Qantas Singapore Lounge Hours (October 2026 Update): First Lounge Now Opens an Hour Later
The Qantas lounges at Changi Terminal 1 have had a busy year on the scheduling front. I covered the move to daily morning openings in June, the loss of the Saturday morning session in July, and another reshuffle in August. This time the spotlight shifts to the other end of the concourse. For October 2026, the Qantas Singapore First Lounge now opens at 4.30pm daily, an hour later than its previous 3.30pm start. Closing time remains 11pm. The Qantas Singapore International Business Lounge, meanwhile, keeps exactly the same hours it moved to in August, which makes this the first update in a while where the Business Lounge has stayed put..
Photo Credit: Qantas
| Day | Morning session | Afternoon to late night |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | No early session | 11am to 12.15am |
| Tuesday | 7.50am to 10.15am | 2pm to 12.15am |
| Wednesday | 3.20am to 10.15am | 2pm to 12.15am |
| Thursday | No early session | 11am to 12.15am |
| Friday | 3.20am to 10.15am | 2pm to 12.15am |
| Saturday | No morning session | 2pm to 12.15am |
| Sunday | 3.20am to 10.15am | 2pm to 12.15am |
The Business Lounge schedule is unchanged from August 2026. The 2pm to 12.15am session remains the backbone of the week, supporting the evening bank of Qantas departures to Australia and London, while the morning picture varies by day. In practice, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday are the days to have an early departure, with a long 3.20am to 10.15am morning window. Tuesday opens at a more sociable 7.50am. Monday and Thursday run continuously from 11am, and Saturday remains afternoon-only from 2pm.
Photo Credit: Qantas
Qantas Singapore First Lounge now opens at 4.30pm
The First Lounge is now open daily from 4.30pm to 11pm. That is one hour later than the 3.30pm opening I reported in August 2026, while the 11pm close is unchanged. The lounge now operates for six and a half hours a day. This is a lounge that has steadily tightened its window over the years. It opened in late 2019 with a 2.30pm start, and late 2025 even saw lunchtime openings on selected days. A 4.30pm start firmly positions it as a pre-departure dinner lounge for the evening Qantas bank rather than somewhere to while away an afternoon. The practical casualty is the long layover or early arrival. If you liked to clear immigration in the mid afternoon and settle in for a long Neil Perry inspired lunch before an evening flight, that first hour is now spent in the Business Lounge instead.
What this means for oneworld flyers at Changi Airport
For most First Lounge users, the change is fairly painless. The bulk of Qantas departures from Singapore leave in the evening, so anyone on those flights still has ample time for a sit-down dinner before boarding.
Access rules are unchanged:
First Lounge: First Class passengers on Qantas, Emirates or oneworld flights, plus Qantas Platinum, Platinum One and Chairman's Lounge members and oneworld Emerald members departing on an eligible flight.
Business Lounge: Business Class passengers on Qantas, Emirates or oneworld flights, plus Qantas Gold and above, oneworld Sapphire and Emerald members departing on an eligible flight.
For those of us on the morning KUL run with Malaysia Airlines, nothing changes this month. A Saturday morning departure still leaves you without Qantas lounge access, so plan around the Wednesday, Friday and Sunday morning windows where you can. And as always, Changi's Early Check-In at Jewel lets you check in and clear into the transit area well ahead of a later departure. With the First Lounge now opening at 4.30pm, there is little point heading airside early purely for the First Lounge, but the Business Lounge remains a solid base for an afternoon of work.
After several months of the Business Lounge being the one to watch, it is the First Lounge that has moved this time. Losing an hour at the start of the day will matter little to evening Qantas passengers, though it does trim the appeal of a leisurely afternoon in what remains one of the best lounges at Changi. The Business Lounge, for its part, appears to have found a rhythm, and I will keep this page updated if Qantas adjusts either schedule again.
The Qantas Singapore First Lounge now opens an hour later, while the Business Lounge sticks with the schedule it settled into in August. Here is where things stand for October 2026.