Northern Lights Lounge

£36 on the door gets you into Northern Lights Lounge

Upstairs near Gate 1 in T1 airside, Northern Lights Lounge is the contract lounge most ABZ regulars use instead of the bare-bones main terminal seating. Offshore workers, package holiday flights and a few airline business passengers all funnel in here for hot food, beer and the big runway-facing windows. Priority Pass, DragonPass and pay-in all work, but there’s a capacity cap during weekday peaks around the 06:00–08:00 and 15:00–18:00 waves.

Opening hours usually run from early morning departures until the last evening flights, roughly 04:30 to 20:30, but check against your specific departure time. The entrance sits just after security on the left side of the departures lounge, above the main T1 concourse. Because it’s airside, you clear security first, then head straight up before browsing shops; regulars say they pop in right after security, scan the room, and bail back to Costa or the public bar if it’s shoulder-to-shoulder.

Food is the main draw, with hot dishes rotating by time of day: think bacon rolls in the morning, soup and casserole-style trays later on, plus cold sandwiches and snacks. Several Google reviews flag that hot items can be lukewarm or sparse if you show up near the end of a service window, for example arriving at 10:15 for a breakfast that ended at 10:00. If you care about a full plate, aim to hit the buffet within the first 30 minutes of each changeover.

Drinks include self-serve beer and wine, standard soft drinks and a coffee machine, as confirmed on the American Express lounge listing. Spirits are not fully free-flow: staff charge extra for many liquors, which catches some Priority Pass users off guard when they order a branded gin or whisky. If you want a couple of doubles before a 19:30 departure, factor that into your mental value calculation versus buying drinks at the public bar downstairs.

The room markets its runway views, and there really are good sightlines over the apron and helicopter stands from the seats directly by the windows. A FlyerTalk user specifically praises the padded window seats here over the designer chairs in the BA lounge next door. Interior tables and the back section see more foot traffic and very limited views, so regulars beeline for the glass as soon as they check in.

Capacity is the big risk. Multiple reviewers report being turned away even with Priority Pass or airline invitations during offshore surges tied to specific rig changeover days. Third-party sellers sometimes offer pre-booking slots at set times, which frequent users recommend for peak weekday mornings to reduce the chance of being refused at 06:15 with a 07:10 flight.

Practical tip: if your flight leaves from a stand near Gate 1, plan to leave the lounge around 20 minutes before boarding and grab one last check of the main departures boards en route, as lounge screens don’t always keep up when ABZ shuffles stands at short notice.