Airlines are reopening airport lounges – a crucial weapon in airlines’ post-crisis strategies for retaining their more profitable clients
Airlines are reopening airport lounges with higher-end service to lure back premium travellers after the pandemic, while increasingly opening the VIP experience to tourists – for a fee.
Air France has inaugurated a 3,000-square-meter temple to French design in one of its main terminals at Paris Charles de Gaulle. Dubai’s Emirates and Air Canada both plan upgrades to lounge dining and service. “The mix has changed, but our commitment to making sure we have a great premium product hasn’t. We are obviously keeping a very close eye on the traffic we are seeing in our lounges,” Winter added.Designed as an oasis for premium travellers, lounges could attract more passengers looking to avoid crowds during COVID-19, said Michael Di Corpo, managing director of Montreal-based firm IEG, which sells software for managing airport lounges.
Qatar Airways for one, recently launched a less expensive Business Lite fare, where lounge access costs extra. But there are limits to the democratization of lounges, which can represent investments of millions of dollars.
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