The Air India Maharaja Lounge, San Francisco International Airport (SFO): It’s more Indian than you think.

Air India has officially opened its newest signature premium lounge at San Francisco International Airport, which has been in the works since August 2025 (or perhaps even earlier). The new lounge marks the airline’s first Maharaja Lounge outside India and another milestone in the carrier’s ongoing transformation. Officially opening to guests on May 23, 2026, the new facility extends Air India’s refreshed premium experience to one of its most important international gateways, where the airline previously operated 17 weekly flights (and currently operates 7, due to Middle East-related cutbacks). The lounge had been operating in a soft launch since April 1, 2026, but May 21, 2026, was the official launch. I flew in for the preview and the first day of operations.

Located near Gate A1 in the International Terminal at SFO, the new Maharaja Lounge spans approximately 3,300 square feet and accommodates around 80 guests at a time. The lounge is designed to blend modern luxury with Indian aesthetics, reflecting the design philosophy of the recently launched Delhi Maharaja Lounge.

The lounge also walked guests through Air India’s history, beginning with the airline’s founding in 1932 by JRD Tata, India’s first commercial pilot, before touching upon the airline’s return to the Tata Group in 2022 and the subsequent transformation programme involving new aircraft, retrofits and premium product upgrades.

Air India Maharaja Lounge San Francisco – Location & Access

The Maharaja Lounge SFO is located at the International Terminal of San Francisco Airport, in Concourse A, near Gate A1, where the Air France Lounge is, alongside the Golden Gate Lounge, Virgin Atlantic Lounge and others. The lounge operates from 7 AM to a bit after midnight, as it is usually open for two Air India departures a day (currently one) and is also open to Star Alliance member airlines.

The lounge is accessible to:

• Air India First Class passengers
• Air India Business Class passengers
• Maharaja Club Platinum members
• Maharaja Club Gold members
• Eligible Star Alliance Gold members
• Eligible premium passengers travelling on Star Alliance partner airlines (if their airline invites them, such as Singapore Airlines)

Air India says the lounge has been created as part of its broader strategy to improve the premium ground experience for international travellers, especially in North America. With the airline on the way to becoming more premium over time, San Francisco was the first of the new airport lounges, with Dubai and London Heathrow being the other lounges in consideration, of course, subject to finding enough lounge space.

First Impressions of the Lounge

In my short stay in SFO, I happened to head to the lounge twice over: Once on the day of the preview, and the other on departure from San Francisco. You arrive at the airport and head towards the A gates, to the area reserved for all the lounges. Take the escalator or the stairs, head one floor up, and a little bit of a walk later, you arrive at the Maharaja Lounge. At the reception, you first validate your entry, and you are directed to the appropriate section.

The lounge has clearly been designed around flexibility. Air India says the idea was to create a space that caters to different traveller moods and dwell times.

“There are travellers who only come for 20 minutes of their dwell time, and there are travellers who come for four or five hours. We wanted to create a space where every mood has a seat to offer.”

The result is a lounge with multiple seating formats, including communal dining tables, lounge chairs facing the tarmac, semi-private seating clusters, and work-friendly seating arrangements.

One of the standout design elements is the nesting chair, a signature furniture piece that will feature across future Maharaja Lounges globally. The chair has been ergonomically designed with lumbar support, integrated power connectivity and even dedicated storage slots between seats.

“If somebody has to spend two hours in a lounge, we really need to offer seating that does not hurt their back.”

An interesting touch is that the lounge also includes left-handed workstations, something one guest jokingly pointed out during the walkthrough.

The standout feature for aviation nerds, though, is the massive window screens overlooking the apron at San Francisco Airport, which sees reasonable movement of heavies at any time of day (given it is part of the international terminal). There are all sorts of aircraft and liveries to be witnessed across the wide screen.

Indian Craftsmanship & Art Installations

A major theme across the lounge is Indian craftsmanship. Air India says almost all the artwork has been sourced from Indian artists and brought to San Francisco specifically for the lounge.

One of the signature pieces is a Golden Gate Bridge artwork created using traditional Indian “bindi art,” in which tiny dots are arranged to form a larger image.

Another installation uses parts from a retired Boeing 747-400 engine, repurposed into a lotus-themed art piece celebrating Air India’s aviation heritage.

The lounge also includes artwork inspired by semiconductor circuitry enclosed within recycled Boeing 747 fuselage material, symbolising the technological relationship between San Francisco and India.

