It was American Airlines that introduced the concept of a private relaxation area in an airport by offering a lounge to its VIP passengers. And it did so as early as 1939, when it inaugurated the first lounge of its kind at New York-La Guardia airport. This was more by chance than by any real marketing strategy. In fact, at the time, American Airlines inherited the former 'offices' made available to the Mayor of New York, which had to be returned to the company following virulent criticism from the press! The treatment of members of American's Admirals Club was left to the discretion of the company. In fact, it was not until 1967 that American took the decision to extend access to its lounges to members who paid an annual fee.
This policy is still applied today by most North American airlines. This explains why the lounges of American carriers are often packed and occupied by passengers travelling on other airlines, but who are paying members of the club. For example, American, Delta Air Lines and US Airways allow access to their lounges for as little as $50 a day, while United/Continental offer the same service for as little as $35 when booked online. On average, a yearly membership costs between 300 and 600 dollars. But it is also possible to become a member by paying with miles accumulated through a frequent flyer programme.
The power of imagination
Far from the exclusivity often seen in the lounges of European, Asian or Gulf airlines, the services offered by American airline Clubs on domestic flights are still very "basic" due to the huge number of members. However, the concept has evolved somewhat over the last fifteen years. In the 1990s, the only services offered to passengers entering the lounge were a seat, tea, coffee or water. Today, passengers benefit from a whole range of new services, such as free Wi-Fi (Continental, US Airways, United and Virgin America) and a wide choice of drinks and snacks. American Airlines has even been offering free cocktails since 1 October this year! Also in vogue since the mid-1990s are fully-equipped meeting rooms, integrated into the lounges, which can be hired by the hour, just like in any other business centre. It's an opportunity that many business people are taking into account, allowing them to 'exchange business' between two flights...
But the imagination takes over again as soon as you venture to the other side of the Atlantic, where European airlines appear to be more daring. When it comes to comfort and service, almost anything is now possible. And it is across the Channel that a complete redefinition of lounge comfort criteria has been launched. The intense rivalry between Virgin Atlantic and British Airways has largely contributed to this.
The two carriers have been battling it out for a quarter of a century, and it's a case of who can surprise their high-spending customers the most with their creativity. Virgin set the ball rolling twenty years ago when it launched a massage area in its Club House. The renovation of its flagship lounge at London Heathrow in 2006 pushed back the limits of the carrier's creativity even further. The work of Virgin's designers, in conjunction with those of the London design firm Softroom, gave the lounge a retro-futuristic seventies feel, a place that would certainly not have been out of place in a scene from the film Clockwork Orange. There are all kinds of leisure activities, from a billiard table to a hairdressing salon, from a sauna to a solarium, from a library to a multimedia area, all occupying 2,500 m2. The lounge continues to receive awards and citations from international travel and design magazines.
British Airways is not to be outdone either, with its Galleries lounges spread over three levels in the new Terminal 5. The décor oscillates between neo-baroque and hushed minimalist elegance. An enormous chandelier by Swarovski stands alongside paisley designs by Osborne & Little. The ultimate in cosy luxury is the champagne bar, dotted with golden sequins. Here, too, there is a beauty salon and spa, as well as multimedia areas, and a balcony where passengers can eat while watching the movements of the terminal. The Salon Concorde, created by the Italian firm Donghia, is reserved for First Class passengers and has an à la carte restaurant. Last year, BMI integrated a real English pub into its new "No. 1 Heathrow" area.
Through their lounges, British airlines have contributed to redefining the standards of these spaces reserved for the upper classes. In places that were once confined and dark, the British have added an eccentric touch that has transformed their lounges into an experience to be enjoyed, inspired by the ambience offered by resorts and large luxury hotels.
More services
The concept has since been adopted by most European airlines, which no longer hesitate to invest heavily in these convivial spaces. And it's the passengers who benefit: the culinary offer is very varied, the Internet is everywhere, Wi-Fi is free, and spas and treatment areas are an integral part of the "classic" range of lounge services.
In its Vienna lounge, for example, Austrian is going for freshness, with large photos of flowers or Alpine meadows evoking the country's landscapes. The opposite is true of Brussels Airlines' Sunrise Lounge in Brussels, where the area dedicated to the airline's Africa flights has a sub-Saharan feel. Equally unexpected, Spanish carrier Iberia has gone feng shui in Terminal 4 at Madrid Barajas. The spaces and colours have been designed according to the famous oriental principle, using natural materials such as bamboo, while walls of water add a note of Zen freshness.
