I travel through Cairo Airport more often than I should, thanks to the very reasonable paid first and business class fares available from the airport. Overall the airport is getting better than it used to be, in particular with the opening of Cairo Airport’s Terminal 2, which is quite nice.
Cairo Airport Terminal 2
This is a huge improvement compared to Cairo Airport’s Terminal 1, which is… not nice.
Cairo Airport Terminal 1
Most airlines in Terminal 1 & Terminal 2 use contract lounges for their passengers. The Terminal 1 contract lounge is really not nice, while the Terminal 2 contract lounge is alright.
Cairo Airport Lounge Terminal 2
Cairo Airport Lounge Terminal 1
That’s why I think it’s worth writing about the fact that Emirates has opened their own lounge at Cairo Airport. Emirates is a remarkably consistent airline, and as part of that, they like to operate their lounges at many of their global destinations. Emirates has three daily Boeing 777 flights to Cairo, making the airport the 42nd destination to have an Emirates Lounge.
While the lounge has been open for a few weeks, they just had a ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the new lounge.
Emirates Lounge Cairo Terminal 2
Like I said, Emirates is really consistent, and most of their lounges are more or less the same in terms of decor and services offered. The Emirates Lounge Cairo looks on par with the rest of their lounge network.
The airline invested 3.6 million USD in the lounge, and it’s located on level 2 of Terminal 2, above the secondary security check and duty free area. The lounge has seating for 152 customers, which should be ample given how spaced out Emirates’ three daily flights from Cairo are (for example, right now they have flights at 1:25AM, 12:05PM, and 6:40PM). The lounge is a total of 880 square meters, or about 9,500 square feet.
Emirates Lounge Cairo Terminal 2
Emirates Lounge Cairo Terminal 2
The Emirates Lounge Cairo is open to Emirates first and business class passengers, as well as Skywards Platinum and Gold members traveling on Emirates.
While Emirates lounges might not be remarkable at airports like London and Hong Kong, where other airlines have excellent lounges, I have no doubt that this is by far Cairo’s best lounge.
To my knowledge this is the second dedicated airline lounge in Terminal 2, as I believe Saudia also operates their own lounge at the airport.
I’m not sure I’ll ever have the chance to check out the Emirates Lounge Cairo, partly because I don’t usually fly Emirates out of Cairo, and partly because even with a six hour connection at the airport, I seem to not have enough time to use the lounge…
I am in this lounge right now. It is very spacious, with a few showers. Everything very new and tidy. What a totally different experience from the other lounges I visited a few months back... Sadly it seems to be a dry lounge, and an Emirates lounge without Champagne feels wrong... ;-) The food looks ok but actually tastes completely blah - no spices... It is also a somewhat muted display, not the typical round...
I am in this lounge right now. It is very spacious, with a few showers. Everything very new and tidy. What a totally different experience from the other lounges I visited a few months back... Sadly it seems to be a dry lounge, and an Emirates lounge without Champagne feels wrong... ;-) The food looks ok but actually tastes completely blah - no spices... It is also a somewhat muted display, not the typical round table with fruit and cheese usually found in Emirates lounges outside of Dubai.
By the way, for those coming here wondering about the transit experience: it is absolutely laughable wanting to transfer with a service. Once you get the Visa for $25 cash, you just walk out of Terminal 3, pass to your right, and after ca. 3 minutes (!) you are at Terminal 2. The whole process (admittedly with no checked bags) took me 10 min total. Your mileage may vary, but forget about the bus!! (Is this an American thing, I wonder?!)
T2 also has a new contract lounge on level 2 called "Pearl Lounge" (right next to EK lounge) which is part of a larger lounge network, and is also accessible via Priority Pass as well as BA, RJ and KU premium passengers.
Most of the CAI lounges are atrocious, eg, the shockers used by Qatar prior to their ban; far, far better to snack at outside venues than eat anything in them. Ghastly. Egytair not much better in the other terminal,.
This one looks great but restricted, in that access is only via EK rather than alliances.
Hi Lucky,
two years ago I got a tour of the construction site of the T2 in CAI. Yes, there is a Saudia and a Emirates lounge in the second level, left and right. They might add some other generic lounges in multi-function rooms as they did until recently. There is also goigng to be a hotel airside with twelve rooms...
Is it "safe" to eat the food in the EK lounge (and the other premium lounges) in Cairo?. Last thing I want to do is eat in the lounge and then be ill on the flight. Has anyone had any experiences they could share, or lucky himself? Thanks
T2 has a new lounge that just opened...I forget the name but it was fantastic, and its PP.
Yeah next time get a visa you cheapskate.
This reads like a sponsored post from Emirates...
This will make CAI a bit more bearable ..... most important question: will they serve Champers?
You should check out Saudia Alfursan lounge at CAI, it's the best at T2 =D