In its recent full year financial results, Singapore Airlines has revealed that the time has come for some of its overseas SilverKris lounges to be renovated to the latest standards, presumably to mirror the carrier’s new home base experience now offered in its latest facilities at Changi Airport Terminal 3.
This will come as welcome news to frequent flyers travelling regularly to and from these cities, though SIA is keeping tight-lipped for now about which lounges will go under the knife (though we can probably rule a few out, and predict some likely candidates from the outset!).
Where does Singapore Airlines have SilverKris lounges?
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Singapore Airlines operated 13 of its own SilverKris lounges outside Singapore, but the list was trimmed in September 2020 when the carrier confirmed that three of those facilities would not be reopening their doors – in Adelaide, Delhi and Kuala Lumpur.
That leaves 10 overseas SKLs on the network, seven of which have now reopened while three remain shuttered, as shown below.
| Overseas SilverKris Lounges Reopened post-COVID | |
| SilverKris Lounge | Reopened |
| London | September 2021 (having briefly reopened in late 2020) |
| Sydney | October 2021 |
| Melbourne | October 2021 |
| Brisbane | March 2022 |
| Perth | April 2022 |
| Manila | May 2022 |
| Bangkok | September 2022 |
| Overseas SilverKris Lounges Still Closed | |
| SilverKris Lounge | Closed |
| Hong Kong | Since April 2020 |
| Seoul | Since April 2020 |
| Taipei | Since April 2020 |
Lounge upgrades are coming
As part of its recent financial results announcement, Singapore Airlines has now confirmed that some of its overseas SilverKris lounges are set for a revamp, which is good news because some of them certainly need it!
Plans are underway to upgrade some of our overseas SilverKris Lounges.
Singapore Airlines
16th May 2023
We asked the airline if they could share any more details with us on locations, timescale or the proposed style of the renovations planned, but as you might expect they are remaining tight-lipped over this one.
“We are reviewing the plans for our overseas SilverKris Lounge upgrades and will share them at the appropriate time.”
SIA Spokesperson
Here’s what the airline’s CEO said at a media briefing yesterday, when discussing the overseas SilverKris lounges.
“At this point in time, a process has started to look at renovating some of [our] key lounges around the world, so that our customers can experience upgraded lounges when they travel with us.”
Goh Choon Phong, CEO, Singapore Airlines
17th May 2023
When will it happen?
Given that news of the upgrades was shared in the full-year financial results for 2022/23 this week and reiterated by the CEO, it might look a bit silly if the airline got all the way to next year’s update, or even the next major financial update in November, without any progress being made!
Our prediction, therefore, is that at least one lounge should pick up a revamp over the next 12 months or so.
Which lounges need upgrading?
Back in 2013, Singapore Airlines announced a S$100 million investment across its (then) 13-strong overseas SilverKris lounge network, with a brand new ‘Home Away From Home’ design by Singapore-based ONG&ONG.
Sydney was the first to receive the upgrade in December that year, but the plan was for all other overseas SKLs on the network to be refitted by the end of 2018.
Things didn’t work out as promised.
In the end, only seven of the lounge revamps actually happened, with the most recent upgrade in Seoul wrapped-up in October 2019, after which the project went quiet.
Here’s a summary of SIA’s overseas SilverKris lounges, including which were revamped with the ‘Home Away From Home’ design.
| Older concept |
‘Home away from home’ concept |
|
 |
|
|
Melbourne, Perth and Taipei stand out as the three lounges most in need of a facelift, with no major refresh for well over a decade at these facilities.
Of those, Melbourne and Perth have already reopened and would probably need to either close temporarily for a refit, or magically reopen at a brand new location with a refreshed design.
The Taipei SKL remains closed, despite Singapore Airlines flights and capacity having now returned to pre-pandemic levels. It’s the oldest and smallest SIA lounge on the network and could therefore be a likely candidate as one of the first upgrades.
As for the other temporarily closed lounges – Seoul definitely doesn’t need a refresh (it’s the newest revamp already), it just needs to reopen!
Seoul SilverKris Lounge. (Photos: Singapore Airlines)
The Hong Kong SKL received the ‘Home Away From Home’ design in October 2014, nearly nine years ago. It is also a potential candidate for a refresh given its prolonged closure (eligible SIA passengers are currently directed to the Plaza Premium First Lounge).
What design can we expect?
