Oneworld, one of the three major global airline alliances, has recently unveiled its second Oneworld-branded lounge. This week, Oneworld opened a lounge in one of Europe’s main gateways, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS).

The Oneworld Lounge Amsterdam is its first in Europe, and it follows the recent unveiling of the first-ever Oneworld Lounge at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport (ICN) in January 2024.

Oneworld Unveils New Lounge in Amsterdam

Oneworld has unveiled its latest branded airport lounge in Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS).

It’s located in the non-Schengen section of the airport, meaning that eligible passengers flying to destinations outside of the Schengen Area would have access to the lounge.

The expansive lounge boasts of 473 square metres of space that features contemporary décor and plenty of seating options.

The lounge’s design takes inspiration from its host city, Amsterdam, subtly giving a nod to the city’s iconic arched bridges.

The Oneworld Lounge Amsterdam is operated in partnership with Aspire, the lounge subsidiary of airport ground handling company, Swissport. Aspire also operates the Air Canada Café at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ).

As part of Oneworld’s universal lounge access policies, the following passengers have access to the lounge:

• Oneworld Emerald and Sapphire members, plus one guest, departing on a same-day flight marketed and operated by a Oneworld carrier, regardless of cabin class
• First Class passengers, plus one guest, departing on a same-day flight marketed and operated by a Oneworld carrier
• Business class passengers departing on a same-day flight marketed and operated by a Oneworld carrier
• Connecting passengers (First Class or business class) between long-haul flights (greater than five hours), or between a long-haul flight and a short-haul flight; flights must connect on the same day or before 6am the following day, and must be marketed and operated by Oneworld carriers exclusively

Oneworld Expands Global Lounge Footprint

The Oneworld Lounge Amsterdam is the alliance’s first branded lounge in Europe, and its second lounge opening worldwide.

Schiphol is one of Europe’s busiest airports, which hosted around 61 million passengers in 2023. However, much of the traffic can be attributed to its main tenant, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, the flag carrier of the Netherlands.

KLM is a member of Oneworld rival, SkyTeam, and its flagship lounges are catered towards passengers of KLM, Air France, and the rest of the alliance.

This leaves Oneworld premium passengers relegated to the airport’s contract lounges, which are shared with other airlines, local credit card holders, and members of lounge memberships, such as Priority Pass and Dragonpass.

As it stands, eight Oneworld members fly to Amsterdam: American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, and Royal Jordanian.

Therefore, Oneworld found a need to better serve its customers through a joint lounge, which is intended to serve premium passengers of its member airlines, as well as their respective elite status members.

The Oneworld Lounge Amsterdam comes after the inauguration of the first-ever Oneworld Lounge in Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, which is the home of SkyTeam member Korean Air, and Star Alliance member Asiana Airlines.

It appears that Oneworld’s strategy is to open lounges where there’s significant alliance traffic, but not at hubs of any of its members.

The same strategy is employed by Star Alliance, which also has branded lounges in Amsterdam, Paris, and Los Angeles, amongst other cities, and SkyTeam, which has a branded lounge at Air Canada hub Vancouver (YVR).

As of now, there aren’t any indications on where the next Oneworld Lounges will be located; however, Oneworld has indicated that it plans to open up to 10 lounges globally.

Conclusion

Oneworld has unveiled its first branded lounge in Europe, as it opened the Oneworld Lounge at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS).

The lounge serves premium-cabin passengers of its alliance members, as well as their respective elite status members.

The Oneworld Lounge Amsterdam is the second alliance-branded lounge globally, following the recent opening of a lounge at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport (ICN).

It appears that Oneworld is opening lounges at airports with significant alliance traffic, which aren’t hubs of any of its member airlines. We should expect to see more Oneworld Lounges opening in the coming years.