Where is it?
The Air Canada Lounge in Frankfurt is located in terminal 1, concouse B, which is used for non-Schengen departures. It is located on the first floor of the eastern wing, one floor above the gate areas, and can be reached using the escalators in the main shopping area or from one of the gate areas in the eastern wing. The lounge is clearly signposted in the terminal. Although most Air Canada flights leave in the morning or in the afternoon the lounge is open until late evening.
How do I get in?
The lounge is accessible to first class and business class passengers travelling on Air Canada or another Star Alliance carrier, for example Lufthansa. It is also accessible to Star Alliance Gold card holders travelling the same day on a Star Alliance flight.
It is technically possible to visit the lounge even if your flight departs from one of the other piers at terminal 1, however it may require a very long walk, a train ride and in some cases an extra security control. If the destination is inside the Schengen area an extra passport control is also required to reach the gate.
What’s it like?
The lounge opened in October 2013 and became the first external Star Alliance lounge at the airport for many years not operated by the home carrier Lufthansa. There has not been any non-Lufthansa lounges for Star Alliance passengers at the airport since United closed its Red Carpet Club a few years ago.
The lounge measures 726 square meters and has been designed by Canadian design firm dialogue 38. The idea is that the lounge should feel like a home away from home with many Canadian influences in the interior.
The centrepiece is ‘The Canada Room’ with its fantastic glass sculptures in the shape of fire flames made by Tsunami Glassworks in Windsor, Ontario. The Canadian design is also visible in many other parts of the lounge with art from Moss & Lam in Toronto and furniture from four Canadian designers.
The lounge is divided into different sections, all with different purposes. There is for example a restaurant area, a bar area with bar stools for those making a quick visit, a business centre and seating along the panorama windows with comfortable armchairs, which also offer a nice view of the apron and the two main runways.
Food and drinks:
The selection of food and drinks is surprisingly good with plenty of hot food, cold cuts, fresh fruits and sandwiches. The selection obviously varies depending on the time of the day with breakfast items available in the morning.
Four different hot dishes are available from the large self-service buffet. During the visit they had for example pasta, beef and spicy noodles. A signature thing in the lounge seems to be donuts for dessert with different flavours.
In the smaller circle-shaped buffet snacks, fruits, vegetables, sandwiches and cold cuts are available. There are also some desserts such as apple pie.
A full selection of drinks is available in a separate buffet area around the corner with red, white and sparkling wine (mostly German wines but also some Canadian versions), two types of beer on tap, a standard selection of spirits, two coffee machines and of course mineral water, juices and other soft drinks from a dispenser.
Facilities:
A fun feature in the lounge is the quiet zone with lounge chairs and private TVs where it is possible to relax or having a nap without too much external noise.
This is what the quiet rooms look like inside, the are fairly popular.
There is also a fairly good selection of newspapers and magazines available from two racks, both located on each side of the restaurant, and there are several TVs. And of course you can also spend your time following the action on the apron and the runways, the view is quite decent through the large panorama windows.
The lounge also offers restrooms and showers, a business centre and free wireless internet.
Final impression:
This is a very pleasant lounge with a lovely interior, excellent food and drinks, great service, plenty of facilities and a nice apron view. It is certainly impressive for an Air Canada outstation and well worth a visit. And thumbs up for the extensive opening hours, the lounge closes well after the last Air Canada flight for the day has left.
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