The first details of Delta's upcoming Delta One Lounge were presented to Atlanta officials this week, as the airport and Delta revealed their audacious new plans for the premium lounge space.
According to a memo sent to Atlanta city staff included in a June 15 Atlanta City Council meeting, the new lounge will be constructed above the E Concourse between gates E14 and E27. To do this, Delta will need to erect a new, approximately 40,000 square foot shell above the concourse – a massive project that Delta will be reimbursed for to the tune of $63 million, the city says. (Delta will then lease the space back from the airport, which is common practice for lounge spaces.)
The city memo says the construction contract is not to exceed 30 months. This means if Delta starts on the project the day it is approved (scheduled for July 6), the project would have to be done by January 2029, with an opening date (presumably) several weeks after that.
In other words? Don't count on visiting this lounge any time soon.
According to the details, the final product will be 39,000 square feet – about 33,000 square feet on the lounge floor and 5,500 for “the apron level” (which I assume would be the entrance) – making it one of the largest Delta One Lounges to date, nearly identical in size to the New York (JFK) Delta One space.
Check out our reviews of the JFK and LAX Delta One Lounges!
Sky Clubs are one thing, but Delta One Lounges up the ante with a la carte dining, chic and high-quality design, additional amenities … and incredibly strict entry requirements: You need a business class ticket with Delta or one of its partners like Air France or KLM to get inside. Fancy credit cards or pricey lounge memberships are no good here.
As Delta began building out these expensive spaces to close the gap with United and American, it focused first on ultra-competitive hubs like New York City (JFK), Los Angeles (LAX), Boston (BOS), and Seattle (SEA). There are now concrete plans for a Minneapolis (MSP) Delta One Lounge, while Salt Lake City (SLC) and Detroit (DTW) are expected to join ATL in the next few years.
CEO Ed Bastian has said all eight hubs will eventually get their own Delta One Lounge. But the airline hasn't laid out a clear timeline for when that might happen.
Currently, all of the Delta hubs have dedicated Delta One check-in areas, which are new.
Bottom Line
Pending official Atlanta City Council approval early in July, Delta is set to construct a nearly 40,000-square-foot Delta One Lounge on top of Concourse E at Atlanta-Hartsfield International Airport.
The project has a deadline of January 2029, so the first premium lounge guests will have to wait at least three years to experience it.
