Last year Singapore Airlines completed its home base lounge renovation project at Changi Airport Terminal 3, with brand new designs at The Private Room, SilverKris lounges and the KrisFlyer Gold lounge, a S$50 million project to see these facilities through to the opening of Terminal 5 in the mid-2030s.
Until recently it wasn’t clear whether any of the carrier’s overseas SilverKris lounges would get similar treatment, but in May the airline confirmed that a revamp was on the cards for some of these facilities.
Following news that Hong Kong looks set to be the first location to benefit a couple of months from now, SIA has formally announced that an overseas lounge in Australia which hadn’t yet picked up a recent refurb is about to get a refreshed design, with a brand new setting to boot.
An all-new Perth SilverKris Lounge is coming
Singapore Airlines has now revealed that its Perth SilverKris lounge is shifting to a brand new location, and is currently under refurbishment to the latest standards seen at the new home base facilities in T3.
This will be one of the airline’s first overseas lounges to boast the carrier’s new design seen at its home base facilities, though we expect the Hong Kong SilverKris lounge to reveal its own facelift first, as early as August 2023.
Perth’s new SKL opening is slated “by the end of 2023”.
The new Perth lounge will take over the space formerly occupied by the Qantas Business Class lounge in Terminal 1, opposite Gate 52.
Qantas no longer uses T1, having moved all its international flights from Perth to its own T3/T4 facility, alongside domestic services.
For Perth regulars, that’ll mean a left turn after ascending the escalator or lifts post-security, as you emerge into the gate area on Level 1 through the Duty Free store, instead of the right turn towards the current lounge.
“Building a brand-new lounge in Perth will deliver an enhanced travel experience and reinforces our commitment to the Perth market.
“The decision to acquire a new space to build the lounge allows us to minimise the disruption to our customers during the development phase and once work is complete, allows for a seamless transition…
“…we look forward to welcoming customers to the new lounge before the end of the year.”
Louis Arul, Regional Vice President South West Pacific, Singapore Airlines
The new lounge will boast twice as much space as the current SilverKris facility, which first opened in December 2006 and has had only minimal improvements made, having been quietly skipped for the ‘Home away from home’ project by ONG&ONG (originally due for a facelift by 2018!).
New Perth SKL features
The new Perth SilverKris lounge will boast:
- Seating for up to 140 guests, twice as many as the current lounge
- A larger buffet area, inclusive of a live cooking station
- A full tended bar
- Shower facilities
- Specially designed productivity pods
Despite still clinging on to the decade-old ‘Home away from home’ concept – which only ever made it to seven out of 15 planned lounges – the design and finish of this new lounge in Perth will be “taking elements from the recently completed Flagship SilverKris Lounge in Singapore [T3]”, according to the airline.
From the artists impressions shared we can already see that these new features include the decorative orchid wall pattern, as seen in some of the renovated Changi T3 lounges.
The airline’s latest productivity pods are also a great addition, and look to be taking on a teal-green hue at this overseas station, based on the renderings shared so far.
The buffet section appears to include a communal dining table for up to eight guests, though this could perhaps double up as an additional serving area.
Reading lamps between the seats take on the newest format seen at the Seoul SilverKris Lounge, completed in October 2019, while the side tables appear to incorporate carry-on luggage storage beneath them, as they do in the new T3 SilverKris Business Class lounge.
We’d also expect to see the latest power sockets , including wireless charging pads, as provided in the recent SKLs.
It’s also great to see showers included in the new lounge, currently a missing feature in the Perth SKL.
These will be particularly welcome prior to SIA’s overnight flight SQ216, which goes wheels-up from the Western Australia capital at 1.10am, potentially 12 hours or more since travellers have been ‘kicked out’ of their hotels.
In the Qantas fit, this lounge boasted three unisex showers, and we expect that total to probably remain the case when Singapore Airlines takes over this space from the Oneworld carrier.
Hopefully the latest shower suites similar to those seen at the Changi T3 SKL will be a feature here in Perth.
Opening hours
The Perth SilverKris lounge currently offers three daily opening windows, to coincide with SIA’s three daily departures from the airport.
- 3.40am to 6.05am
for SQ224 - 2.10pm to 4.50pm
for SQ214 - 10.10pm to 0.50am
for SQ216
We expect the new lounge opening will replicate these current timings.
Between late November 2023 and mid-January 2024, the airline will reintroduce a fourth daily service between Perth and Singapore for the peak summer holiday period, with SQ216 departing from Perth on selected days of the week at 2.10pm.
That should see the lunchtime opening window extended to an approximate 11.10am to 4.50pm timing on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays during that period.
Lounge access
The following passengers are able to access SIA’s SilverKris Business lounge in Perth, when departing on a Singapore Airlines or Star Alliance member operated flight:
- in Business Class (passenger only)
- in any cabin class when holding KrisFlyer Elite Gold, PPS or Solitaire PPS status (+1 guest)
- in any cabin class when holding Star Alliance Gold status (+1 guest)
In all cases your guest (where permitted) must be departing on the same flight as you, as part of a policy that was tightened last year.
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)
Additionally, only when flying on a Scoot flight:
- in any cabin class when holding Solitaire PPS status (+1 guest)
Again your guest (where permitted) must be travelling on the same Singapore Airlines, Star Alliance member or Scoot operated flight as you.
Other SKL candidates for a revamp
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, including the one in Perth, 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 – Perth had been missed out.
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 |
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Now that refits in Hong Kong and Perth are confirmed, Melbourne and Taipei stand out as the two lounges most in need of a facelift, with no major refresh for well over a decade at these facilities.
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 for the next upgrade.
As for Melbourne, since the lounge has already reopened it would probably need to either close temporarily for a refit, or reopen at a brand new location with a refreshed design, in the same way the Perth revamp is taking place.
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
Perth looks set to the be the second of Singapore Airlines’ overseas SilverKris lounges to be picking up a refit, this time in a brand new location taking over the old Qantas Business Class lounge, which will offer double the space and capacity compared to the current facility.
The most significant upgrades include shower facilities and a tended bar, while the latest design features from the new Changi T3 lounges will include productivity pods, enhanced luggage storage and no doubt features like wireless charging.
This development comes after it was confirmed that the Hong Kong SKL is also under the knife until mid-August 2023, which should see it open its doors with a refreshed design even earlier than this one.
Hopefully there will be news of further SilverKris lounge upgrades in cities like Melbourne and Taipei soon, which are long overdue a facelift of their own.
(Cover Image: Singapore Airlines)
Fantastic news. But Perth is still down on daily flight capacity from pre covid. Hopefully that will improve soon.
Yes Perth was even set to get a year-round fifth daily service from June 2020, but COVID put pay to that.
Let’s hope further frequencies can be restored soon!