Review: Emirates Business Class Lounge, Dubai Terminal 3 Concourse A

This is our review of the Emirates Business Class lounge at Dubai International Airport.

After trialling Emirates’ new premium economy experience (review here), it was time to return to London on the vaunted A380 business class.

Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport is split into three buildings, all used almost exclusively by Emirates: Concourses A, B and C. Emirates operates lounges in all concourses, so you are well looked after regardless of which pier you are departing from.

If you are on an A380 the chances are high that you will be flying from Concourse A, which was built to accommodate these behemoths. My flight was departing from gate A3.

Emirates has an interesting approach to lounges in Dubai. Concourse A at Dubai has three levels. The ground floor is for shoppers and economy passengers and occupied by duty free shopping, restaurants and cafes.

The upper floors – which occupy the same footprint as the ground floor – are for premium passengers. The first floor is the First Class ‘lounge’ whilst the second floor is the Business Class ‘lounge’. The selling point is that you can board all flights directly from the lounge.

I say ‘lounge’ because it is unlike any other lounge I’ve used. It’s over 16,000 square metres with a capacity for 2,552 passengers.

I’ve used massive open-air lounges before, such as the Qatar Airways Al Mourjan lounge in Doha, but this is different. With an entire floor of the concourse to itself, visiting the Emirates Business Class lounge feels like being in a quiet airport terminal rather than a lounge.

To put this in context, London City Airport – across its airside and landside terminal areas combined – is 17,000 square metres, so virtually the same size as this one lounge.

Let me try and show you what I mean.

Emirates Business Class Lounge access requirements

Access to the Emirates Business Class Lounge is limited by the fact that Emirates is virtually the only airline to fly from Terminal 3: the only other airlines are flydubai (itself owned by Emirates), Air Canada, United Airlines, and Qantas.

Access to the lounge is complimentary if you are:

• Emirates business class or first class passengers
• Emirates Skywards Silver
• Emirates Skywards Gold (+1 guest)
• Emirates Skywards Platinum (+1 guest and up to 2 children)

Certain Emirates and Qantas codeshares are also eligible for lounge access in Dubai.

Paid access is available if you’re flying in economy or premium economy on Emirates. The rate is around US$160 or £125. It is priced so as to put most people off without removing the paid option entirely. You are clearly going to struggle to get £125 of value in the maximum four hour timeslot you can use the lounge.

The lounge is open 24 hours a day.

Emirates lounges location in Dubai T3 Concourse A

You shouldn’t have any trouble finding the lounge. After passing through security and exiting immigration, simply follow the signs to Concourse A. You need to jump on the air train which will shuttle you there.

On arrival, take one of the many escalators all the way up to departures level:

Then, walk straight out and you should see a set of escalators. It is well sign-posted:

Head up one floor and you’ll find the First Class Lounge; head up another and you’ll see the Business Class Lounge entrance:

Inside the Emirates Business Class Lounge Concourse A

Once you’ve had your boarding pass scanned you can turn either left or right. Both sides of the lounge are identical, so it’s best to head to the side where your gate is.

Remember when I said the lounge was the same size as the entirety of Concourse A? It’s so big that they post maps of it inside and advise that it is a 12 minute walk from one end of the lounge to the other!

All the functions and services are replicated on both sides: showers, bathrooms, dining areas and smoking rooms.

My gate was on the right hand side. Whilst you’re in the lounge, it doesn’t feel loungey: you need to walk a bit to get to the main seating areas. On the way, you pass a couple of gates and unstaffed Emirates Skywards and Concierge Shopping service desks:

It’s really odd to see lounge-style armchairs right next to gate areas:

There is at least a good selection of newspapers:

…. and each table features a cut flower:

There are big cutouts in the floor to allow natural light down to the ground floor duty free and shopping areas. It feels like you are in a mall:

Next to these is a whole run of seating. A lot of these areas are empty because they feel like you are sitting in a corridor (which you are):

About mid-way down you’ll find some rooms off the main area. These contain the dining areas and were much more popular because they feel less exposed to the terminal:

There is also a business centre with workstations:

…. and a kids room:

The right hand shower area had 11 shower suites for men and five for women and featured Voya toiletries:

and

At the very far end of the lounge you’ll find a huge ‘Quiet Area’. Bizarrely, this is surrounded by a cluster of gates – eight of them – and has to be the least quiet part of the whole lounge.

It was completely deserted when I went. It’s also the brightest space in the entire lounge, totally exposed to the skylights above. Despite that, there are recliners with plastic-wrapped blankets should you want to sleep:

…. and even a bed!

There was a small staffed bar here, as well as some self-serve coffee machines and snacks including stuffed dates:

It was, at least, very quiet during my stay!

Food and drink in the Emirates Business Class Lounge in Dubai

Food and drink is available only in certain parts of the lounge, which Emirates labels as ‘Fine Dining’ on its map. This may be an exaggeration ….

The dining area was long and thin and featured two buffets at either end. I thought they were both identical until I realised that one had more Western food whilst the other had more local and Asian products. There is no signage to make this clear.

There were some decent salads available:

In terms of hot food, there were probably six different buffet servers on each side, stocked with things such as chicken teryaki, dal makhani and other curries. I enjoyed the salads but calling it ‘fine dining’ might be pushing it ….

For those with a sweet tooth there were a selection of desserts as well as an ice cream stand:

The good news is that drinks, including Moet & Chandon, are all available for self-pour. This was all good stuff, including 2008 vintage reds, and far above your usual lounge wine. It was let down by the rubbish presentation, which made it look like the cheap plonk you’d get in a contract lounge:

In fact, the entire selection of spirits looked a bit forlorn:

Emirates has a vast wine cellar with millions of bottles. Why not turn that into a feature of the lounges? You could even offer wine tasting flights.

A sense of drama or occasion was missing.

Conclusion

It is hard to describe what the Emirates lounges in Dubai are like if you have never been inside them yourself. I thought I had a good idea of what to expect based on what Rob had told me, but I didn’t quite get it until I was in one.

The choice to dedicate entire floors to the lounge is an odd experience. The benefits are that it is huge and you’ll always find somewhere to sit. Boarding your plane directly from the lounge is a novelty too.

The downside is that it feels like you are simply in a posh airport terminal, which doesn’t feel as cozy or secure. In a normal airport lounge, I wouldn’t think twice about leaving my bag, passport or laptop out whilst I nipped to the toilet or for a drink. I didn’t do that here.

To be perfectly honest, I was slightly disappointed by the Emirates Business Class lounge. As one of the airline’s flagship lounges I wasn’t particularly ‘wowed’ by anything. The food was okay, but arguably inferior to the Emirates Lounge at Heathrow.

(Things might be better at the Concourse B lounge, which I understand is more recently refurbished and features a Champagne Bar and Costa Coffee station.)

Overall, it felt like the Emirates ground experience at Dubai Airport – including the ‘premium’ check-in areas – simply didn’t match the high level of service onboard the aircraft.

The next part of this series will look at Emirates A380 business class.

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How to earn Emirates Skywards miles from UK credit cards (March 2025)

Emirates Skywards does not have a UK credit card.  However, you can earn Emirates Skywards miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

Cards earning Membership Rewards points include:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 15,000 Emirates Skywards miles. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 50,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 37,500 Emirates Skywards miles

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 7,500 Emirates Skywards miles. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 4:3 into Emirates Skywards miles which is an attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 0.75 Emirates Skywards miles

The American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it, not just with Emirates but with any airline.