The Aviator’s Bar: A Tribute to JRD Tata

Just like at the Delhi lounge, the centrepiece is undoubtedly the Aviator’s Bar, which pays tribute to JRD Tata and his historic first flight in 1932. The design incorporates several aviation-inspired touches. The ceiling structure mimics an aircraft propeller shaft from the Pussmoth, while the bar stools recreate the stitching patterns and material palette of the seats used in JRD Tata’s original aircraft (the Pussmoth).

Historic Air India photographs line the back wall, including:

• JRD Tata’s inaugural flight
• Air India’s first international flight from Mumbai to London in 1948
• Air India’s Boeing 747 era
• The modern Airbus A350 fleet

The airline is now running its own Bar programme and, in a bid to create a similar experience across the board, has a similar cocktail menu between Delhi and San Francisco. For instance, the bar offers a signature gin-based cocktail called “Limitless”.

What was different in San Francisco, though, was a new cocktail called the “Golden Gate” as a tribute to the city.

The airline intends to add a local cocktail to its menu whenever it opens a new lounge as a tribute to the city. This one became a favourite of sorts. The airline also stocked up on Kingfisher for those who liked the Indian beer brand.

Dining & Beverage Options

The food programme at the lounge is designed to balance Indian cuisine with global tastes. As a result, the food is prepared by an Indian chef in the kitchen who knows the Indian palate and can offer a properly spiced-up hot meal rather than a toned-down sweet version for the locals.

On offer is a breakfast buffet and hot meals served up the rest of the day. When I turned up for my flight from SFO, which takes off at 10:30 AM, the spread included Stuffed Paranthas, Parsi Akuri (which I felt tasted more like Bhurji), and other more homely stuff such as Upma.

At the preview, the dinner service was brought about. There were samplers going around of all sorts of stuff, such as Chicken Lollipops, Vada Pao, Chaat, such as the Basket Chaat of Lucknow, Daulat ki Chaat in the dessert section, and then some. These are served as snacks at various times of the day.

For main courses, a bunch of dishes were laid out on the buffet. These included Chicken Tikka Masala and Dal Bukhara, along with Naan and other Indian breads. But the best part of the meal was the genuinely hot Indian spread, as I mentioned earlier. I hope they keep the food hot (in terms of spiciness) and don’t tone it down over time.

The dining room itself is filled with handcrafted Indian artwork, including installations made from beads arranged into lotus motifs. One particularly interesting painting uses pigments extracted from Indian spices and herbs.

“The red colour is coming from rose and cinnamon. The golden colour is coming from turmeric,” As one of the members of the team described it.

The lounge also features an extensive Indian tea programme, including masala chai and speciality Indian teas. There is no Chai Cart or Chai Bar, but the concept is the same. There is access to tea, and in a land far away from India, there are also Parle-G biscuits and Suji Rusk to go with it.

Unique Touches

One particularly thoughtful feature is a postcard programme inspired by Air India’s origins as a mail carrier in 1932. Guests can write postcards in the lounge, and Air India will mail them on their behalf.

The lounge also features hand-painted kettles by Indian artists, alongside specially designed crockery bearing the Maharaja Lounge branding.

The First Class & VIP Area

Hidden behind a “Private” sign, the lounge also houses a separate VIP and First Class section designed for Air India’s most premium passengers and dignitaries.

The private area includes dedicated seating for 8 passengers, a premium whisky selection, à la carte dining and exclusive artwork sourced from Air India archives.

One of the standout features here is a recreated archival aircraft rendering from Air India’s earlier decades, before computer-generated renders became commonplace.

Bottomline

With the opening of the Maharaja Lounge at SFO, Air India is clearly signalling its ambitions to compete more aggressively in the premium long-haul segment. Also, while the airline won’t confirm it just yet, they are preparing this market for new aircraft, given that it is the carrier’s monopoly route. So, the lounge is an investment in the airline’s future.

What stands out most is that the airline is not merely opening another contract lounge but is attempting to create a branded hospitality experience deeply rooted in Indian identity and aviation heritage. From recycled Boeing 747 components to spice-based artwork, aviation storytelling, ergonomic seating and rotating Indian menus, there is a noticeable effort to create a differentiated lounge experience. And different it is, yes, because I accessed some of the other lounges which would have me via a Priority Pass, and all I got was bland food.

For Air India, the San Francisco Maharaja Lounge is more than just another airport facility. It is perhaps the clearest physical manifestation yet of the airline’s attempt to reinvent itself for the global premium traveller. With the United Polaris Lounge redefining its lounge access policies to exclude most other airlines, this is also an AOK for Air India, who are being served up customers on a platter.

For Air India customers, it is the start of their trip to India, as soon as they set foot inside the lounge.

What do you think of the new Air India Lounge, which recently opened at San Francisco Airport?

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