Saturday, November 6th, 2021
Economy customers are also allowed in
Airlines attract with luxurious VIP lounges
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Many airlines are still groaning under the pandemic – passenger numbers are far from pre-crisis levels. In order to lure more people back onto the plane, the airlines are spicing up their VIP lounges with even more opulent luxury. A German airline, on the other hand, is taking a different approach.
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 utilized,” 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. 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 Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport – 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. The airline wants to attract not only business customers, but also tourists, who increasingly accept such premium offers and also pay for them.
Corona increases the need for new sources of income
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.
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.
Situation at Lufthansa against the trend
That’s why American Airlines economy passengers can get a day pass for the flagship lounge for $ 150. A special area with exclusive service and a private restaurant remains closed to them. United Airlines intends 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 always make alternative offers to our passengers.” In Frankfurt and Munich, however, the first-class lounges have been back in operation since Monday. The group has not yet made any decision on further changes.
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