El Arish International Airport (AAC) sits in North Sinai, a governorate that multiple governments have long advised against visiting entirely because of an active security risk, and that advisory reality matters far more right now than any question about lounge amenities. Before anything about airport comfort, check your government's current travel advisory for North Sinai and treat it as the deciding factor for this trip.
Against that backdrop, lounge access at El Arish is not the meaningful question. Even where a small waiting area might exist at a regional Egyptian airport of this size, whether it is open or accessible depends entirely on the same security situation driving the advisory, and that can change without notice. Treat anything you read online about amenities here as unreliable until the underlying picture changes.
The practical reality for anyone with a genuine need to reach this part of North Sinai is that travel logistics, security screening, and ground transport all run through official and military channels rather than a normal airport-to-city routine, and standard travel planning advice, lounges included, does not meaningfully apply. Anyone in this situation should be coordinating directly with their government, employer, or a specialized logistics provider rather than researching airport comfort options.
For most travellers, the honest guidance is straightforward: North Sinai is not a region to route ordinary travel plans through while the advisory stands, and no lounge, day pass, or membership perk changes that calculus. If your government's advisory for North Sinai ever eases, airport amenities at El Arish would be worth revisiting then; until it does, access reality, not comfort, is the only question that matters here.
It is worth noting that this advisory reflects North Sinai specifically, a different governorate from the Red Sea resort areas of South Sinai such as Sharm El Sheikh, which carry their own separate advisory picture. That distinction does not change the guidance for El Arish itself: plan around the North Sinai advisory as it stands, and treat any lounge question at this airport as secondary until that changes.