LOUNGE REVIEW: Brand New Skala Lounge, Larnaca, Cyprus

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Larnaca Airport

I want to start this review by saying how impressed I was with Larnaca Airport in general. I had booked a hire car with British Airways Holidays so that I qualified for the Double Tier Point Promotion. Cyprus being a longer destination netted me 320 Tier Points which is not bad at all.

The car drop off is right at the front of the terminal doors and it’s step free from getting out of the car, all the way to the plane doors. Check-in was a breeze and at security, we were also prioritised and actively escorted to the front of the queue for having Fastrack.

The airport in general is airy, modern and filled with decent shops and food/bar outlets. It meant the whole experience was positive and strangely calming.

Will the newly opened Skala Lounge live up to the rest of the experience?

How to Find the Skala Lounge at Larnaca Airport

Once you are through security, as customary at most international airports, everyone is funnelled into Duty Free (I made the mistake of walking too far and had to backtrack).

Look out for the Chanel stand positioned on the left hand side right at the start of Duty Free. Next to this, you will see a small corridor. Jump in the lift up to the Skala Lounge. It could be signposted better!

Entry Requirements & Opening Times

I was flying with British Airways in Club Europe which allowed me to enter, however, this is one of those lounges where they accept entry from a lot of airlines, lounge schemes, status holders and even paying customers.

British Airways, Qatar, Emirates, Priority Pass, Dragon Pass and Lounge Key to name only a few users of Skala Lounge.

If you are paying to enter, it states you must register and book 12 hours in advance however, when we were checking in, they allowed a paid walk in with no pre-registration. The price for this is 35 euros per person. Find the booking page here.

Kids under 5 are free however, if your child is older, they will have to pay the full adult price. I feel they could definitely have a specific children’s price given they won’t be drinking any alcohol. Maybe it’s to deter too many children from being in the lounge?

Unusually, this lounge is open 24/7 although there are no showers or daybeds for guests to sleep in and there is a maximum time in the lounge of 3 hours although I’m not sure how they would monitor this.

First Thoughts

We were welcomed by 3 lovely members of the team who were really friendly and showed us where everything was which we thought was a nice touch.

As we walked in, I was really impressed by the warm, calming tones and clear attention paid to design and detail. The overwhelming colour tone is copper and for those who don’t know, during the Roman era, copper was mined principally in Cyprus. Some call it the Copper Island so as you can see, great attention to detail.

When we visited the lounge, it was fairly quiet, and we were spoilt for choice of where to sit. After doing a few circuits we sat on a very comfortable sofa.

So far, I am very impressed.

Food and Drink at The Skala Lounge at Larnaca Airport

DRINKS

To start with, as you walk in, there is a beautiful bar which got me very excited until I walked up to realise it was a paid for ‘premium bar’. Having viewed the free selection of drinks, that I would say were good enough, I can see why they have a premium selection. You only have to look at the Middle Eastern airlines that use this lounge whose clientele I’m sure would have no problem dropping 350 Euros on a bottle of Dom Pérignon.

The premium selection was very good to be fair, and they stocked my favourite drink which is rare even for a trendy London Bar.

Most of their free wines are local and all red, white and rose are stored in fridges. Although 10 degrees for red wine is too cool for many. 9 degrees for white wine is perfect for me and the same temperature I set my fridge at home.

On the day they had a choice of 5 white wines, 5 reds and 3 rose wines. They also offered a Paul Bernard sparkling wine which isn’t great and retails in the UK for less than £10 a bottle.

Other than wines they offered a handful of local beers by can and Carlsberg 0.0 alcohol free larger.

The spirits choice was ok too with Bombay Sapphire Gin, Smirnoff Vodka and Bacardi white rum.

For soft drinks, they had a self-serve Pepsi dispenser which had multiple choices along with a few juice options and both still and sparkling water.

