Entrance to the new Qantas First Lounge – Photo: Blaine Nickeson | AirlineReporter
Recently, Qantas opened a new lounge in the Tom Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The Qantas First Lounge serves first class passengers from Qantas, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Japan Airlines, along with oneworld Emerald and Qantas’ own top-tier elites. As such, it is a good-sized lounge.
Beautiful bar in the Qantas First Lounge – Photo: Blaine Nickeson | AirlineReporter
I had a long layover in Los Angeles as part of my trip to Santiago with LAN Airlines to check out business class on their 787-8 Dreamliner, so we were able to arrange with Qantas to visit their new lounge and experience what it had to offer. It didn’t disappoint.
LAN 787-8 Dreamliner at takeoff – Photo: Bernie Leighton | AirlineReporter
Recently, LAN Airlines invited me down to their headquarters in Santiago de Chile, Chile, to check out their new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. While LAN was the first carrier in the Americas to operate the 787-8, the new stretched 787-9 offers an all-new Premium Business hard product. Unfortunately, at the last minute, the special event was called off due to “operational issues.”
Dreamliner signature entryway on LAN’s 787-8 – Photo: Blaine Nickeson | AirlineReporter
Since flights to Santiago had already been arranged I decided to still make the trip, which would give me a chance to experience LAN’s 787-8 Premium Business class, check out Santiago briefly, and also take a look at the airport experience on both ends. All-in, I’d only be gone from home in Denver for 55 hours – not too shabby for 13,000 miles of travel.
The main concourse is lined with stores. None of which were open during my visit.
This story was written by Kevin Epstein (AviationPhotographic.com \ @AvPhotographic) for AirlineReporter.com:
The new Tom Bradley Terminal may not yet be open to travelers, but it was a hive of activity this past Saturday, June 22nd. Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) hosted an event called LAX Appreciation Day, where members of the public were invited to come and take a look at the new terminal and I went to go check it out.
The event was a major success with tickets to all 6 time slots being snapped up shortly after being made available. LAWA included free parking for all attendees, and shuttled us from parking to the terminal.
The new terminal, which costs around $1.9 billion, is part of a larger multi-year $4 billion project to revitalize not just the Bradley terminal, but other terminals around the airport too. The Bradley Terminal has been the main focus as it is the first and last thing arriving and departing international travelers will see. First impressions matter!
