We know that Air India is currently trying to reinvent itself, including improving every aspect of the passenger experience. We’ve seen the airline roll-out factory fresh wide body planes with new interiors, start to reconfigure existing planes, and even open a new flagship lounge at Delhi Airport (DEL).
There’s now another exciting development, as Air India has just opened its own lounge at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), and it looks like it could be really nice!
In this post:
Basics of the new Air India Maharaja Lounge SFO
As of late March 2026, Air India has opened a lounge at SFO, which covers 3,413 square feet. Specifically, the lounge is located in the lounge complex at the A Gates, on the fourth floor, between the China Airlines Lounge and Golden Gate Lounge. The lounge is open daily from 6AM until 11:59PM, so it clearly covers more than just Air India departures.
The general contractor for the lounge, Build Group, had published the below page online, which showed a rendering of the lounge space. The first real pictures of the lounge have also been posted on FlyerTalk.
I’ve gotta say, the lounge looks super elegant, so this should be a nice facility. However, at just over 3,400 square feet, this is one of the smaller outstation lounges out there, and I imagine it’ll get quite busy prior to Air India departures. At least Air India has a staggered schedule at the airport, so there’s never more than one Air India flight departing at a time.
Air India has massively grown its presence at SFO since starting service to the airport roughly a decade ago. The airline now operates up to 14 weekly flights to the Bay Area, so with double daily service, you can start to see merit to operating a lounge.
This is Air India’s second lounge location in the United States, with the other lounge being in New York (JFK). That lounge is undergoing a major and overdue renovation, so maybe it’ll have a similar design template to the SFO lounge.
Why has Air India opened its own lounge at SFO?
Some people might point out that there’s a United Polaris Lounge at SFO, and wonder why Air India is bothering to build its own lounge at the airport. It’s important to note that the United Polaris Lounge is in the G Gates, while Air India departs from the A Gates.
While these terminals are technically connected airside, it’s a really long walk between them, so for a majority of passengers, it’s not practical to use the United Polaris Lounge when flying Air India. Instead, Air India has been sending its premium passengers to the Golden Gate Lounge (and before that, the Air France Lounge).
Given the number of flights Air India operates from SFO per week, having the airline operate its own lounge makes sense. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see the lounge monetized outside of those hours, and open to Priority Pass, as is the case at the carrier’s JFK lounge (though as of now, the SFO lounge doesn’t belong to Priority Pass).
Also, thanks to Star Alliance lounge access rules, many premium passengers should also have access to this lounge, including Star Alliance Gold members on other airlines.
Bottom line
Air India plans to open a lounge at SFO in the near future. The roughly 3,400 square foot lounge will be located in the A Gates. We even have a rendering of the lounge, which gives us a sense of the new lounge design concept that the Star Alliance airline is going for. I’m looking forward to learning more details, particularly about the soft product.
What do you make of the planned Air India Lounge SFO?
If it becomes a PP lounge it will be overcrowded and loose its appeal
I can't see it becoming a PP lounge - given the size and the quality it would be absolutely rammed.
Hoping I can be a dufus and visit for a domestic United flight
The lengths people will go to get some free mediocre buffet food never fail to impress.
This space is the former JAL business class lounge on the 4th floor. The staff were always very nice, but it was kind of priority-pass grade in the past in terms of food and space ("Udon with clear broth! Rice crackers!")
Space wise, it always felt cramped. Hopefully with some good design and furniture from sometime in the last 3 decades, it will be better than before.
Well we all know for sure that this lounge will not be offering shower facilities or hand soap. Lol
I thought there was limit on the age people had to be to comment on this blog. But your juvenile, low hanging fruit of a comment confirmed to me that there could not have been And judging by the “lol” at the end you not only thought it out and typed it, you figured you’d add a lol at the end to soften the blow. Do better.
This looks thematically in sync with the new DEL lounge. Air India has clearly chosen a design language. The DEL lounge looks super swanky. So hopefully this translates to the SFO lounge.
Which also means not having to trek to the Intl G terminal Polaris lounge.
