Right beside the American Express lounge is the Skyteam lounge, and as a Delta business class passenger I had access. So that became my second stop on the day’s lounge tour of the Sydney airport before my flight back to Los Angeles. Hence I have the opportunity to offer this Skyteam Lounge Sydney review.

Previous installments:

1. Introduction: Virgin Australia and Delta Business Class, the Great Barrier Reef and Sydney
   
2. Concourse Hotel LAX, a Hyatt affiliate
   
3. Virgin Australia Check-in and Star Alliance Business Class Lounge
   
4. Virgin Australia Business Class, Los Angeles – Brisbane
   
5. Virgin Australia Brisbane Lounge and Business Class, Brisbane – Cairns
   
6. Sheraton Mirage Port Douglas
   
7. Virgin Australia Lounge, Cairns and Business Class, Cairns – Sydney
   
8. Park Hyatt Sydney
   
9. Rydges Sydney Airport Hotel
   
10. American Express Lounge, Sydney

The Skyteam lounge in Sydney opened in December as the third shared alliance lounge in Skyteam’s system after London Heathrow and Istanbul. Seven Skyteam airlines serve Sydney (China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, Delta Air Lines, Garuda Indonesia, Korean Air and Vietnam Airlines) and this is a lounge for all of their premium and elite passengers, although Delta at least provides lounge access closer to their gate for business class travelers.

It’s adjacent to the American Express lounge at gate 24 and managed by Plaza Premium. There are similarities between the two, such as the living wall (which is common for American Express lounges).

You enter the lounge on the departures level but everything but reception is one floor below, an escalator ride down.

The lounge features internet, showers and power at each seat. The lounge is about 8000 square feet and advertised to support either 140 or 150 passengers.

There’s ample seating and tarmac views to be sure, though I found the ceilings a bit low and the overall feel of the lounge to be less uplifting than the windows and bright furnishings would have you expect.

There’s a buffet on the right side of the lounge, and seats near the buffet looking out at the windows.

I didn’t find the food spread at all impressive, but there was food to be sure and much more generous than we’re used to here in the States.

They were, however, sufficiently stocked with complimentary self-serve alcohol.

Along of course with coffee, sodas, and juices.

The lounge offers extortionately priced paid access — I’ve read AU$77 for two hours — and the Skyteam website suggests this is available only after departure of the last Skyteam flight though I’m not certain of this.

I certainly wouldn’t get to the airport early to spend time in this lounge, but it’s a perfectly fine place to wait for a flight — and though not impressive it’s better-provisioned than the average shared or contract lounge around the world.