SAS has released fresh details and renderings of its new flagship lounge at Copenhagen Airport, and the plans go well beyond a standard refresh. Set to open in June 2027 on the fourth floor of Terminal 3, the lounge will span roughly 3,700 square metres — about 40% larger than the current one — with seating for 1,095 guests and room for up to 4,000 visitors a day.
The headline feature for many will be the private hotel rooms, aimed at passengers facing long connections through what is SAS's main hub. Add 24 work pods, panoramic runway views, dedicated family areas, and separate zones for focus, relaxation, silent relaxation and sleep, and the layout reads more like a boutique hotel than an airline lounge. There will also be more showers and restrooms than the current space offers.
Food and drink get a serious upgrade too. The current lounge's main gripes — a thin drinks selection and no proper bar — are answered with a staffed bar pouring signature SAS cocktails, plus the barista coffee that regulars already rate highly. A fresh bakery serving pastries and snacks is also planned, and there's an Exclusive Zone reserved for SAS's top-tier frequent flyers.
Chief commercial officer Paul Verhagen described the lounge as "a destination of its own," with Nordic design, high ceilings and natural light. Sustainability gets a nod as well: selected furniture from the existing lounge will be reused, along with recycled SAS textiles, and everything sits on a single floor rather than splitting guests across levels as today's lounge does.
Worth noting: the current lounge isn't the faded space its critics suggest. Since SAS moved from Star Alliance to SkyTeam, food quality has improved noticeably — fresh salads, soups, hot dishes and notably good cinnamon buns — and the barista station is already a highlight. The new build is really about capacity: the existing facility was designed for a smaller airline, and crowding has long been the complaint. If the finished product matches the renderings, Copenhagen could end up with one of the most appealing airline lounges in Europe.
For travellers, this matters most if you're connecting through CPH on SAS — whether in business class, holding EuroBonus gold status, or flying with SkyTeam elite status that grants lounge access. Long layovers become considerably more bearable when you can sleep flat in a private room, work undisturbed in a pod, and eat fresh pastries while watching planes push back.
