Virgin Australia Brisbane Lounge

Virgin Australia has announced plans to open its own dedicated International lounge at its Brisbane hub, and in Wellington. It will join forces with Etihad which is hiving off its lounges under the My Lounge brand.

Virgin Australia will open a new lounge at Brisbane Airport for international business class travellers plus Gold and Platinum frequent flyers.

The lounge is to have the style of a loft apartment and operated by UK-based No1 Lounges. It will be called My Lounge, and will seat 100 passengers, to be used by both Etihad and Virgin Australia.

The new Virgin Australia Brisbane International Lounge will open in November, right next door to the existing Emirates lounge, at Gate 77, right at the end of the terminal's northern concourse.

Virgin Australia suggest there will be a dining area with a both healthy and indulgent choices, a bar, and a small business centre.

Previously Virgin Australia had used Air New Zealand's lounges. However, the dramatic shift comes as Virgin Australia and Air New Zealand continue to tear apart, following a dramatic separation of their business arrangement earlier this year.

The lounge will be open to Virgin's business class passengers, Platinum and Gold members of the Velocity Frequent Flyer scheme plus members of the Virgin Australia Lounge program on Virgin flights to New Zealand, Los Angeles, Bali and the Pacific islands including Fiji.

Another Virgin Australia lounge will open in Wellington and be similarly branded.

Etihad is also rebranding its own lounges as "The House - Home of Etihad Airways and Other Leading Airlines". The first lounge to change is Etihad's London Heathrow Terminal 4 lounge.

Changes are also afoot with Virgin Australia's Frequent Flyer program, with a fee of up to $460 for redemptions, and higher exchange rates with Singapore Airlines.