“Lounges add value to the flight product,” emphasises Birgitta Sandhaag, head of lounge product at the Scandinavian airline SAS. “It is very important for our VIP passengers: they need to feel specially treated.”
No airline can run a lounge at all its destinations, though. Since the lounge is the airline’s face to its VIP passenger, it makes sense for them to develop their own lounges at their home base and at big hubs around the world, contracting third-party providers to manage lounge facilities on the airline’s behalf at smaller stations.
“We have 44 of our own lounges where the brand and image is really important for us,” explains Carole Peytavin, Air France-KLM vice president, marketing research and development. This number includes the Paris home gateways of Charles de Gaulle and Orly as well as at other destinations served by the airline’s fleet of widebody aircraft. “If the volume of passengers is small, it is more efficient to outsource lounge provision,” she observes. “The contractor can be another airline or a third-party provider. Our passengers have access to 149 lounges run by other SkyTeam partners and we are trialling joint lounges in London and Istanbul. However, if there is no other solution, we will run a lounge at a smaller station – for example, Madagascar – as we need to offer this service.”
To enhance the airline’s image even further, many carriers, including Air France, Lufthansa and SAS, run separate first and business/frequent flyer lounges at their home hub. In its new Frankfurt terminal, for example, Lufthansa offers a dedicated lounge in the international (long haul) area for first class passengers and those in the top tier of the loyalty programme.
There are also two business class lounges and two Senator lounges, named after the Senator Club loyalty programme – one in the domestic/European part of the airport and one in the international area. Munich Airport has a similar arrangement. A ‘Welcome’ arrival lounge allows long haul VIP passengers to have breakfast and take a shower before going to work or business meetings. Qualified Lufthansa passengers can also take advantage of lounges run by airlines in the Star Partner network.
Guest facilities
Although lounges are primarily reserved for VIP passengers, some airlines also allow others to access lounges, subject to availability. In most cases, first class and those in the top tier of airline loyalty programmes can bring a guest into the lounge. KLM’s Flying Blue Elite Plus, Platinum and Gold members can take a guest for free, while Silver members can access for a fee averaging 25-35 euros or by surrendering Award Miles awarded through their loyalty programmes. Silver Elite members cannot bring guests into any lounge.
Lufthansa’s Senator cardholders can take a guest into the lounge; business class passengers can buy a companion ticket. Air France also allows silver members of the frequent flyer programme to access lounges if there is enough space; those in premium economy on long haul flights can pay to enter the lounge, if there is availability.
“We have to consider how much space is available,” Anna Menke, passenger experience designer – business and premium for Lufthansa, agrees. “We don’t want the lounge to be too crowded.”
At Air France-KLM Peytavin agrees, pointing out that to provide greater access to lounges would require bigger facilities – which is not often possible in Europe, where space is restricted.
But in May 2012, SAS began allowing economy passengers who cannot already access a lounge through a frequent flyer programme to buy day access for 28 euros.
In any case, access is more freely available where lounges are provided by third-party contractors. Servisair, for example, runs 28 such lounges in Europe and Canada. Qualified passengers of Servisair’s airline customers can access a Servisair lounge by showing their boarding passes, but anyone else can enter by paying a fee – currently £17.49 for adults in the UK and £9.99 for children aged 2-12.
“We do have rules about dress code and behaviour,” emphasises Shaun Weston, travel services director at Servisair. “We don’t allow baseball caps or football shirts, for example. And in our new Aspire Lounge, a business quiet zone is designed for those passengers wanting to work. Separate zones are aimed at families and diners. So far Aspire lounges are available at Gatwick North, Liverpool, Luton and Birmingham, but all lounges are being transformed into Aspire lounges.”
The new Manchester lounge will be Servisair’s flagship facility, but other new lounges are being developed at Bristol, Gatwick South and Newcastle.
