Airport: Airlines are also opening VIP lounges to economy passengers

French design and better food – with pimped up airport lounges, the airlines want to lure their well-paying passengers back to the airports after the Corona crisis. Passengers with economy class tickets should also get access to the VIP offers – for a certain surcharge on the flight price.

“There are more and more such offers with which airlines develop new sources of income – provided the lounges are not fully used,” says Michael Di Corpo, head of the IT company IEG, which offers software for managing airport lounges. The premium customers, with whom the airlines achieve particularly high margins, are to be offered even more in the lounges so that they can enjoy traveling again after the restrictions have been relaxed.

There is high financial pressure on airlines

In August, for example, Air France inaugurated a 3,000 square meter lounge in a luxury French design in one of the main terminals at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris – with lots of leather, lava stone and terrazzo floors. Herbal teas are served in a detox area for relaxation. Air Canada and Emirates from Dubai want to offer high quality food and improved service in their lounges. “Next year a lot will revolve around food and the way in which we serve our customers in order to improve the experience,” says Mats Winter of Air Canada, describing the strategy. With this, the airline wants to attract not only business customers, but also tourists, who increasingly accept such premium offers and also pay for them.

Other airlines are also opening the lounges, originally intended as an oasis for stressed managers and other well-paying passengers, to travelers from the rear of the aircraft. Because the pressure to find new sources of income has increased significantly in the course of the worst crisis in the history of the industry. More and more travelers are also willing to take money in hand in order to avoid large crowds in Corona times, for example, explains Di Corpo from IEG. Overall, travelers spend more time at the airports, for example because of the lengthy process of checking vaccination records or the fact that many airlines offer fewer direct flights. The time spent on stopovers can be spent more relaxed in a lounge than in the waiting area at the gate.

Wealthy customers continue to receive preferential treatment

Qatar Airways, for example, has introduced a cheaper “Business Lite” tariff, with which access to the lounge can be booked separately. American Airlines, which reopened the first of its lounges for premium customers on long-haul flights in September, is also offering paid access for economy passengers for the first time. A spokeswoman explained that the US airline is primarily targeting people who are traveling to special occasions such as weddings and family get-togethers.

However, there are limits to the democratization of the lounges: the last thing the airlines can afford is the displacement of corporate customers or wealthy private customers. These boost profits, especially on routes such as the Atlantic crossing. That is why American Airlines economy passengers receive a day pass for the flagship lounge for 150 dollars, but a special area with exclusive service and a private restaurant remains closed to them.

Some Lufthansa lounges are permanently closed

United Airlines plans to continue to open its Polaris lounges only to premium customers. And Air Canada suspended its offer to open three Maple Leaf lounges to paying economy passengers and customers of other airlines in Vancouver. “We don’t want this to ultimately lead to capacity problems,” explains Manager Winter.

At Lufthansa, the situation is a little different: According to a spokeswoman, their lounges in Bremen, Dresden, Cologne / Bonn, Leipzig and Nuremberg as well as New Delhi will remain permanently closed. The reason for this are the market conditions at the individual locations and their changes. “Wherever possible, we generally make alternative offers to our passengers.” In Frankfurt and Munich, however, the first-class lounges have been in operation again since Monday. The group has not yet made any decision on further changes.

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