SIA reopens Perth SilverKris lounge, extends hours in Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane

Singapore Airlines has recently reopened its fifth overseas SilverKris lounge, in Perth, to accommodate increasing premium passenger volumes through the airport on its three flights departing for Changi Airport each day.

This marks a halfway milestone for the carrier, with five out of its ten overseas SKLs now back in operation, ahead of its new remodelled lounge complex at Changi including dedicated First Class facilities, which we understand will be revealed next month.

Lounge operating hours in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane have also been extended.

Perth SKL has reopened

The SilverKris lounge in Perth reopened its doors on 30th March 2022, with a trio of opening windows designed to time with the airline’s flight departures to Singapore each day.

• 4am – 5.55am (for SQ224)
• 1.40pm – 4.40pm (for SQ214)
• 9.40pm – 12.40am (for SQ216)

According to reader reports, prior to the reopening SIA was providing Business Class passengers with an AU$25 voucher for redemption in the terminal at Perth, while its lounge remained shuttered.

The lounge retains its original location in the international departures area opposite Gate 54. It has not been renovated since COVID-19 and therefore still features the original design, rather than SIA’s ‘home away from home’ concept now seen at some other SKLs.

The Perth SKL continues to have no shower facilities, so plan to freshen up at home or in your hotel before heading to the airport. The first opportunity for SIA transit passengers originating in Perth to take a shower will be at the temporary SilverKris lounge in Changi Airport T3.

All SKLs in Australia are open

This news means that Singapore Airlines has reopened all of its SilverKris lounges in Australia, and recently there have also been operating hours extensions for the other facilities, compared to when they first rejoined the network and were only operating to accommodate passengers departing on specific SIA flights.

Singapore Airlines Australia SilverKris Lounge Opening Hours
Lounge	Initial Reopening Hours	Current Opening Hours
Sydney	6am – 9am 12pm – 9pm	5am – 6pm
Melbourne	1.40pm – 4.40pm 9.35pm – 12.35am	6.35am – 9.35am 12.40pm – 3.40pm 8.35pm – 11.35pm
Brisbane	11.30am – 2.30pm	6.20am – 9.05am 11.30am – 2.30pm
Perth	n/a	4am – 5.55am 1.40pm – 4.40pm 9.40pm – 12.40am

As you can see most lounges have had their hours extended as flights and passenger volumes have ramped up in recent weeks.

These opening windows now cover all Singapore Airlines flight departures from these four airports, with the exception of SQ246 from Brisbane to Singapore (daily), whose passengers unfortunately don’t benefit from any lounge access prior to the 11.50pm departure.

These lounges also welcome eligible passengers departing on Star Alliance flights, and while there were almost no options here when they first reopened, the extension of operation in Sydney and Melbourne, coupled with additional flights thanks to Australia’s border reopening, now means those travelling on the following flights can potentially benefit.

Ex-Sydney

• Air Canada to Vancouver (9.30am)
• United to Los Angeles (9.30am)
• Air India to Delhi (9.45am)
• Thai Airways to Bangkok (10.00am)
• United to San Francisco (10.20am)
• ANZ to Auckland (10.55am)

Ex-Melbourne

• Air India to Delhi (8.45am)
• Thai Airways to Bangkok (10.00am)

The list is not exhaustive and do note that not all these services operate every day of the week, but it’s nice to see some SilverKris lounge options for non-SIA customers.

Access

The following passengers are able to access SIA’s SilverKris lounges, when departing on a Singapore Airlines or Star Alliance member operated flight:

• in Suites Class or First Class (+1 guest)
• in Business Class (passenger only)
• in Premium Economy or Economy class and holding KrisFlyer Elite Gold, PPS or PPS Solitaire status (+1 guest)
• in Premium Economy or Economy class and holding Star Alliance Gold status (+1 guest)
• in any class holding paid membership to United Club or Air Canada Maple Leaf Club Worldwide (+1 guest)

Additionally, only when flying on a Singapore Airlines flight:

• Virgin Australia Velocity Platinum and Gold status members, in any cabin class (+1 guest)
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Gold status members, in any cabin class (passenger only)

In all cases your guest (where permitted) must be travelling on the same Singapore Airlines or Star Alliance member operated flight as you.

