As Korean Air has a significant presence at Tokyo Narita airport, they operate their own lounge there. The lounge is also a part of the Priority Pass network of lounges, and as such, I had a chance to visit it in mid-December before getting onboard ANA flight 209 to Dusseldorf to visit Europe for Christmas vacation.
Besides the KAL lounge, Priority Pass also gives its members access to IASS Executive Lounge and T.E.I. Lounge in Narita’s Terminal 1, however, those two are located before security check, and thus are less convenient to visit before a flight. You can read my comparison of all the Priority Pass lounges at Tokyo Narita here.
The KAL Business Class Lounge is located airside on the departure floor, near gates 26 and 28 of the North Wing of Terminal 1. Priority Pass states that access may be restricted during busy hours, however, when I visited it around 9:30AM, it was only about half-full and I had no trouble entering it.
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Lounge Overview
Once past reception, the lounge consist’s of one main sitting area with food & drinks in one corner and a “First Class section” in another. As an aviation enthusiast, I also appreciated the fact that the lounge is facing the runway.
The sitting area, while physically undivided, has very comfortable dining/lounging chairs and tables in the area around the food counter, and the typical sofa-like lounge chairs in the rest of the lounge.
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Quite understandably since all the Korean Air flights out of Narita are short haul and there is not much connecting traffic, the lounge does not offer showers. The lounge also does not feature a business center.
Finally, the first class section is located in a corner by the windows, and is separated from the rest of the lounge with a wall made out of chains. There is no separate food and drink counter – it is just a separate seating area with leather lounging chairs.
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Food & Drink Selection
The food and drink selection is very basic, however, it is more than enough for Korean Air’s customers that have only about 2 hours of flying ahead of them.
There is no hot food except for a selection of cup noodles. Furthermore, there were some pre-packaged “onigiris” (Japanese rice balls) and pastries available during my visit. Oreo cookies, regular crackers, and rice crackers were offered for snack.
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A selection of both soft and alcoholic drinks is offered in the lounge.
On the soft side, besides the coffee machine and soda machine, there is also a fridge with (not so wide) selection of juices.
On the alcoholic side, there are two brands of draft beer (Budweiser and Kirin at the time of my visit), as well as a small selection of hard liquor and wine available.
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KAL Lounge Tokyo Narita Summary
The KAL Lounge at Tokyo Narita is nothing to write home about. While it offers comfortable seating areas, the seating is not that much better compared to the terminal itself. And, since the food and drinks selection is fairly poor as well, I don’t recommend arriving at the airport early just to be able to visit this lounge.
Instead, if you are traveling with Sky Team in business or first class or are a Sky Team Elite Plus member, I recommend visiting the Delta Sky Club.
8 thoughts on “Lounge Review: KAL Business Lounge at Tokyo Narita”
Hi hello! Do you now if it is possible to access this lounge when arriving at Tokyo instead of departing from Tokyo? Thanks for your help!
Hi Tom,
Thanks for your comment.
This lounge is airside, and so it is not possible to access it after arrival. However, there are two lounges in each terminal landside – IASS Executive Lounge and T.E.I. Lounge – which you should be able to access after arrival. You will need the boarding pass stub to enter together with your Priority Pass membership.
Hope this helps!
Keishi
Is there an airline/boarding pass restriction on entering the KAL lounge? I’ll be flying United out of NRT next month, and have Priority Pass.
Hi Alan,
As long as you are flying out internationally from Terminal 1, there is no restriction. As such, you should be OK with your United boarding pass.
Opposite question: I land in terminal 2 via Japan Airlines and also connect to a flight from NRT to SIN from terminal 2 on Japan Airlines. Is it possible to get to terminal 1 for this KAL lounge with a boarding pass for terminal 2?
I am not sure given that I always end or start my trip at NRT, but it seems like there is an airside shuttle bus between the terminals:
https://www.narita-airport.jp/en/connect/inter/inter_inter_t1/
While it says “The shuttle bus is for transit passengers only. Please refrain from using the bus to travel between terminals for shopping, etc.,” you might be able to use it to access the lounge with it.
Hello from Texas!
We’ll be traveling to Japan through Narita Airport and saw that the ANA lounge partnered with Priority Pass, and it has a buffet and a noodle bar! Travelers should check the Priority Pass site to see who their airline partners are as they may find a partner in their terminal.
Hi, yes, the ANA lounge is definitely the one to go to if possible. The hours it can be accessed with Priority Pass are limited though.