Cathay Pacific operates two lounges in Japan – one at Tokyo Narita airport and the other one at Haneda. While the older Narita lounge is mediocre at best from what I’ve heard, the Haneda lounge was opened in 2014 and follows the same concept as the airline’s Pier lounge in Hong Kong.
Earlier this month, I had a chance to visit the Haneda lounge for a few hours before taking a JAL flight to Seoul. Continue reading this review to see what the lounge was like.
Location, Opening Hours & Access
The Cathay Pacific lounge at Tokyo Haneda airport can be found airside in the international terminal (soon to be renamed to terminal 3). It’s on the terminal’s sixth floor and can be accessed via escalators located just past gate 114.
ANA, JAL, as well as a couple of contract lounges can be found on the lower floors of the same area as well.
Besides Cathay Pacific business and first class passengers, the lounge can be accessed by business and first class passengers flying on other oneworld airlines as well. Status holders in those airlines’ frequent flyer programs can enter the lounge with one guest as well.
With the last Cathay Pacific flight departing Haneda at 4:10PM, the lounge’s opening hours are unfortunately a bit restricted. It’s open every day between 7:30AM and 5:00PM.
Lounge Tour
The lounge’s entrance led into the middle of the lounge, into an area with some standing tables as well as counters with stools. It also featured a small counter with some light things to eat.
While some of them were self service, some of them were served by the lounge’s staff.
More about that in the next section, though.
Along the windows in this section, there were some black leather sofa chairs with coffee tables in between.
Behind those, there was a row of sofa chairs with high back and sides for increased privacy. Each of those featured a small table and a reading light.
It’s also worth noting that the seats along the windows here – as well as in the other parts of the lounge – offered excellent views of the apron and one of the runways.
To the left of the area above, there was Cathay Pacific’s signature Noodle Bar where one could order – as the name suggests – noodles but also some other dishes. Next to the Noodle Bar, there was also a self-service counter with drinks.
As for the seating in this area, there were some stools along the bar, more than a dozen booths for two, as well as a pair of communal tables with stools seating ten people each.
On the other end of the lounge, there were a large seating area and the bar area.
The first of those featured both leather and cloth sofas of various sizes – as well as some lounging chairs with ottomans.
Those were arranged in irregular “living room-like” patterns which combined with the lounge’s decorations gave the lounge a cozy feeling. Especially compared to lounges which are equipped with rows and rows of sofa chairs.
There was also a rack with some magazines.
Along the windows in this section, there was a row of about ten massive leather sofa chairs overlooking the apron. Each of the chairs came with an ottoman and a side table equipped with power outlets and USB ports.
The comfort of the massive chairs and the excellent apron views made this my favorite part of the lounge.
The bar area, separated from the seating area above by a wall, of course featured the staffed bar counter itself along with some counter-height chairs. Besides that, it was also equipped with a self-service drink station.
There were also a dozen or so sofa chairs. Once again, those were arranged in a living room-like layout.
Finally, besides all of the above, there was a small business center or – as Cathay Pacific calls it – the Bureau. It consisted of one long desk with three iMacs and an empty spot for use with one’s own laptop.
The lounge was not equipped with showers.
Food and Drinks
Drinks in the Cathay Pacific lounge at Tokyo Haneda could be found in three spots: the self-service areas next to the Noodle Bar and next to the bar, as well as at the actual staffed bar.
Starting with the self-service areas, there were some pitchers with juices, cans of Coke and Coke Zero, and bottles of Evian. There were also automatic Kirin Ichiban draft beer dispensers, a coffee machine, and a selection of Dilmah tea bags.
At the bar, a selection of cocktails and mocktails as well as wine, sake, liquor, tea, and coffee was offered.
There were also two signature drinks only offered – as their name suggests – at the Cathay Pacific Haneda lounge:
- Sweet Haneda: a mocktail consisting of grenadine syrup, lemon juice, syrup, and club soda
- Haneda Jade: a cocktail consisting of green tea liqueur, creme de cassis, lemon juice, Sprite, and grenadine syrup
As for food, there was a self-service area in the central part of the lounge with some pastries, dried fruits, and three types of dessert – fruits, anmitsu, and pumpkin pudding.
Later in the day, some salad and olives, as well as Japanese sweets were added.
Besides that, in the same area, there was a staffed counter where items like ham, salmon escabeche, ratatouille, pasta salad, and cheese could be had.
For more filling meals, one could order from the a la carte menu at the Noodle Bar. Unlike its name suggests, there was a selection of dishes beyond just noodles too.
Until 11AM, the breakfast menu was on offer. That included Japanese breakfast (a piece of salmon, rice, miso soup), Chinese breakfast (congee), and three of the lounge’s siganture dishes – dan dan noodles, wonton noodles, and French toast.
Once the all-day dining menu came into effect, the menu included: steamed pork buns, beef curry rice, shrimp macaroni gratin, French toast, dan dan noodles, wonton noodles, barbecue pork noodles, and pork bone broth noodles (tonkotsu ramen).
All of the dishes that I had the chance to try were enjoyable.
Cathay Pacific Lounge Tokyo Haneda Summary
Aside from the lounge’s lack of showers (which is understandable since Hong Kong is just four or five hours away from Tokyo), there is nothing negative I can say about the lounge.
The lounge was deserted throughout my five-hour visit, the food – including the items from the a la carte menu as well as the desserts – was mostly excellent, and there was plenty of comfortable seating with great apron views.
Overall, I enjoyed it more than either of the two JAL lounges at the airport. As such, if you happen to be on a oneworld flight departing Haneda while the Cathay Pacific lounge is open, I certainly recommend visiting it.
I also liked the lounge more than the other two Cathay Pacific outstation (Bangkok and Vancouver) lounges I visited.
