Emirates has opened a new lounge at Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport. It is a joint lounge for first and business class passengers, and is the airline's 30th global lounge.
It has cost just over one million pounds to develop, and is decked out in the usual Emirates style, with heavy wood panelling, Italian marble floors, mahogany coffee tables, beige leather arm chairs and Gold Rolex clocks.
The lounge is quite small, due to the lighter premium loads at Istanbul and short distance to Dubai: the lounge is only 520 square meters, and has seating for 56 passengers, plus room for another 40 standing or in the buffet area.
And it is that buffet that The Emirates lounges are in general famous for. There is a usual round circular fridge with plenty of salads, seafood, cold cuts, cheese, and deserts. Emirates has supplemented its usual fare with gourmet Turkish cuisine, including kebabs, Dolma, stuffed Obergine, and pilav. The sweet Istanbul pastries are much in supply, with sütlac, tavuk gögsü, kazandibi, are baklava and kadayif.
The bar is good as well, however reflecting the small size of the lounge, there is just one bar area, next to the dining area, with the usual double shelf of sprits. There are two bottles of white wine, and Veuve Clicquot champagne.
The Lounge has a small business centre with four computers and a printer. There is free wifi in the lounge. The bathrooms are large, with a shower. There is also a prayer room.
The Emirates lounge Istanbul is open before the twice-daily flights to Dubai from 1330 to 1930, and access is available with either a business class ticket, or for Emirates Skywards Gold members (however, due to the lack of space, access is not permitted for guests).
The lounge is located at the airside (post security) area of the International Terminal of Ataturk Airport.
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