience this personally, though Air Canada has flights to Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and Calgary all departing within a two-hour timespan, so can imagine the lounge can get slammed around noon. If so, I’d head to the Singapore Airlines lounge next door, where there isn’t a flight to Singapore departing around this time.
So I wouldn’t plan to get work done here, though for lounging and watching planes over a cup of coffee, this is a great place to do so.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Food and Beverage
If you were to turn right from the entrance at the lounge, you’d find a room featuring the food spread. This room was also extremely tastefully decorated, with deep red feature walls and Canadian stone panelling.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Food Spread Area
I visited over the morning, and breakfast options included bacon and sausages, porridge, eggs, hash browns, and baked beans.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Food Spread
Cold options featured charcuterie and cheese, a leafy salad, and yoghurt with fruit and berry compote. There was also a bakery section, as well as various cornflakes on offer.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Food Spread
Here’s an area that I missed out on sampling. There was also a made-to-order croffle and waffle stand. Longtime readers will know that I love made-to-order food in business class lounges, and the croffles in particular sounded delicious, with a healthy serving of maple syrup to boot.
Sadly I was too distracted by the beautiful planes outside to remember grabbing a croffle before I headed out. From other reviews, the croffles look gorgeous, and are even maple leaf shaped.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Croffle and Waffle Station
In terms of drinks, there’s a coffee machine as well as some soft drinks.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Drinks
There’s also a tended bar. This bar doesn’t have a signature cocktail menu (there were a couple of beers on tap, though these seemed to be sealed off – I’m not sure if it was just for the morning, or if they’re temporarily inoperable). Head for Points mentions they do a Canadian Caesar’s (Bloody Mary using Clamato rather than tomato juice), though there was nothing advertising this when I visited.
However, they do have barista coffee – there’s espresso, cappuccino, and latte on offer.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Coffee and Wine Bar
I had a latte, which I enjoyed. It wasn’t as good as some of the coffee I subsequently had in Australia of course, though I far preferred it to what you can get from a machine.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Latte
The food spread in the afternoon includes options such as pea and mint soup, beef goulash, penne pasta, and Thai chicken curry. I believe the made-to-order station turns to serving paninis by lunchtime.
While not the most exciting food spread, I do like the personality offered by the made-to-order section, especially with the croffles and waffles with maple syrup in the morning. I’m sad I forgot to give these a try personally, though am sure they’d be worth trying on your next visit.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Showers
The Air Canada lounge features three shower rooms, which were readily available when I visited. To access the shower rooms I went to reception. I only had a mobile boarding pass, so they asked to keep a form of ID, just to make sure I gave the key back.
The shower rooms are located just past the food spread area, beside the lavatories.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Shower Area
The shower room design was gorgeous, although I would’ve personally preferred the option to have slightly more lighting (particularly around the actual shower area). Water pressure was passable from the rainforest shower head, though I thought that the rooms were very well-ventilated. The room featured Molton Brown amenities.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London Heathrow Shower Room
Conclusion: Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge London
The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge at Heathrow is a gorgeous space, featuring the largest variety of seating out of all of the Star Alliance lounges, beautiful views of the tarmac, and good resting options. I also like the made-to-order food selection and barista coffee, despite the bar options not being as extensive as the neighbouring Singapore Airlines lounge. I would not recommend this lounge if you’ve got work to get done, though – the workstations aren’t as good as at the other lounges you’ll likely have access to (particularly the Lufthansa and United lounges), but more importantly, the WiFi is shockingly disappointing for a lounge at Heathrow Airport operated by a major airline.
If they could get their WiFi sorted, I’d say that the Air Canada lounge may actually be my preference at Heathrow Airport. Fortunately most eligible Star Alliance passengers will be able to lounge hop between lounges, so you can easily get some work done at the United or Singapore lounge, before heading here for a coffee or a Canadian Caesar and some relax time.
What’s your favourite Star Alliance lounge at Heathrow Airport?
