Aegean Business Lounge Athens (Schengen)

For frequent flyers, a good lounge is more than just a comfortable chair and a quick coffee: it serves as a retreat, a workplace and sometimes even a restaurant. This is exactly what the Aegean Airlines Business Lounge in the Schengen area of Athens Airport, the airline's hub, promises. But does it live up to the high expectations of status passengers and frequent travellers? In this review, you will find out how the comfort, facilities and service perform in practice and where there is still room for improvement.

Where is the Aegean Business Lounge Athens located?

The Aegean Business Lounge in the Schengen area of Athens Airport is located significantly away from the central security checkpoint in the departure area. Passengers have to plan a longer walk through the terminal, past shops and restaurants, before they reach the lounge area. This is located near or opposite gates B11 to B15 in a separate section of the terminal, where the Lufthansa Business Lounge and the Goldair Handling Lounge are also located. All three lounges are well signposted.

Who has access to the Aegean Business Lounge Athens?

The Aegean Business Lounge in the Schengen area of Athens Airport is open to various passenger groups. Travellers with a Business Class ticket from Aegean Airlines, Olympic Air or another Star Alliance airline are granted access. Frequent flyers with Miles+Bonus Gold status and Star Alliance Gold status holders are also welcome. The latter may also bring a guest with them, provided they are also travelling on a Star Alliance airline on the same day.

A notable exception concerns flights with an OA flight number (Olympic Air): Although these are often operated by Aegean, they are considered Olympic flights. In these cases, access to the lounge is restricted to Business Class passengers (if available) and status customers of the Miles+Bonus programme. Holders of Star Alliance Gold status on other airlines will not be granted access on these flights.

The lounge is open daily from 03:00 to 00:00. The current opening hours can be found on the official website .

How is the Aegean Business Lounge Athens equipped?

Even though the Aegean Business Lounge in Athens is larger than the one in Larnaca (Lounge review), it quickly reaches its capacity limits due to the high number of visitors. Especially for status guests without a business class ticket, access was not possible on our last visits. Instead, we were redirected to the neighbouring Goldair Lounge and received miles as compensation. This is a clear sign that the demand for space at the Aegean Airlines hub has long exceeded the available space.

The lounge is long and tubular in design. After the reception area, guests are faced with a high table with bar stools. This is followed by an area with small, round bistro tables and chairs. Further back, there are several zones with different seating options. Light brown leather armchairs and a light-coloured sofa alternate with stylish wooden tables and black marble table tops. In a quieter corner on the right-hand side, blue leather armchairs invite you to linger. Further seating is available by the windows. The familiar Aegean colour scheme in dark blue, combined with wood and metal, corresponds to the uniform design concept and thus also to the lounge in Larnaka.

The facilities include free, unencrypted Wi-Fi connections with good speed as well as numerous power sockets and USB-A ports at many seats. There are also lockers for hand luggage, a small newspaper rack and toilets. However, additional amenities such as showers or quiet rooms are not available, which is probably also due to the limited space available in the terminal.

Where can I eat and drink in the Aegean Business Lounge Athens?

Aegean Airlines shows its best side when it comes to culinary offerings: Similar to the non-Schengen lounge in area A (Lounge review), the buffet in the Schengen area is also extremely extensive and tasty. During our stay on a Friday afternoon, there were five hot dishes to choose from. The spinach pie with leek and dill, the stuffed courgettes with sweet potatoes, rice, fennel and lemon sauce and the kritharaki pasta with prawns were particularly memorable. Everything was stylishly presented and surprisingly sophisticated for an airport lounge.

The variety and quality of the cold buffet was also impressive. In addition to fresh salads, there were creative appetisers, including lobster bread with salmon and vegetarian wraps. Classic components such as cheese platters and cold cuts were also included. The sweet finish was a separate dessert buffet with delicacies such as chocolate truffles, butter caramel tart and almond cake.

The range of drinks also left nothing to be desired. In addition to a wide selection of soft drinks - from cola and iced tea to tonic water - there were also some interesting regional specialities, including Three Cents brand lemonades, such as an Aegean tonic or a refreshing ginger beer. Those who prefer coffee could choose between two fully automatic coffee machines, a filter coffee machine and a Nespresso-like system.

The lounge was particularly impressive when it came to alcohol: in addition to Greek beer, four regularly changing Greek wines - two red and two white wines - were available. There was also sparkling wine in small bottles and a well-stocked bar with branded spirits such as ‘Flying Goose Vodka’, 12-year-old ‘Chivas Regal’ and the Greek liqueur ‘Chios Mastiha’. Anyone who wanted to could mix their own long drink or cocktail to suit their taste.

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