The Menzies Business Lounge at Stockholm Arlanda has become the Norrsken Lounge

Norrsken Lounge, Stockholm Arlanda, terminal 5
Norrsken Lounge, Stockholm Arlanda, terminal 5

Yesterday the Menzies Business Lounge at Stockholm Arlanda airport terminal 5 reopened after nearly two months of renovations. But it is actually not the Menzies Business Lounge which just reopened, the doors have now opened to the Norrsken Lounge, best translated as the ‘Aurora Lounge’ in English (which is in fact also the name of the Menzies Lounge at terminal 2 at the same airport).

The previous rather basic design is gone and the new design is more contemporary in black, grey and wood. However it should be noted that the renovations have not been 100% completed yet, there are still a few design details left to finish.

Norrsken Lounge, Stockholm Arlanda, terminal 5
The new design in black, grey and wood

The general layout of the lounge has not changed much though. The buffet area is still there in the same place, in the same circular shape, but all the sofas and armchairs are completely new, replacing the old and rather worn ones.

Norrsken Lounge, Stockholm Arlanda, terminal 5
The circular self-service buffet area

The photo above shows what the buffet area looks like now, the photo below shows what the buffet area used to look like before, in the old Menzies Business Lounge.

Menzies Business Lounge, Stockholm Arlanda terminal 5
The old circular buffet area in the Menzies Business Lounge

The small business centre is also gone. Nowadays most passengers probably access the internet using their own laptops, tablets or mobile devices so it probably made better sense to use the space for more seats.

Norrsken Lounge, Stockholm Arlanda, terminal 5
Nice apron view from the former business centre

The selection of food and drinks used to be quite limited, in contrast to the Menzies Executive Lounge which has both spirits and a reasonable cold buffet, and unfortunately that situation has not changed.

Norrsken Lounge, Stockholm Arlanda, terminal 5
The self-service buffet area

The food selection is still limited to bread rolls, cheeses, cold cuts and fresh fruits. However there are some mini muffins available now.

Norrsken Lounge, Stockholm Arlanda, terminal 5
Food and snacks

The drinks selection has not changed much either. The red and white wines are still on tap and there are still no spirits. The beer selection has been upgraded though, to the Swedish beer brand Melleruds, and the selection is generally slightly better.

Norrsken Lounge, Stockholm Arlanda, terminal 5
Beer, wine and soft drinks, all still on tap

Overall the new design is definitely an improvement. The lounge feels far more modern and contemporary but sadly they did not take the opportunity to change the lounge concept to something new. It is still a fairly bleak and boring lounge compared to some other third-party lounges which have opened in northern Europe during the past year and the selection of food and drinks still leaves a lot to be desired. Probably economics played a major part here. Not so much the cost of the renovations but rather the money they lose by keeping the lounge closed.

Read the full lounge review of the Norrsken Lounge here!

Read the full lounge review of the Menzies Business Lounge here!

About MorePremium.com 1018 Articles
My interest in premium travels and frequent travels started in the 90’s, so to date I have over 20 years of premium travel experience. MorePremium.com will mostly be about my own experiences, based on my own knowledge and my travel history, but you will also find news items, analyses, tips and tricks and reports from events.

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