Airlines reveal new-look business lounges

Three new lounges aimed at business travellers have been unveiled.

Virgin Atlantic reopened its Clubhouse at Tokyo’s Narita airport on 14 July after a major refurbishment. The lounge now reflects the open plan nature of Heathrow’s Clubhouse and includes a sunken lounge and a raised sundeck.

Other new features include a self-service snack station and better business facilities, such as a charging station for mobile phones and BlackBerries.

Joe Ferry, head of design at Virgin Atlantic, said: “The new Narita clubhouse has been created with our continued design philosophy of using local design agencies to capture the essence of the culture of the destination in collaboration with the Virgin Atlantic Airways in-house team who inject the Virgin brand into the space. This innovative space highlights the importance Virgin Atlantic places on design, globally, to ensure its customers have a unique experience in environments that have high levels of design, wherever they are in the world.”

Air France has also unveiled a new open-plan lounge at Tokyo. The 400 square metre lounge feels like a 1970s vision of a science fiction future in Martian red and starlight white. The specially designed seats, for example have a tray table on one arm and are open at the other side. The seat also has a PC socket built into the reading lamp.

The Tokyo lounge is the first of Air France’s new concept lounges design by the Desgrippes-Gobe image agency. Another will open shortly in Johannesburg.

Meanwhile, all business class carrier Eos has unveiled Club 48, its new dedicated lounge at Stansted. The lounge is more traditional in its approach, with leather seats, walnut veneers and contemporary art on the walls. The lounge also features also two 50 inch widescreen televisions and wifi access.