In the last installment I shared my experience with Air India’s first class ground services in Delhi, so in this installment I’ll share my experience with the actual lounge, located in Terminal 3. This is Air India’s international lounge, and it’s located one level up from the main concourse, near the center of the terminal, and above a lot of duty free shopping.
Delhi Airport Terminal 3
Delhi Airport Terminal 3
The entire terminal is only a few years old, so even from the outside of the lounge you can tell that it’s fairly modern. There’s a pretty cool faux-wood exterior, with small “see through” sections.
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport exterior
As is the norm at Air India lounges, there was a Maharaja cutout waiting at the entrance.
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport entrance
The reception desk is located right as you walk into the lounge, with the first class section to the right and the business class section to the left.
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport first class section
The first class section consists of one fairly large room. While it’s not a huge space, it’s more than sufficient given how few first class passengers Air India has. There are only a few flights with first class, and most of those planes have just four first class seats, which are rarely full.
The first class section is nice and private thanks to the partitions between the various seats.
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport first class section
I was impressed by the variety of furniture they had. On one hand it sort of looked mis-matched, while on the other hand it meant you really had your choice of seating, from couches to leather chairs to recliner seats. There were tons of options.
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport first class section
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport first class section
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport first class section
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport first class section
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport first class section
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport first class section
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport first class section
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport first class section
In the very front of the first class section near the entrance were three computers available for guest use.
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport first class section business center
There are vouchers they give you for the Wi-Fi, with a unique code for each device. It connects to a third party service, though unfortunately the connection was terrible. The Wi-Fi would be dial-up speed for a few minutes, and then for the next 30 minutes it would be completely unusable. And then it would work at dial-up speeds again for a short amount of time. So don’t count on having a functioning Wi-Fi connection at the lounge.
The first class section doesn’t have a dedicated food or drink selection, though you do have a couple of guys working in the lounge who exclusively look after that section, and take great care of you, as I explained in the last installment. The service in the first class section was extremely attentive.
Of course you can go to the business class lounge and get snacks for yourself, or otherwise they’re happy to bring you just about anything.
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport first class snacks
The first class section does also have two nap rooms, which I believe are exclusively for first class passengers. On one hand they look like prison cells, while on the other hand there aren’t many lounges out there with anything resembling a “real” bed, so I was impressed. The Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge Doha still wins the prize for having the best nap rooms of any lounge.
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport nap rooms
You can go to the business class lounge either via the hallway on the back side of the lounge, or otherwise by walking past the reception desk.
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport hallway
The business class section also consisted of one large room, though it had a unique shape and different “sections,” which added a sense of privacy to the lounge. Despite being peak hours at the airport, the lounge wasn’t very well.
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport
The food & drink spread was in the far corner of the lounge.
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport buffet
There was a fridge with self serve beer and soft drinks, and then liquor and wine served by a bartender.
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport bar
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport drinks
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport drinks
There was also a Nescafe espresso machine, which made surprisingly decent beverages.
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport coffee machine
While the food spread wasn’t too extensive, the quality looked decent enough. There was a mix of cold items, packaged snacks, and some hot food as well.
The cold items consisted mostly of veggies.
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport snacks
Then there were packaged snacks, including croissants, muffins, cookies, etc.
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport snacks
The labelling at the buffet left a bit to be desired, as the food was described as “soup,” “snacks,” “veg,” or “non-veg.” So I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, since I can’t even label Indian dishes correctly if I’m given a menu with descriptions. 😉
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport soup
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport food spread
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport food spread
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport food spread
Air India Business Class Lounge Delhi Airport food spread
The shower rooms were shared between the first and business class section, and there seemed to be several of them. While not world class, they were quite nice, each consisting of a shower, sink, and toilet. Frankly they were nicer than I was expecting.
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport shower room
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport shower room
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport shower room
The shampoo and conditioner were wall mounted, though there were several amenities on the counter, which exceeded my expectations.
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport shower room
Air India Lounge Delhi Airport shower room amenities
Air India Lounge Delhi bottom line
I was pleasantly surprised by the Air India Lounge in Delhi, minus the non-existent/terrible Wi-Fi. While it’s not a lounge I’d rank at the top of a list of best airport lounges where I’d plan a long layover in order to visit, it was fairly modern, clean, and the food looked better than I was expecting. So while it’s nothing like a Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, it’s nice enough.
If you’ve visited the Air India Lounge Delhi, what was your experience like?
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