New Hawaiian Airlines Premium Lounge Honolulu Opening Late 2027

Alaska Airlines recently acquired Hawaiian Airlines, and we know that a lot is changing at the combined airline. Several weeks back, we learned about Alaska Air Group’s plans to open several new lounges in the coming years, ranging from a new flagship lounge in Seattle, to a new lounge in Honolulu. Well, some interesting details have just been revealed about the latter lounge.

Details of Hawaiian Airlines’ new Honolulu lounge

In late 2027, Hawaiian Airlines will be opening a new premium lounge at Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL). The lounge will be located at the entrance of the Mauka Concourse in Terminal 1, and will be five times larger than the carrier’s existing lounge in Honolulu.

For what it’s worth, the current lounge is around 3,000 square feet, so that suggests the new lounge will be somewhere around 15,000 square feet (but that’s not stated explicitly). The lounge will of course cater to both Alaska and Hawaiian customers.

The first design concepts for the lounge have been released, and the design is described as being inspired by Hawaii’s rich natural elements, and “include intentional areas of surprise, organic forms, and tactile discovery.” The space will also incorporate “sculptural elements, bold pops of color, and reflective beams of light.”

It’s worth emphasizing that the design hasn’t yet been finalized, so the below renderings might not be what the finished product actually looks like.

Here’s how Todd Traynor-Corey, Alaska Airlines’ Vice President of Guest Products & Experience, describes this:

“We are reimagining the travel experience with spaces that showcase our dedication to guest satisfaction and the unique culture of Hawai‘i. Our new Honolulu lounge will be the first-of-its-kind within this space and will offer a modern oasis for our guests to enjoy.”

Here’s how Alisa Onishi, Hawaiian Airlines’ Director of Brand and Culture, describes this:

“Our new Honolulu lounge will be a celebration of our guest’s voyage, thoughtfully crafted to honor the beauty and warmth of our island home. This space reinforces our commitment to providing an unrivaled travel experience that reflects the purpose and values of our hometown airline.”

Hawaiian Airlines’ new lounge is long overdue!

Hawaiian Airlines’ new lounge in Honolulu really can’t open soon enough, as the carrier’s current lounge situation there is kind of a mess. The Plumeria Lounge has to be one of the most underwhelming “flagship” lounges out there. It’s overcrowded to begin with, and on top of that, is open to Priority Pass members. The airline also has the Apt. 1929 Lounge, which is uber-premium, with access starting at $500 per couple.

A standard, larger, quality lounge, will massively improve the carrier’s ground experience. For all practical purposes, I would think of this as being along the lines of an Alaska Lounge. Keep in mind Alaska Air Group’s approach to branding going forward — down the road, anything that touches Hawaii will have Hawaiian branding, while everything else will have Alaska branding.

For that matter, we have reason to believe that Alaska will at some point incorporate the “Atmos” term into its lounge branding. So perhaps all the lounges from both carriers will have “Atmos” branding. Only time will tell.

In terms of access, presumably this will be a standard part of the Alaska Lounge network. The press release states that access requirements will be revealed at some point in the future, and I suspect that’s because a lot could change with Alaska Lounge access in the next three(ish) years.

For example, currently Alaska offers lounge access to those on paid first class tickets (with cash or miles) on nonstop flights of 2,100+ miles. Only time will tell if that sticks, since obviously that would potentially give a lot of first class passengers access to this Honolulu lounge, and that crowding may be tough to manage.

Bottom line

While there are still a lot more questions than answers, we’ve just learned some details about the new Hawaiian Airlines lounge that’s planned for Honolulu Airport, which should open in late 2027. This lounge should be around 15,000 square feet, and will be on a completely different level than the carrier’s current lounge. Sadly we’ll have to be very patient, as it’ll be nearly three years before this lounge opens (and that assumes no additional delays).

What do you make of Hawaiian’s new Honolulu lounge plans?