Is this a priority pass lounge
Great timing...I have a long layover in SFO and was planning to visit the Polaris lounge for my TK flight (I've never visited one before), but since it sounds like TK flies out of the A gates, I will hopefully stop by the Maharaja lounge before I depart.
Great timing for me, too - I'm flying out of SFO for the first time today. I'm tempted to try to take in the Maple Leaf, Polaris and Maharajah lounges but it sounds like the distances involved might make this tricky.
If you do stop in, report back and let us know if it's worth the visit. I'm flying on Friday so you'd beat me to it.
The internet gave me the impression that the previously excellent Polaris lounge has fallen from grace, and that the Maple Leaf was a fine alternative. This wasn't the impression I got - the former was far less busy than the latter, which, besides being pleasant in its own right, meant I was able to get a table in the restaurant immediately. I thought the food served there was excellent.
The Maharajah has the best ambience...
The internet gave me the impression that the previously excellent Polaris lounge has fallen from grace, and that the Maple Leaf was a fine alternative. This wasn't the impression I got - the former was far less busy than the latter, which, besides being pleasant in its own right, meant I was able to get a table in the restaurant immediately. I thought the food served there was excellent.
The Maharajah has the best ambience and perhaps the best buffet of the three lounges. The staff were also very helpful indeed, including helping me with the buffet when I was short of hands.
A few things are still works in progress - there's no alcohol yet, the coffee machine is out of order, and the bidet in (at least) one of the cubicles appears to have been connected to the hot water.
The mocktails in the Maharajah were decent - I didn't drink in either of the other two lounges.
@mickyb - I went there last year and it was as you describe. I would prefer the Maple Leaf Lounge due to space and peace. I think the SFO United Polaris lounge has a kind of hardscrabble feel where the entire airports' worth of business class pax need to cram into an admittedly large lounge. Feels like sitting in a crowded classroom where all the seats are routinely taken and/or in disrepair.
I don't throw...
@mickyb - I went there last year and it was as you describe. I would prefer the Maple Leaf Lounge due to space and peace. I think the SFO United Polaris lounge has a kind of hardscrabble feel where the entire airports' worth of business class pax need to cram into an admittedly large lounge. Feels like sitting in a crowded classroom where all the seats are routinely taken and/or in disrepair.
I don't throw rocks at UA only. BA over in the A gates is also in a sorry state. I prefer going to the Alaska lounge since it's just such a nicer facility.
Interestingly, the TK agent told me to go to Club SFO despite the Maharajah being more convenient. When I told her I was going to go to the Maple Leaf first, she tried to dissuade me from going through the G-gate security, saying I would need to go through TSA twice. This, of course, was not the case, although I understand why she didn't expect me to walk a loop of the whole airport.
@mickyb thanks for the impressions. No alcohol at the Maharaja it’s a bit disappointing, as I don’t plan to eat much (I want to save my stomach for the food on the flight). Still may try to stop by. I wasn’t thinking to visit the Maple Leaf, but maybe I’ll do the full tour while I’m there.
To be clear: I found the Polaris to be better (much less crowded) than the Maple Leaf. This was around 1530-1600 - there were several AC flights on the departure boards.
I asked the Maharajah if they'd have alcohol by Friday, but they didn't seem to have any idea.
@mickyb sounds like my original plan will work: spend most of my time at the Polaris lounge during my layover, then fly by the Maharaja before boarding my flight (assuming it is at the A gates, I never know reading online about TK). Maybe make a visit to the Maple Leaf if I get a little bored.
Coincidentally, Singapore Airlines (with 14 flights per week) just moved to the A Terminal and have at the moment no lounge offering for premium passengers. Their morning and evening flights depart at similar times to Air India’s so I assume the lounge can not handle both.
I wonder if it smells of Indian food…
Hope so. Would be delicious. Save some palak paneer and garlic naan for the rest of us.
Hopefully the JFK lounge will look this good too.
Long-overdue.
Great lounge for those taking the long journey to London via DEL
Is there anyone besides you (and maybe bloggers looking to review multiple Air India flights) who does that?