For their part, SAS and Finnair make the most of the combination of refined design and the warm ambience of Scandinavian interiors. In Copenhagen, for example, passengers entering the SAS lounge can sink into large armchairs and lose themselves in the contemplation of a roaring fire. In Helsinki, the Via Lounge Finnair has a real wellness area, with four saunas, a swimming pool and treatment rooms. The installation of a sauna reflects a very ordinary practice in Finnish life. "The environment offered by Via Spa is unique in the airport world. It highlights the fact that Finnair also looks after the well-being of passengers. We offer a sauna with water from the Alps, but also steam baths or a real Finnish sauna, with a view of the slopes", describes Markku Remes, the airline's Director of Customer Services Development.
Lufthansa has also taken this theme to heart, customising its lounges and devoting 150 million euros to renovating and building new lounges at its main hubs. The airline's latest lounge in Frankfurt is located in a tower that pays tribute to the traffic at one of Europe's leading airports. In Hamburg, the lounge's signature feature is a terrace overlooking the tarmac, a unique case in Europe. Finally, in Munich, Lufthansa opened a lounge this spring with a Biergarten (beer garden), a very popular meeting place in Germany. Passengers may not find themselves sitting in the shade of a forest, but they can enjoy Bavarian specialities in a contemporary atmosphere, with a superb view of the Alps.
Designers take to the stage
Is the air show on the way to becoming a cult venue? Probably, because airlines find it a perfect showcase to combine values such as comfort and the zeitgeist, art de vivre and service, the most tangible symbols of the identity of a carrier, or even of an alliance.
The airline world no longer hesitates to call on the best designers of the moment to create exceptional spaces. Alitalia, for example, entrusted the transformation of all its lounges to the Italian interior designer Iosa Ghini, who made marvellous use of the airline's Italian identity to create a range of highly elegant interiors. Since 2007, Air France has also been working with a young designer, Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance, in collaboration with the Brandimage agency. Since 1999, Brandimage has been responsible for redefining the visual identity of the French national carrier, as well as its entire product chain.
The Air France lounges are available in a colour palette combining beige, red and white, echoing the airline's logo. In an interview with Figaro Madame in 2007, the designer explained that "when I analysed the airline's logo, I focused on the red parallelepiped, which I translated into a red carpet at the entrance. Underlining the space, red lines appear and disappear. In fact, the whole project is based on the principle of "hidden showing", with colour serving to reveal volumes. It appears as a comma, a punctuation mark, a guide".
At Swiss, the furniture in the Zurich lounges was designed by the famous Vitra design centre. The airline is also proud of its 29-metre bar, reputed to be the world's longest in an airport! For its part, and for its first co-partnership lounge, the Skyteam alliance asked the talented botanist Patrick Blanc to create a large green wall at London Heathrow...
On the other side of the world, Australian airline Qantas has also created a stir by giving designer Marc Newson carte blanche for its new Première lounge. The space, which is also very 1970s, is slightly offbeat, with its honeycombs, spa, catering areas, library corner... all criss-crossed by a vertical tropical garden - once again the work of Patrick Blanc - featuring some 8,000 plants.
The charms of the Orient
Qantas has performed exceptionally well in a region where competition is intense. The legendary service of Asian airlines is reflected in the services offered in the lounge. Thai Airways in Bangkok offers its First Class passengers a complete spa with traditional massages à la carte. Business Class passengers can also enjoy a massage in a separate area. Cathay Pacific's Business Lounge in Hong Kong, for example, has a noodle bar where menus change several times a day. At Kuala Lumpur airport, the Malaysia Airlines lounge has a fitness room. Finally, marble and wood characterise the lounges of Singapore Airlines, which strives to offer a more classic atmosphere, akin to English clubs.
As for the private airline Jet Airways in India, its lounges designed by the American firm SOM - Skidmore, Owing and Merrill - (creator of the famous Sears Tower in Chicago, one of the tallest in the United States) combine contemporary design with the traditional values of the subcontinent. The company's lounge in Brussels offers minimalist spaces enhanced by textiles in very Indian colours, providing a relaxing setting. The opening of new terminals in Abu Dhabi and Doha in the Middle East suggests that Gulf airlines such as Etihad, Emirates and Qatar will continue to compete to offer some of the best lounges in the world.
Recently, however, the decline in premium class traffic has forced airlines to democratise access to their lounges for all categories of passenger, particularly Economy Class passengers. At the airlines' discretion, premium economy passengers already had access to a lounge, as, for example, with Air France-KLM at Paris CDG, Amsterdam and London Heathrow.
Invitation to other passengers
For a fee, passengers travelling in the back of aircraft can also access the "Holy of Holies": CSA Czech Airlines has been offering its Crystal Lounge for 27 euros for several months now. On Austrian Airlines, entry to the airline's lounge in Vienna costs 35 euros, while the lounge offered by the airport, its competitor, costs just 24 euros. Aéroports de Paris' Icare lounges are also open to all passengers, with prices starting from €30. In Helsinki, the entrance fee for non-Business Class passengers is higher: 45 euros and even 70 euros with combined access to the sauna and spa. Comfort is priceless, especially when in transit on a long-haul flight.
