After a long wait, there’s once again a Qantas Club lounge in Rockhampton – and from first impressions, it was well worth the delay. Replacing the previous shoebox beside check-in, the new space conveniently sits after security.

At twice the size of its predecessor, it’s a big step up for Queensland’s regional flyers. Now with a capacity of 65 seats, there’s more room to stretch out at peak times – and more room for Qantas to grow from Australia’s Beef Capital.

Inside the new Rockhampton Qantas Club

Measuring up at 200 square metres, the new Qantas Club in Rockhampton caters to a variety of travellers.

When there’s work to be done, perch your laptop by the window. Enjoy the vista of planes coming and going, while your emails do the same over the lounge’s high-speed Wi-Fi.

Along with those airport views, the lounge also showcases artwork by local indigenous artist Brandon Butler. Together, the pieces tell the story of a journey on Darumbal Country – the land on which Rockhampton Airport is located.

With time to relax here, get comfortable at one of the banquette seats where there’s also power available to keep your gadgets juiced up. Or just settle into one of the armchairs as you enjoy a refreshment.

Speaking of refreshments, think light snacks rather than what you’d find in a larger capital city Qantas Club, like Brisbane. There’s a selection of sweet and savoury bites, packed and ready to grab.

On the coffee front, the DIY machine has you covered for that pre-flight kick. There’s also a range of teas on offer, along with chilled and sparkling water on tap. You’ll find soft drinks in the fridge, joined by beer and wine after midday.

Qantas magazines are also available to take with you from Rockhampton’s Qantas Club.

The space has been designed with business and leisure travellers in mind. While we expect the lounge will be well utilised by business travellers, it’s also opening just in time for the peak Christmas travel period for our leisure Qantas Club members and tiered frequent flyers.

– John Gissing, QantasLink CEO, 15 November 2022

Accessing Rockhampton’s Qantas Club lounge

The new Qantas Club in Rockhampton follows the same access rules as the airline’s other domestic lounges.

This sees it welcoming Qantas Gold, Platinum, Platinum One and Chairman’s Lounge members. Paid Qantas Club members are, of course, welcome as well.

Joining that list, other frequent flyers with oneworld Sapphire and Emerald status. Travellers with Gold-grade credentials from selected partner airlines outside of oneworld also make the cut. For instance, Emirates Skywards Gold, Platinum and iO cardholders.

Failing that, access can also be granted by using a Qantas Club single-entry lounge pass. These are provided to Qantas Silver frequent flyers and with selected Qantas-branded credit cards.

Unfortunately though, Rockhampton’s Qantas Club opens just 60 minutes prior to each QantasLink flight departure.

With boarding often commencing 20-25 minutes before pushback, that gives most travellers around half an hour to enjoy the lounge. A lucky few may get a little extra time, when two or more QantasLink flights are scheduled within 60 minutes of each other.

Summing up

Compared to Rockhampton’s previous Qantas Regional Lounge, the new Qantas Club comes as a very welcome upgrade.

On my last visit to Rocky’s Regional Lounge, I couldn’t get so much as a coffee. The Nespresso machine was broken, the boiling water tap was also out of service – and there was nobody around to help. Now, that morning caffeine kick is much easier to obtain, and the lounge itself is a more pleasant space in which to enjoy it.

It’s been a long wait for Rockhampton travellers, with the previous lounge closing almost three years ago. While all Qantas lounges originally closed due to COVID restrictions in early 2020, Rockhampton remained shuttered even beyond, as upgrades took place to the airport terminal itself.

Rockhampton is a strategic regional hub for Qantas. It’s well-connected to Brisbane with multiple daily flights across a mix of all-Economy Boeing 717s and Dash 8 Q400s. Travellers can also fly from Rocky directly to Mackay. These flights continue onwards to Townsville and then Cairns as well, under a single flight number.

Virgin Australia also serves Rockhampton Airport from Brisbane, but doesn’t offer a lounge facility when departing Rockhampton.

Also read: Qantas Club review, Townsville

Feature image courtesy of Qantas.