Review: The Ahlein Premium Lounge at Cairo Terminal 2

May 23, 2025

Having passed through Cairo International a couple of times, one thing is for sure. It is not known for its great lounges. From all reports, the Ahlein Premium Lounge in Terminal 2 is one of the best at the airport.

Egyptair offer the frankly mediocre Gineah lounge as well as the Alioth lounge in Terminal 3, both of which won’t top anyone’s list of must see facilities. The Ahlein lounge doesn’t really have a high bar to clear when you look at what else is available.

Ahlein Premium Lounge

I was departing with British Airways on a dawn service to London Heathrow. According to the oneworld lounge finder, both BA and Qatar Airways use this lounge, so they must consider it the best one available. After security screening and Passport control, the lounge is directly to your right before all the shops. There is then a relatively circuitous walk until you arrive in the lounge proper.

a room with tables and chairs — Dining tables by the buffet.

a food on a table — Looking back over the lounge.

a glass wall with a table and chairs in it — A children’s play room.

Large windows overlooking the apron are down one side of the space, which is filled with chairs and tables. Everything is inoffensive and screams adequate. There is a smoking room, a children’s play room and that’s really about it. The Wi-Fi was fine and the cleaner was friendly – I became her friend when I got up and gave her space to mop without me being in her way.

A Buffet Spread

It being Egypt, no alcohol was available, but there is a coffee machine, various teas, and soft drinks. Food wise, there is a breakfast buffet featuring beans, baked vegetables, boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, sausages, pancakes and more. There are also numerous items native to the region, plus sandwiches, salads and fruit.

a black box with many bags of tea — Taylors tea bags.

a coffee machine with a screen and cups on a shelf — Press the button and Bob’s your uncle!

a refrigerator with bottles of soda and water — Drinks be here.

a buffet with different food items — Breakfast elements.

sandwiches and bread on a table — Sandwiches and bread.

a table with food on it — Cookies, cakes and fruit.

a salad bar with bowls of vegetables and salads — Salads, all the salads.

a tray of food on a table — Items from the region.

I had a small sample of a few bits and pieces and found the food quality to be just fine. Dishes, mugs and cans were all cleared up quite quickly, so the place stayed pristine for the period I was there. It only became moderately busy towards the time of the British Airways departure, otherwise it was soothingly empty.

Overall Thoughts

The Ahlein Premium Lounge is the quintessential waiting room. There is enough food to tide you over, even if there is nothing at all entertaining to do or look at. It reminded me of a vastly higher quality version of the Amtrak Metropolitan Lounge in Los Angeles.

To be fair though, I have been to worse lounges in my time, so there is nothing at all wrong with this one. I just wouldn’t be arriving early to spend any time there, something that can’t be said for other lounges, like the Finnair Platinum Wing in Helsinki!

What do you think of the Ahlein Premium Lounge? Any thoughts on the overall lounge situation in Cairo? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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