The American Express Centurion Lounge in Delhi was shut throughout October 2023, and this had come at short notice. When I passed through Delhi Airport in October, I saw the lounge under wraps, with no indication that a renovation or something was ongoing.

Delhi T3’s American Express Centurion Lounge Open Again

American Express is the only bank in India that has been able to offer its stand-alone lounges. In a country with airport operators getting into the lounge business and massive queues outside contract lounges, the USP of American Express is that they have exclusive lounges for their cardmembers in Delhi and Mumbai for domestic transit passengers. They also have a network of global lounges accessible to Platinum and Centurion Cardmembers.

American Express re-opened the Delhi T3 Domestic Centurion lounge after significant renovation in March 2021. And now, as of November 1, 2023, eligible users of the American Express Centurion Lounge at Delhi Terminal 3 (American Express Platinum Card / Black Card / American Express Platinum Corporate Card).

The lounge was being transitioned in terms of the management of the lounge. While American Express pays the rent and gets to brand the lounge, American Express appoints a management company to staff the lounge. It makes this company responsible for the daily operations of the lounge.

Devyani International Limited earlier handled the lounge and has now been transitioned to Encalm, which already operates the other lounges at Delhi Airport (apart from other GMR-operated airports in India, namely Hyderabad and Goa Mopa).

As per a friend of our site who visited the lounge today, the people around the lounge are wearing the Encalm name badges now, and the identifiers across the lounge, such as napkins and text messages, are all attributed to Encalm now.

As per him, the lounge does not have a customised menu at the moment, but the quality of the buffet has gone up in the meantime. For instance, this is the lunch service.

 

And the soft drinks have transitioned from Pepsi to Coke.

Not just that, as is the usual rigmarole for any airport restaurant at Delhi Airport, they await a new excise authorisation, so for the moment, no alcoholic beverages are being served.

Bottomline

The Centurion Lounge at Delhi Terminal 3 has been reopened effective November 1, 2023. The lounge is now operated under Encalm, the sole operator of lounges at Delhi Airport. The lounge still needs to get some licensing done, but it returns in its new form for the most part.

Have you been to the American Express Centurion Lounge after reopening? What do you think of it?

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