Access (First Class sections)

Both the Sydney and Melbourne SilverKris lounges have a dedicated section for First Class passengers, connected to the main lounge (and both cities also currently have SIA flights with First Class and/or Suites cabins installed).

The following passengers are entitled to access the First Class section of the Sydney and Melbourne SilverKris lounges:

• Singapore Airlines and Star Alliance First Class (or Suites) travellers
• Solitaire PPS Club members travelling on Singapore Airlines

What about Adelaide?

Prior to COVID-19 Singapore Airlines also had its own SilverKris lounge at Adelaide Airport.

This facility was temporarily closed in March 2020 along with all other outstation SKLs on the network due to COVID-19, but it was later announced that the lounge had been permanently axed, along with those in Delhi and Kuala Lumpur.

SIA’s lounge-eligible customers departing on the airline’s flights from Adelaide needn’t worry too much though. They are now invited to use the brand new Virgin Australia Lounge prior to departure.

It’s in the domestic area, but located adjacent to the international departures channel so there’s only a short walk through immigration to complete on your way to the aircraft.

Check out this review of the lounge to find out what you can expect there. There are shower facilities in the lounge, however these remain closed at the time of writing.

In future, SIA is likely to direct passengers to Adelaide’s new shared VIP lounge within the international departure area, which remains under construction.

What about Cairns and Darwin?

Unless your memory stretches back to the 1990s, Cairns and Darwin are new destinations for Singapore Airlines, following the merger of SilkAir into the mainline carrier.

Unfortunately SIA passengers at both of these airports currently have no third-party lounge provision.

Hopefully this will change as lounges become available or their operating hours are extended, but either way there is no dedicated SKL at these locations.

Which overseas SKLs are still closed?

This reopening means only five SilverKris lounges outside Singapore are still waiting to reopen, in:

• Bangkok
• Hong Kong
• Manila
• Seoul
• Taipei

We asked Singapore Airlines whether there was any specific timeline for these reopenings, especially in view of border relaxations in Thailand, the Philippines and South Korea, however no dates were provided with the spokesperson confirming to us that these decisions would be taken “progressively”.

“Singapore Airlines (SIA) is closely monitoring the demand for lounge services overseas, and will reopen our lounges progressively as travel demand picks up.

“More details will be announced in due course.”

SIA Spokesperson

This should see the return of SilverKris lounges in Bangkok, Manila and Seoul, all of which have a good volume of Singapore Airlines flights once again thanks to border relaxations.

Nonetheless, eligible passengers in these locations currently have the option of other Star Alliance lounges (in Bangkok and Seoul) or a third-party facility (PAGSS Premium in Manila).

We predict that Hong Kong and Taipei SilverKris lounges will be the last pair to reopen (in no particular order!), since those locations continue to have the tightest COVID-19 restrictions and therefore far fewer passengers, at the time of writing.

In Hong Kong, eligible SIA passengers are currently invited to Plaza Premium Lounge, located on Level 6 near Gate 1.

Singapore lounges

Singapore Airlines is continuing to operate its future SilverKris Business Class lounge at Changi as the temporary facility for all lounge-eligible passengers, while its revamp project at home base continues.

We now understand that in May this year the SKL First Class lounge and The Private Room will open their doors, completing the S$50 million project.

We also recently reviewed the previous temporary lounge facility, which will become the permanent KrisFlyer Gold lounge in the near future, once SIA’s T3 lounge revamp project is finished.

Good news recently for transit passengers at Changi is the removal of the Transit Holding Areas, with all travellers eligible to use the lounges if they are flying in Business or First Class, wherever they started their journey.

Singapore Airlines is currently flying over 100 passenger flights per week to and from Australia, and eligible passengers will now benefit from pre-flight lounge access in both directions on their journey in almost all cases with this latest SKL reopening in Perth.

Extended opening hours and more Star Alliance flights from Australia also present increased SilverKris lounge access opportunities for non-SIA passengers, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne.

We expect SKLs in Bangkok, Manila and Seoul to come on board in the weeks ahead, which will be great news for those travelling on quarantine-free regional trips from Singapore.

Unfortunately it’s still too early to predict when Hong Kong and Taipei, the likely final pair of SKLs to pull up their shutters, will be part of the network again.

(Cover Photo: Inexology)