Closed since 2023, Al Ghazal VIP Lounge now lives in comparisons
In the old Abu Dhabi Airport Terminal 2, Al Ghazal VIP Lounge ran 24/7 as a pay-in space for departing passengers, a contrast to today’s Zayed International setup that AUH regulars still reference when they talk about how the airport has changed. It sat landside of what is now obsolete T2, serving mainly regional and low-cost carriers out of that pier.
Access used to be simple: buy a 3–4 hour stay online or at the door and walk in from Departures, with no airline status or business-class ticket required. Pricing floated in the mid-range for UAE lounges at the time, undercutting some contract lounges in T1 while still sitting above a fast-food stop in the terminal.
The food setup was a small buffet with a handful of hot trays and a cold counter, usually basics like rice, curry, and simple sandwiches, not a full meal service on par with Etihad’s T3 lounges. Soft drinks, tea, and coffee came from self-serve stations, with alcohol either limited or paid separately depending on the contract you booked.
Showers were the main functional perk: a couple of private rooms with basic amenities that beat washing up at a public sink before a red-eye to the subcontinent or the GCC. Seating ran mostly to armchairs and small tables, enough for a few dozen people, and it rarely hit the standing-room-only crunch that newer flagship lounges sometimes see at AUH during bank waves.
Because Al Ghazal in Terminal 2 has been closed since 2023, you can’t buy access today at Abu Dhabi or Al Ain, and anything still selling access codes for this specific lounge is out of date. For current AUH options, you’re looking at the new Zayed Airport lounges in Terminal A instead, with different names, operators, and access rules.
If someone mentions “Al Ghazal VIP Lounge T2” when planning a trip through the UAE in 2024 or later, double-check they mean the current facilities in Zayed Airport’s Terminal A and not this retired lounge product from the old Abu Dhabi Terminal 2 era.
How to get in
- 01 Departures
- 02 paid access