Plaza Premium lounges operate primarily in the Far East, although there are three sites in Canada. It hopes to win its first European contract by early next year. Some lounges are owned by the airline and operated according to the customer’s wishes, while others are Plaza’s own common use facilities, but with special areas for first and business class passengers travelling on customer airlines. Any passenger can access the common use terminals for a fee of US$52 for two hours, more for longer periods.
Airline-owned and outsourced lounges offer similar services. All have TV, international magazines and newspapers, free Wi-Fi and workstations, as well as food and beverages. Catering provision changes according to the importance of the passenger and location of the lounge. According to Song Hoi See, CEO of Plaza Premium, lounge requirements are changing. “Some lounges only have drinks and snacks, but passengers now want more, especially in Asia,” he explains. “We offer a hot buffet in all our lounges but VIP passengers can also order from a waitress service set menu.”
Food and drink
Airline-owned lounges often provide hot food and more upmarket branded drinks for first class or top tier loyalty passengers. SAS Gold lounges come with a fully stocked bar, but business lounges do not. Gold lounge guests can make their own sandwich or salad, while soup and hot dogs are on offer for three to five days a week during winter.
Air France’s new Charles de Gaulle lounge includes a kitchen to enable hot food to be provided, but in other lounges, a good range of cold food is on offer, as well as snacks and hot and cold drinks, including wine and spirits.
Lufthansa differentiates the importance of the lounge passenger by the type of food and brand of drinks available. First class passengers enjoy an a la carte dinner; Senator cardholders may be offered a hot meal, depending on the time of day, but business passengers are restricted to snacks and drinks. First class and Senator lounges also have a bartender and last year Lufthansa trialled the ‘City Lights’ concept in Frankfurt resembling a high quality inner city bar, complete with its own menu. Munich has its own beer garden instead.
Servisair’s Aspire lounges offer cold breakfast, soup and a roll, cheese and biscuits, snacks and hot and cold drinks, including an alcoholic bar. Sandwich trials were abandoned because passengers either took everything – or left them altogether.
Other services are also available at some lounges. Showers are provided at Lufthansa first class lounges and some Senator facilities. Frankfurt first class passengers can enjoy a spa service, also available in one of Frankfurt’s Senator lounges. A special ‘relaxing’ room in first class lounges gives passengers the chance to have a nap on chaise lounge seating.
KLM also includes showers and, in some lounges, a ‘deep rest’ area, while the SAS Gold lounges in Copenhagen and London provide showers. Air France international lounges offer showers, while Charles de Gaulle has a Wellness Centre, which provides massage designed for pre-flight passengers. Plaza Premium offers optional neck and shoulder massage, manicure, ladies’ pedicure and showers. Some of the stations offer oxygen inhale facilities. None of the spa/wellness services are provided free of charge.
Children friendly
Some carriers are now developing children’s lounges. SAS offers them in Copenhagen and London; complete with TV, play stations and other child-friendly equipment, as well as children’s areas in other airports. Lufthansa started a Jet Friend programme for children, with their own corner in Frankfurt and Munich.
“Our first and business passengers going on holiday are invited into the lounge with their family,” says Air France-KLM’s Menke.
Air France plans to add children’s lounges at Charles de Gaulle’s new satellite terminal, where there will be plenty of space. But for Servisair, children’s areas proved unsuccessful. “Parents left the kids and went off,” Weston explains. “They were badly behaved, with no parental control. We do have a family area in our lounges, though, with specially designed seating.”
All airline-owned lounges also have some travel services: the ability to change bookings, choose seats, etc. KLM passengers can even check-in with hand luggage. In Air France’s lounges, passengers can also book cars or hotels; a pilot programme at Charles de Gaulle enables them to preview films being shown on board, access the onboard duty-free catalogue and read digital newspapers. If it is successful, this ‘travel bar’ will be rolled out to other stations.
This is only one new lounge service being developed by one the world’s airlines, but by no means the last. As Menke at Lufthansa says: “We can’t measure the value of lounges, but market research shows that of all ground services, the lounge is especially important.”