While Singapore Airlines isn’t likely to give the game away on the design concept for upcoming overseas SilverKris lounge renovations at this stage, it’s probably safe to say one thing.
The ‘Home Away From Home’ concept has run its course.
Even with the latest 2019 revamp in Seoul, as you can see from the photos above, the airline was already making a nod to its latest home base T3 lounge concept, with a more modern design and finish. That lounge certainly looks very little like the nine-year-old Hong Kong refit, for example!
We would therefore expect a design similar to the new T3 lounges, which opened in 2022, at the remodelled overseas SKLs.
That should mean a range of seating including the latest productivity pods and high bar stool options, plus potentially even a tended bar for barista coffee in the mornings and stronger tipples after sundown.
Currently the SKLs in Bangkok, Hong Kong, London and Seoul are the only ones with the latter feature – it would be great to see it added elsewhere.
Brand new showers would of course also be welcome – currently these do not feature at the airline’s Bangkok, Perth and Manila lounges, but among those only Perth really needs a revamp.
What about Changi T2 lounges?
Last year Singapore Airlines reopened its KrisFlyer Gold Lounge and SilverKris Lounges at Changi Airport Terminal 2, however these only received minor enhancements, and are now very much regarded as the ‘poor cousins’ of the completely remodelled T3 facilities.
The KrisFlyer Gold Lounge in T2 still doesn’t have its own toilets or shower facilities, both included at its T3 counterpart.
We have recent reviews of the refreshed T2 KrisFlyer Gold and SilverKris Business Class lounges, but you probably get the point – not much is new!
New (or at least renovated) SilverKris and KrisFlyer Gold lounges were supposedly part of the T2 renovation plan pre-COVID, according to our sources.
Terminal 2’s renovation is now due for completion this year, with full reopening mooted for October 2023.
Let’s hope SIA has something up its sleeve to replace or update these facilities – since they won’t last another 10 years until T5 opens in their current form, in our opinion at least.
Remember there is always the option to hop on the SkyTrain and take a 10-minute journey across to the newer SIA lounge facilities in T3, if you wish to avoid these T2 options.
If you’re a Singapore-originating passenger, you can also check-in for any SIA flight at either T2 or T3, regardless of your departure terminal, which should make the initial trip to the superior T3 lounge far easier even when heading to a T2 destination.
Summary
Singapore Airlines is making plans to refurbish some of its overseas SilverKris lounges, which is long overdue in many cases.
While the timeline and further details have not been shared, we’d expect to see something confirmed this year, given that the project has now been publicly announced.
The top candidates are surely Melbourne, Perth and Taipei, which never received the ‘Home Away From Home’ makeover, as promised in 2013.
A prolonged closure of the Hong Kong SKL also leads to the possibility that it may currently be under the knife, undergoing an upgrade.
The style of the new lounges is likely to closely replicate the latest Singapore Airlines lounge concept at Changi Airport Terminal 3 – given that the ‘Home Away From Home’ design is now a decade old.
Meanwhile we’re also keeping our fingers crossed for new SIA Changi Terminal 2 lounges, as that facility races towards full reopening later this year.
Stay tuned for more details on the overseas SKL lounge revamp as they become confirmed.
(Cover Photo: Singapore Airlines)
If we based on the deck shown in the recent media financial result briefing, there will be “Refurbished SilverKris Lounge in Changi Terminal 2 reopened in Oct 2023”. Finger cross
https://www.singaporeair.com/saar5/pdf/Investor-Relations/Financial-Results/presentation/slide-q4fy2223.pdf
Slide 35
I believe that’s a typo sadly – referring to the reopened and (slightly) refurbished lounges in October 2022. Nothing was mentioned at the media briefing when the CEO presented this slide about anything exciting for T2.
The lounge they are using in Hk is abysmal
A notice outside the HK SKL shows that it is under renovation from 9May-15Aug2023
Excellent, that sounds like our first revamp then!
Melbourne lounge hasn’t aged well and is dark and dreary with a poor food selection. Only thing going for it these days is how quiet it is, because everyone uses the Air NZ lounge instead!
Agree that the Melbourne lounge with ‘basement cupboard’ vibes is one to avoid. Not impressive at all.
The lounge is London needed renovation prior to Covid. Things have only got worse and the showers is used there two months ago were dirty. With two night flights departing very close to each others, it is over crowded now and last time the food was just buffet, no Singapore specials