Virgin Australia To Refresh Brisbane Lounge By 2027

Virgin Australia will spend millions refurbishing its Brisbane domestic lounge. The upgrade adds around 100 seats, puts charging at every seat, and replaces the bathrooms and showers. Virgin hopes to unveil its refreshed Brisbane lounge by mid-2027, more than a decade after the lounge last had a meaningful upgrade.

It's welcome news for travellers departing Virgin's home base. The Brisbane lounge opened in 2011 and was last overhauled in 2015, when it doubled in size and gained kerbside Premium Entry, so a refresh is well overdue.

Virgin Australia Brisbane Lounge: What's Changing

Virgin Australia's existing Brisbane Lounge is set to receive new furniture, fresh decor and greenery, plus rebuilt bathrooms and showers. But the bigger change is the expansion. Virgin will add 100 additional seats, and claims that there will be power at every seat in the new space.

There's also more space to get work done, if you're so inclined, with a four-person enclosed meeting room, plus a set of individual pods.

A new self-serve drinks area will offer tea, coffee and soft drinks without the barista queue.

Floor-to-ceiling windows will let in far more natural light, though don't expect a better view. The lounge still looks out over the Airtrain line and car park rather than the apron.

Virgin says the finished Brisbane lounge will look and work more like its Melbourne lounge and Adelaide flagship.

Virgin To Axe Brisbane Premium Entry

There's a catch to all this development. Once the refurbishment is done, Virgin won't reopen its Premium Entry at Brisbane.

This was the express path from the kerb into the lounge, which was highly valued by frequent flyers, and introduced more than a decade ago. Virgin says faster airport screening and dedicated priority security lanes mean it's no longer needed. Priority screening for eligible customers at Brisbane domestic stays open all day, every day.

Shark Hairdryers, But Where's The Ham?

Virgin has also signed up Shark Beauty to put its hairdryers and straighteners in every lounge bathroom across the country. Lovely. But we'd wager few frequent flyers have walked out of a Virgin lounge wishing they had access to premium hair tools.

The food is a different story. Virgin's lounge catering is often ranked among the worst in the country, and on some days the DIY toastie station doesn't even have ham. Perfectly styled hair is little comfort when lunch is a cheese toastie.

Here's hoping that Virgin Australia will deploy some of its lounge upgrade budget to the buffet.

Summing Up

Virgin Australia's Brisbane Lounge has needed a refresh for years, and 100 extra seats should ease the crush at the airline's home base. It's fantastic to see Virgin investing here, and the renders look great.

Virgin has also said more domestic lounge refurbishments will follow "over the coming years", without naming any lounges or dates. Given Virgin made a similar promise about Brisbane back in 2021, and it’s taken five years to deliver, we wouldn’t hold our breath.