oneworld alliance celebrates 25 years with two new lounge openings
The oneworld alliance continues to focus on the premium travel experience with two exciting new premium lounges opened this year.
By Staff Writers, October 25 2024
While 2024 sees oneworld® celebrating its 25th anniversary, the alliance is focusing on building for the future – with its first-ever fully branded lounges now open, and more to follow.
Located in the major international hubs of Seoul’s Incheon International Airport and Amsterdam’s Airport Schiphol, the new oneworld lounges support the alliance’s global presence and coverage with over 900 destinations worldwide, in more than 170 countries and territories.
The new contemporary airport lounge experience provides oneworld customers with a vibrant and calming space to recharge, relax, and dine before their flights, featuring oneworld’s unique Travel Bright branding.
The lounges are open daily for eligible oneworld Emerald and Sapphire customers as well as First and Business Class customers travelling with oneworld member airlines.
oneworld is opening its own lounges to provide a premium and luxury experience for travellers flying with oneworld member airlines.
Seoul was the first and Amsterdam the second in a strategic network of lounges the alliance intends to establish. The new lounges are the next step in the alliance’s vision to make travel bright and create smart and memorable travel experiences.
Both lounges have been carefully designed by Dutch design house D/DOCK to reflect both the alliance, the Travel Bright brand and the cities in which they are based.
Setting new benchmarks in Seoul
The first oneworld-branded lounge debuted at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport in January 2024, reflecting a commitment to providing a premium experience tailored for the modern traveller.
The oneworld lounge at Seoul Incheon.
Occupying 555m2, the oneworld Seoul lounge can accommodate nearly 150 guests in a thoughtfully designed space that balances style, comfort, and functionality.
Incheon International Airport is served by seven oneworld member airlines – American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways and SriLankan Airlines – with the lounge itself located an easy 10-minute stroll from the farthest oneworld departure gates.
The oneworld lounge at Seoul Incheon.
Central to the design of each oneworld lounge is that it draws subtle local inspiration. At the oneworld Seoul lounge, this comes through in nods to South Korea’s vibrant Lantern Festival and the traditional ‘Gat’ hat.
The oneworld lounge at Seoul Incheon.
Its array of seating options, from private nooks to social areas, ensure that every guest can find a space to suit their needs, whether they wish to work, relax, or dine.
The oneworld lounge at Seoul Incheon.
A ‘mood light’ installation – which is a signature element for all oneworld lounges – adds to the ambiance, with colors changing throughout the day to reflect the time and mood of the environment.
A contemporary haven in Amsterdam
Building on the immediate success of the Seoul lounge and overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers, oneworld opened its first branded lounge in Europe in February 2024 at Amsterdam’s Airport Schiphol.
The oneworld lounge at Amsterdam Schipol.
Located in Schiphol’s non-Schengen departure area, guests are drawn into a sleek, modern environment where clever design touches reflect iconic elements of the Dutch capital.
The oneworld lounge at Amsterdam Schipol.
Tailor-made lighting installations evoke the city’s arched canal bridges, while playful bird silhouettes perched above the bar hint at Amsterdam’s natural beauty.
The oneworld lounge at Amsterdam Schipol.
As with its Seoul counterpart, the Amsterdam oneworld lounge boasts signature elements of intelligent mood lighting geared to the time of day (or night) and large windows to flood the space with natural light and afford sweeping views beyond.
The open-plan lounge is also thoughtfully shaped around zones with the traveller’s diverse needs in mind.
The oneworld lounge at Amsterdam Schipol.
While this and the Incheon lounge have their own distinct identity, both share the same unique oneworld look and feel, creating a sense of familiarity across our lounges.
A vision for the future
As oneworld celebrates its silver anniversary, these new lounges reflect the alliance’s vision for the future of travel.
Both the Seoul and Amsterdam lounges showcase a new era of lounge experiences, where design, technology, and local cultural elements converge to create spaces that are as seamlessly functional as they are beautiful.
oneworld is proud to have collaborated with global aviation ground services provider Swissport and the team behind its award-winning ASPIRE Airport Lounges.
And the oneworld lounge network is just beginning to take shape.
The alliance plans to expand its branded lounge concept to additional airports across its global network, ensuring that loyal customers can enjoy a consistent level of comfort, style, and service wherever they travel.
With nearly 700 airport lounges already accessible through oneworld Priority Tier Benefits, these new dedicated lounges mark an exciting fresh chapter in the alliance’s storied history.
In a year of milestones, the oneworld alliance has once again raised the bar for premium travel, and its customers can expect even more exciting developments on the horizon.
This article was produced in collaboration with oneworld.