We know that Air India is currently trying to reinvent itself, including improving every aspect of the passenger experience. We’ve seen the airline roll-out factory fresh wide body planes with new interiors, start to reconfigure existing planes, and even open a new flagship lounge at Delhi Airport (DEL).
There’s now another exciting development, as Air India has just opened its own lounge at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), and it looks like it could be really nice!
Basics of the new Air India Maharaja Lounge SFO
As of late March 2026, Air India has opened a lounge at SFO, which covers 3,413 square feet. Specifically, the lounge is located in the lounge complex at the A Gates, on the fourth floor, between the China Airlines Lounge and Golden Gate Lounge. The lounge is open daily from 6AM until 11:59PM, so it clearly covers more than just Air India departures.
The general contractor for the lounge, Build Group, had published the below page online, which showed a rendering of the lounge space. The first real pictures of the lounge have also been posted on FlyerTalk.
I’ve gotta say, the lounge looks super elegant, so this should be a nice facility. However, at just over 3,400 square feet, this is one of the smaller outstation lounges out there, and I imagine it’ll get quite busy prior to Air India departures. At least Air India has a staggered schedule at the airport, so there’s never more than one Air India flight departing at a time.
Air India has massively grown its presence at SFO since starting service to the airport roughly a decade ago. The airline now operates up to 14 weekly flights to the Bay Area, so with double daily service, you can start to see merit to operating a lounge.
This is Air India’s second lounge location in the United States, with the other lounge being in New York (JFK). That lounge is undergoing a major and overdue renovation, so maybe it’ll have a similar design template to the SFO lounge.
Why has Air India opened its own lounge at SFO?
Some people might point out that there’s a United Polaris Lounge at SFO, and wonder why Air India is bothering to build its own lounge at the airport. It’s important to note that the United Polaris Lounge is in the G Gates, while Air India departs from the A Gates.
While these terminals are technically connected airside, it’s a really long walk between them, so for a majority of passengers, it’s not practical to use the United Polaris Lounge when flying Air India. Instead, Air India has been sending its premium passengers to the Golden Gate Lounge (and before that, the Air France Lounge).
Given the number of flights Air India operates from SFO per week, having the airline operate its own lounge makes sense. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see the lounge monetized outside of those hours, and open to Priority Pass, as is the case at the carrier’s JFK lounge (though as of now, the SFO lounge doesn’t belong to Priority Pass).
Also, thanks to Star Alliance lounge access rules, many premium passengers should also have access to this lounge, including Star Alliance Gold members on other airlines.
Bottom line
Air India plans to open a lounge at SFO in the near future. The roughly 3,400 square foot lounge will be located in the A Gates. We even have a rendering of the lounge, which gives us a sense of the new lounge design concept that the Star Alliance airline is going for. I’m looking forward to learning more details, particularly about the soft product.
What do you make of the planned Air India Lounge SFO?