Review: the refurbished Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 2

This is our review of the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 2.

The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge was one of the last lounges at Heathrow Terminal 2 to receive its 10-year makeover. However, unlike the Singapore Airlines lounge next door, it has only had a light refresh; the original maple woodwork and Canadian stone has stood the test of time well (and still looks modern) so has been retained.

The refreshed lounge opened at the end of 2024. Air Canada invited us to Heathrow to take a look as well as jump aboard one of its planes to check out its cabins. Sadly, we weren’t flying anywhere!

Air Canada now operates nine daily departures from Heathrow, almost back to its pre-covid capacity of 11. Only flights to St Johns and an additional frequency to Vancouver are missing. I’m told Air Canada retains the slots for these and has presumably leased them out.

The Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge is one of four Star Alliance lounges at Heathrow Terminal 2. The others are the United Club (review here), the Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer lounges (review here) and the Lufthansa lounge in the main terminal. You can use any of the above when on a Star Alliance business class ticket or if you have Star Alliance Gold status.

How to access the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge at Heathrow Terminal 2

You do not need to be flying Air Canada to access the lounge. The only requirement is that you are flying a Star Alliance carrier (such as Lufthansa, United, Singapore Airlines etc), either on a Business Class ticket or with the relevant status.

That means anyone with Star Alliance Gold can access the lounge, even if you are flying an a hand-baggage-only economy flight. Gold members can bring one guest for free.

Here are the full access requirements:

• Customers travelling in Signature Class (Business Class) with Air Canada or another Star Alliance member airline
• Aeroplan 50K, 75K and Super Elite Status members
• Star Alliance Gold members
• Aeroplan premium co-brand cardholders
• Eligible Chase Sapphire Reserve cardmembers flying Air Canada or another Star Alliance member airline

The Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge is open daily from 6am until 5:30pm.

Where is the Air Canada Heathrow lounge?

The Maple Leaf Lounge at Heathrow is a bit more of a trot than the Lufthansa lounge in Terminal 2A. It is located in the satellite terminal at T2B.

Unlike at T5, which was built with a far higher budget, there is no air train – all passengers must take the underground tunnel, although there are some moving walkways. Note that you can also return to T2A from T2B this way, although there is unfortunately no travelator in that direction.

You take two escalators up to get to departure level. Fortunately the lounge is in the central part of T2B. The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge is co-located with the Singapore Airlines lounge, one floor up, whilst the United Club is on the other side of the escalators.

Air Canada is on the left:

Inside the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge

You must check in to the lounge when you arrive, which involves a quick scan of your boarding pass:

As I said, the lounge has only had a light refurbishment. To be honest, I was surprised when they announced it as Air Canada was by far the most modern and attractive of the Star Alliance lounges at Heathrow, at least before the sequential refurbishment program last year.

However, it was clearly decided that the soft furnishings needed refreshing after a ten-year stint. Virtually all of the furniture has been replaced whilst the Canadian maple and stone fittings have been retained.

Part of the refurbishment has involved shuffling the configuration of the lounge to accommodate more seats, which now means the lounge has capacity for 149 guests.

The lounge has a very Scandi feel to it thanks to the liberal use of light maple wood slats. You can just about see Air Canada’s large Maple Leaf logo embossed as you walk in:

Turn to the right and you’re greeted by a length of floor-to-ceiling windows looking across the ramp towards T2A which fills the lounge with light:

and

There is a range of seating here, including a mezzanine level. This also features a pine cone artwork which looks like a Christmas tree as well as a large model aircraft:

If you think the walls are looking a little bare it’s because the lounge is still waiting for some artwork to arrive.

The seating at the far end has been replaced with two sofas for groups as well as a large hot desking high table, ideal if you need to get some work done. This is probably where you’d find me!

and

Behind this are three nap nooks, each with a reclining chair. I particularly like the subtle Air Canada branding in the form of the perpendicular wood grain panelling. Each is open to the lounge – there is no door – but suitably screened off to create a darker, private area. It is darker than it looks in the photo:

The former conference table / business area located in the oval room near the lounge entrance has been replaced with more casual seating:

Behind this is a row of bar stools and some individual booths. The latter are clearly very popular as they were occupied during my entire visit, so I couldn’t photograph them!

One of the big additions in the refresh has been the inclusion of many, many more charging sockets. You’ll now find them at virtually every seat, with a mixture of UK, USB-A and USB-C ports and even some US-style two-pin sockets.

Food and drink in the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge at Heathrow

If you turn left from the lounge reception you’ll find the buffet, bar and small dining area, with a long bar table. This remains largely unchanged from my last visit:

This is the smallest of the Star Alliance lounges at T2B and there are just a couple of restaurant-style dining tables.

At one end is a staffed bar – there is no self-pour alcohol here. There is no champagne, just prosecco, plus the normal range of spirits including Tanqueray Gin, Smirnoff Vodka, Bacardi Rum etc. They seem particularly proud of the Kweichow Moutai, a chinese spirit with 53% strength. It seems random to have it in an Air Canada lounge but the staff told me it was popular!

Beers on tap included Guinness, Coors Light, Carling and Cobra – a truly global collection! The staff told me that they previously served a Canadian beer too but as they were the only outlet in London the supplier pulled it.

The wine list sadly doesn’t feature any Canadian wines (yes, it’s a thing!) although they will make a classic Canadian Caesar’s. For anyone that doesn’t know, this is basically a Bloody Mary using Clamato rather than juice, which is a mix of tomato juice with some clam extract for that extra umami hit. It’s well worth a try.

Along one length of the room is the buffet. At breakfast, this features a range of mini pastries, cereals, cold cuts and a few hot stations featuring bacon, sausage, scrambled egg and baked beans:

and

There is a small station where you can get a fresh waffle or croffle made in the shape of a maple leaf, which was cute! Served with Canadian maple syrup, of course.

Soft and hot drinks are available at self-serve machines.

Showers in the Heathrow Maple Leaf Lounge

There are three showers in the Air Canada Lounge at Heathrow, including a disabled one. You need to pick up a key from reception to access these.

They are clad in the same brown Canadian stone as used in the main lounge, and reminded me a lot of the showers in the Cathay Pacific lounge over in Terminal 3.

Toiletries are from Molton Brown.

Conclusion

Overall, the refurbishment of the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge has added more useful seating plus plentiful charging opportunities without changing the overall character of the space, which remains stylish and modern.

Thanks to the relatively balanced Air Canada schedule the lounge never gets overly busy. This is one of its strengths versus the Singapore KrisFlyer and United Club lounges next door. It was exactly how a lounge should be – quiet and relaxing.

The food selection – as before – is not quite as strong as at United or Singapore Airlines although it was better than I remembered!

You can find out more about the lounge – and check the latest opening hours – on this page of the Air Canada website.

Travelling from Heathrow Terminal 2? Here are your lounge options ….

At Heathrow’s Terminal 2 you currently have eight lounges to choose from.

Our overview of the best airline lounges at Heathrow Terminal 2 is here, or you can read individual reviews of all the lounges here:

• Aer Lingus lounge review
• Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge review (Star Alliance)
• Lufthansa Business lounge review (Star Alliance)
• Plaza Premium lounge review
• Singapore Airlines SilverKris lounge review (Star Alliance)
• Singapore Airlines First Class Lounge review (Star Alliance)
• United Club lounge review (Star Alliance)
• United Global Services lounge review (Star Alliance)