In a different area of the lounge were the hot drinks machines. The tea selection was good, and the tea lovers out there will be pleased to hear they stocked English breakfast tea as well as peppermint, camomile and green tea.

It might surprise you to hear this but I have never had a coffee in my life but Katrina reliably informs me that the coffee was pretty good from the machine which offered the usual selection from Americanos to Cappuccinos. The same machine also had hot chocolate and just hot water.

FOOD

The food offered is really good and presented beautifully. The layout and design of this whole area, especially around the centre island has been done very well. The layout of the food has been well thought out too which allows the whole area to flow.

Hot food
– Lentils with Carrot, Celery & Tomato
– Beef Kebap Politiko
– Vegetable Briam
– Chicken Souvlaki
– Vegetable Spring Rolls

Sandwiches & Wraps
– Chicken Pesto Wrap
– Roasted Veg & Hummus Bloomer
– Ham & Cheese White Bloomer

Other Foods
– Garden Salad
– Coleslaw Salad
– Greek Yoghurt
– Peanut Brittle with Seasame
– Various seeds
– Cakes including Baklava
– Pastries
– Breads, biscuits and spreads
– Cereals
– Selection of fruits
– Olives and stuffed peppers
– Tzatziki
– Variety of dips

I would say that whilst the offering isn’t as extensive as some first class lounges around the world, it is still better than most business class lounges. I would place this somewhere in between. The quality was very good and there were a couple of chefs in the window making fresh food the whole time we were there.
I was also impressed that there were multiple signs citing food allergens. I asked a member of the team, and he stated that they can cater for all allergens and preferences. Such as gluten, dairy and nut allergies. You just have to ask, which is fair enough.

Seating Areas

There are multiple different seating areas within this lounge as you’ll see from the photos. They have a smaller section of tables and chairs close to the food area but these are also close to the toilets and the entrance/exit, foot traffic will be a lot higher here so bear that in mind.

They have a large area with comfortable sofas and chairs which is where we sat. There are also TV screens here with both news and gate information.

Along the long window wall, they had comfortable sections for individuals to sit and get some rest or to work in peace without anyone walking past. I can see these seats being very popular.

Next to the single seats mentioned above and taking up the rest of the long windows it shares is a long high bar with bar stools overlooking the airport and behind these is a very spacious seating area with both curved sofas and plenty of tables and chairs.

There is a very cool bar and stool area which is next to the hot drinks section. Next to this, there are even more tables and chairs plus a kid’s section lined with tablets to keep them occupied. Very 2024!

It’s safe to say that whilst this isn’t the biggest lounge in the world (also nowhere near the smallest), they have made use of all the space available to them and can host a lot of passengers. The design is great as it didn’t feel like they have crammed tables in. Granted it was quiet when we went, and I am sure that as they near capacity it will feel a lot more cramped.

Outside Terrace

One of the biggest benefits of this lounge is the lovely outside terrace space that overlooks the runway. It doesn’t have the greatest view of the runway like say the terrace in the Marco Polo Lounge in Venice, but it does have plenty of comfortable seating such as sofa style seats, dining tables and chairs and a long high bar with stools.

Frustratingly it is heavily sold as a smoking area, which makes sense given it’s outside, but the lounge puts too much emphasis on the ‘smoking’ element, instead of a nice relaxing outside space to enjoy a last glass of wine of your holiday. I feel that would be a much more positive narrative. Then again, I don’t smoke so I would say that.

Whatever the narrative, it’s a great area and it’s still very rare to have outside space in an airport lounge in this day and age.

Conclusion

I loved this lounge!

I really enjoyed that it was quiet, spacious and calming with a great food and drinks offering, coupled with an outside terrace. I am sold!

You can tell they thought long and hard about every element of this lounge and there is very little to dislike. I rate this right up there with some of the best BA partner lounges. 

I couldn’t find too many plug sockets unless you were on the bench seating on the edge of the room which might need addressing but other than that, fantastic job!