Roundup
Emirates' $13.6 million-a-lounge redesign: Frankfurt, Munich and Manchester done, Istanbul due this month
Emirates is spending more than AED 50 million per lounge on a new signature design. Three are open, Mauritius and Istanbul are next, and the access rules have not changed.
By Lounge Frog Editorial ·
Page updated October 2026.
At a glance
- lounges
- 6
- airports
- 6
Emirates Lounge
MUC · Terminal 1 · Munich
4.9/5 overallFirst to get the new design, and already a 4.9 on our scale. Live cooking, private meeting rooms, Terminal 1 Pier 1.
Rated 4.9/5 across 14 measures. 2 showers. First and business class passengers, Emirates Skywards Gold/Platinum and Qantas Gold/Platinum members; Skywards…
Get in with: Emirates Lounge
Emirates Lounge
FRA · Terminal 3 · Frankfurt
4.4/5 overallOpened in Frankfurt's new Terminal 3 with the new concept from day one. Only one shower, which is a weak point for a flagship.
Opened 2026. Rated 4.4/5 across 14 measures. 1 shower. Emirates passengers only: free for first and business class, Skywards Gold/Platinum and Qantas Gold/Platinum members…
Get in with: Emirates Lounge
Emirates Lounge
MAN · Terminal 2 · Manchester
4.1/5 overallThe UK's first, opened September 2026 at Terminal 2. Direct boarding to the aircraft and a Made in Manchester menu.
Opened 2026. Rated 4.1/5 across 15 measures. 1 shower. First and Business Class passengers on Emirates flights, and Emirates Skywards Platinum and Gold members in any cabin…
Get in with: Emirates Lounge
Emirates Lounge
LHR · Terminal 3 · London
4.9/5 overallHeathrow T3, old design but still a 4.9. The benchmark the new rooms have to beat.
Rated 4.9/5 across 14 measures. 4 showers. Emirates first/business passengers. Skywards Gold: 1 guest; Skywards Platinum: 1 guest plus up to 2 children.
Get in with: Emirates Lounge
Emirates Lounge
FCO · Terminal 3 · Rome
4.9/5 overallRome, top of our Emirates ranking at 4.9 and proof that an outstation lounge can outdo Dubai.
Opens around Emirates' two daily Dubai departures. Hours shown are the summer schedule; in winter the lounge opens 11:00-14:35 and 17:00-20:30 (Aeroporti di Roma). Has its own internal boarding gate.
Get in with: Emirates Lounge
IGA Lounge
IST · International Terminal · Istanbul
4.6/5 overallThe Priority Pass fallback at Istanbul until the Emirates room reopens with the new design.
Opened 2019. Rated 4.6/5 across 14 measures. 6 showers. Priority Pass, DragonPass and LoungeKey members: guests per the card's allowance. iGA Pass cardholders and…
Get in with: DragonPass, LoungeKey, Priority Pass
News and analysis · Sources checked October 6, 2026.
Emirates announced its next-generation lounge concept on June 30, 2026, and said it would invest more than AED 50 million, roughly US$13.6 million, in each location that gets it. The press release named Munich and Frankfurt as already open, with Manchester to follow in July, Mauritius in August and Istanbul in October.
Three months on, here is where things stand. Munich and Frankfurt Terminal 3 are open and operating. Manchester slipped from July to September but opened at Terminal 2 with a £10 million price tag and direct boarding from the lounge to the aircraft, which Emirates says no other airline at Manchester offers, per the airline's own release. Istanbul is scheduled for this month, according to FTN News; we have not seen confirmation that it has opened yet. We also could not find an announcement for Mauritius, which was due in August.
What the money buys
Emirates lists more than 50 enhancements per lounge. The ones that matter in practice, as reported by Traveling For Miles and the airline:
- Live cooking stations and a bread oven for pizzas, flatbreads and manakeesh, plus a Made In menu section of local dishes. Manchester's version has Fleetwood prawns and Wigan pies.
- A barista bar and a mixologist making locally themed cocktails.
- Italian eco-leather seating with wireless charging built in, and universal power at every seat.
- Separate zones for work, dining, relaxing and socialising, with a Quiet Zone that has soft lighting and sleep amenities.
- Upgraded shower suites with spa-style fittings, prayer rooms with Qibla direction marked, and breastfeeding rooms.
- Herringbone floors, marble and gold accents, a backlit ghaf tree motif and Rolex clocks showing world time.
The quiet policy is also worth knowing about: Emirates now asks guests to keep devices silent across its lounges.
Who gets in
Nothing has changed. First and Business Class passengers on Emirates flights get in free, as do Skywards Platinum and Gold members in any cabin. Everyone else can pay on the door subject to space; InsideFlyer reported paid entry starting around US$125. Manchester opens four hours before departure. There is no Priority Pass or credit card route into any Emirates lounge.
How the new rooms compare
Our ratings give Munich a 4.9, level with Emirates' best lounges in Rome and Heathrow, neither of which has the new design yet. Frankfurt scores 4.4, held back by a single shower suite, which is a strange economy in a US$13.6 million room. Manchester is at 4.1 on early ratings; the direct boarding is a genuine advantage and the food concept is good, but one published shower count again looks thin for a lounge serving three daily A380 departures.
At Istanbul, Emirates' existing room was a 995 square metre, 180-seat space operated by the airport company İGA under a ten-year deal, per Aerohaber. Until the redesigned version opens, the IGA Lounge is the strongest fallback for anyone with Priority Pass.
Our take
The design is handsome and the food concept is real, not marketing. But the more interesting number is the one Emirates is not publishing: how many of its 42 lounges will actually get this. Five in a year is fast for any airline, and Emirates deserves credit for starting at outstations rather than only polishing Dubai. The test is whether the next five are the busy ones, such as Heathrow, New York and Bangkok, where crowding is the complaint, or the easy ones. Spending US$13.6 million on a lounge and fitting one shower suggests the budget is going to finishes first.
Related lounge guides
Quick answers
Which lounge networks get you into these lounges?
Emirates Lounge opens 5 of the 6; DragonPass opens 1 of the 6; LoungeKey opens 1 of the 6. Each lounge's page lists every program and card that admits you.
Written and checked to our editorial standards. Scores follow our methodology. Join the discussion below.
