Review: Cathay Pacific First & Business Class Lounge Tokyo Narita T2

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After a very nice few days exploring Tokyo it was time for the next leg of our trip – it was on to Hong Kong in Business Class with Cathay Pacific. I’ll be reviewing our flight on a Cathay Pacific A330 in the next few days but first I thought I’d take a look at the First & Business Class Lounge the airline offers its customers at Tokyo Narita’s Terminal 2.

Although my oneworld status grants me access to the JAL First Class lounge we chose to check out what the Cathay Pacific First & Business Class lounge was like at Tokyo Narita Terminal 2 – we were’t going to be in the lounge very long and I figured that a review of a lounge you can access with a Business Class ticket or with just mid-tier oneworld status would be most useful to TFM readers.

Upon checking in Joanna and I were given an invitation to the lounge…

a white ticket with black text

…and a map showing us where to go: a map of airport terminal

Who Has Access To The Cathay Pacific First & Business Class Lounge?

Marco Polo Diamond traveling in any class + 2 guests
Marco Polo Gold & oneworld Emerald traveling I any class + 1 guest
Oneworld sapphire traveling in any class + 1 guest
Marco Polo Silver & oneworld ruby traveling in First Class + 1 guest
Marco Polo Silver traveling in Business or Economy Class
Other passengers booked into Cathay Pacific/oneworld Business Class

Note: All travelers and guests must be flying on the day of entry on a flight marketed and operated by a oneworld airline.

Getting To The Lounge

Departures is on level 3 of Terminal 2 at Narita and, after we passed though priority security and passport control, the elevator to the lounge (which is on level 4) was just to the right of an information desk that was almost directly ahead of us:

people standing at a counter in a building

The elevator is clearly marked (the same elevator is used to access the Emirates lounge)…

a glass door with signs on it

…and shows that the lounge opening hours are 07:30 to 18:00:

a sign with a clock and time

Upon exiting the elevator on the 4^th floor the entrance to the lounge is directly ahead.

a glass door with a counter and people behind it

The Cathay Pacific First & Business Class Lounge At Tokyo Narita

Once you’ve checked in at the desk just inside the lounge’s doors you have to turn left to access the rest of the lounge.

To help my description of the lounge make sense I’ve cobbled together a very rough plan of the lounge’s layout:

a diagram of a restaurant

This plan is supposed to be indicative only and I’m not claiming it’s 100% accurate….so please don’t write in with corrections!

As you walk into the lounge (from the front desk) immediately ahead of you is where all the food and drinks are laid out (more on those later) and the two seating areas of the lounge are to the left and the right.

a kitchen with a counter and shelves

The left side seating area offers a number of seating options…

a room with chairs and tables

a group of chairs in a room

a group of chairs around a table

….including a bench with stools at the far left end of the area:

a bar with chairs in a room

A good amount of light can enter through the large windows at this end of the lounge but you’re not exactly going to be overwhelmed by the view:

a view of a field from a window

As far as I could tell the biggest issue with this side of the lounge was a lack of power outlets – I don’t think I saw more than 3 or 4.

The opposite end of the lounge offers similar seating…

a room with red couches and tables

a room with chairs and tables

a person sitting in a chair

a group of red chairs and a table in a room

….but it also offers 8 work stations:

a glass wall with computers in it

On our visit there were 4 iMacs…

a computer on a desk

…and 4 PCs:

a computer on a desk

This area of the lounge appeared to have considerably more power outlets than the other…although a lot of visitors will require adapters if they want to charge their devices – the outlets are not universal:

a close up of a wall outlet

This side of the lounge has good-sized windows too but, just like on the other side, the view isn’t going to be one you remember:

a window with blinds and a building behind it

As I mentioned a little earlier the lounge offers a variety of food a drink options laid out between the two seating areas.

We were in the lounge at around 15:30 and, food-wise, the options were:

Savory

a counter with plates and plates on it

Mini-baguette sandwiches with:
- Cajun chicken and chili mayonnaise
- Prawns
- Smoked duck
- Dried tomato and cucumber

a plate of food on a white plate

Avocado rolls – Avocado/roe/steamed fish paste

a tray of sushi on a black surface

Salad roll – egg/cucumber/steamed fish paste
Sushi pocket (Inarizushi) – sweet and salty deep fried tofu and vinegared rice.
Fried bean curd stuffed with sushi rice

food on a tray in a glass case

Noodles in a pot:
- Mushroom and vegetable noodle flavored with sesame oil
- Seafood noodle – noodles with seafood and vegetables
- Soy sauce noodles – noodles with soy sauce and vegetables
Miso soup – soy bean soup with tofu or spinach

a table with food on it

Desserts

Earl Grey cake

a basket with food in it

Häagen-Dazs ice cream:
- Vanilla
- Green Tea

a stack of containers of food

Croissants/Danish Pastries – chocolate and apricot

a bag of pastries in plastic bags

Various cookies

a trays of food on a counter

Drink-wise the selection was quite wide too

Alcoholic Drinks

a group of bottles on a wall

a group of metal boxes with signs

a refrigerator with bottles of alcohol

a couple of wine bottles in a basket

a bottle of alcohol in a bucket

Non-Alcoholic Drinks

Tea & coffee making facilities….

a coffee machine and a coffee maker

…..and there are even instructions on how to make iced coffee:

a sign on a counter

There’s a soda machine….

a machine with a drink dispenser

…and a selection of juices, chilled green teas and water:

a refrigerator with bottles of liquid and drinks

Thoughts

As a Business Class lounge this is one of the more average lounges I’ve visited….especially in Asia. As a First Class lounge it really didn’t deliver in any department.

Negatives:

The lack of power ports on one side of the lounge is poor considering how most passengers travel with electronics that need to be charged.
The food offerings were only slightly better than I’d expect in a third-party lounge and certainly not what I expect from Cathay Pacific.
The spirits selection was ok but there was nothing First Class about it.
The wine selection was poor and there was no champagne on offer
The seating was adequate but in no way special.

Positives:

The staff at the lounge’s check-in desk were very friendly and helpful
Offering Kirin lager and stout on draft is good.

Bottom Line

Cathay Pacific should remove any mention of First Class from the name of this lounge as there’s nothing First Class about it – simply calling it a Business Class lounge is likely to manage passengers’ expectations better.

Will I be visiting the lounge when I pass through Narita again? Unlikely. I suspect that whatever JAL offers elsewhere in the terminal will be better … and probably a lot better.