In the meantime, there's a thread in the JAL forum about some closures/renovations of JAL lounges in the international terminal at HND. Lounges in the cluster with the one DL uses seem to be impacted, including possibly the lounge that DL currently uses (Skyview on the fifth floor???). I was hoping to find a clue about the potential location of the new DL SC, but it's not obvious from the linked floorplan of the terminal.

I too am surprised this is a SkyClub and not a SkyTeam lounge. That said, all of the SkyTeam lounges I've been in have been nicer than all of the SkyClubs I've been in. But if you're a SkyClub member and not STE+/J, I could see how the SC would be better than an STL.

HND is a fantastic airport and the negative comments in this thread are absolutely misleading and shouldn't be taken seriously. HND will be an upgrade over NRT in every way once DL's SC is up and running.

HND was voted world's cleanest airport on Skytrax for the last few years, for example, and there's even a video from NHK about how dedicated HND's cleaning team is.

Quite frankly, nothing at NRT is remotely worth the longer journey and apparently the now higher likelihood of being stranded there after a typhoon.

Has SkyTeam done anything lately? They seem dead-in-the-water. Last press release from ST was June 1 about the KAL chairman as the ST chair as well.

I'm not surprised that DL is opening their own lounge with 7 daily flights. VS operates it's own lounge at LAX with 2-5 flights per day, JNB with two daily. It probably also allows DL to control the experience overall and also the other ST airlines revenue would also help. Just sounds like it will get crowded around the time of the 7 US departing flights and likely quiet all the other times.

I'm expecting a very nice lounge given the high standards of Japan and the heavy competition at HND.

What is the current contract HND lounge that DL is using? I could not find it on their airport website.

IIRC it's at the top level of that escalator area. I think the name might be SkyView, although if so, it would be a very sad and disappointing example of a JAL lounge.

ADDED: I just checked the DL website for a D1 passenger at HND and found two lounges listed:

TIAT SkyLounge, next to gate 111, 4th floor

TIAT Lounge Annex, between gates 114 and 146, 5th floor

I haven't been sent to the gate 111 lounge since the midnight departures from HND, where I remember a rather nice lounge in that location. More recently at HND, I've been sent to the lounge around gate 114, which is on the way to the gates DL uses.

Must have this!!!

Thanks, MSPeconomist! Nice to know.

If DL is willing to spend for the quality they did at AUS, I imagine HND is going to be quite a nice lounge - they seem to be upping the average quality of their domestic lounges quite significantly (better food, more attractive interiors). I am quite hopeful that this will be a "crown jewel" for their biggest (?) TPAC airport on their own metal.

The new HND SkyClub will be located on the 4th floor in the area of the former TIAT lounge; target opening is for July 2020.

Where is this in relation to the contract lounge that DL currently uses at HND? Is it one floor below the curtrent DL contract lounge, accessible through the same set of escalators as one walks from security/passport control to the gates DL uses at HND?

It sounds like the new SC will open in time for the Olympics if everything goes according to schedule.

ADDED: I sure hope this doesn't mean that there's no lounge for D1 passengers at HND until the new SC opens. It's bad enough that GM+ and PS passengers don't have lounge access.

It will be in the center area above the duty free shop that's been around since 2011 (not the expanded area that opened in 2014 that's to the left of passport control).

I believe they are currently using the 5th floor TIAT lounge.

That’s correct. It’s the one near gate 146. That TIAT lounge is nothing to write home about though.