Dubai, UAE- gulftech – Priority Pass, the leading global airport lounge programme, has announced it will add over 150 new luxury airport lounges across the world in 2021. Alongside 100 new premium dining and relaxation experiences and railway and sea port lounges, this represents 20% growth for the network. This announcement comes at the same time that evidence mounts that travel is set to return, with encouraging growth in domestic travel in the US, China and Russia, as well as recent announcements such as the EU saying that vaccinated travellers will be welcomed without restrictions. But the needs of travellers have also changed – with premium experiences more in demand than ever.
Priority Pass has already added 32 new airport lounges this year – including Lufthansa Business lounges in New York Airport (JFK), Newark International Airport (EWR) and Washington Dulles Airport (IAD), and 14 lounges in China alone. Other new lounges have been added in locations important to Priority Pass Members such as Russia, Turkey, Egypt, and India. Priority Pass has also added 8 new premium dining experiences.
The Priority Pass network is a mix of partnerships as well as lounges owned by its sister company, Airport Dimensions, both owned by Collinson Group. Airport Dimensions has continued opening new lounges and sleep and rest experiences during the pandemic and is positioned to achieve a 483% growth in locations since 2015. Last week, Airport Dimensions announced new lounges at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, due to open later this year. These add to previously announced lounges under development in the new Harvey Milk Terminal at San Francisco International Airport and Abu Dhabi International Airport, all of which will be included in the Priority Pass network.
12 months of agile transformation to ensure a safe and reassuring experience
Over the last 12 months Collinson has adapted its offerings to reflect the ongoing needs of travellers during the COVID-19 era. The company created a new set of global health and safety standards for lounges in the Priority Pass network, developed by Dr. Simon Worrell, Global Medical Director, and launched contactless digital airport lounge entrance for all guests. In addition, Priority Pass launched its ‘Ready to Order’ tech solution, available to all lounge partners, allowing guests to enjoy their food and beverages with maximum social distancing.
Supporting the travel industry with shifting traveller expectations
With a customer base of more than 50 million global travellers, Collinson has leveraged its unique insights into consumer expectations to support the travel industry. Most recently this has taken the form of new research The Return Journey, which analyses and compares data collected from 18.5k global travellers in late 2019 (pre-pandemic) with data collected from 12.6k travellers in late 2020 (during the pandemic), providing guidance on the critical path airline, airport and premium credit card brands can take to meet the changing expectations of travellers.
Parent company Collinson Group, working to get people travelling safely and with confidence
As the world’s inability to travel has resulted in both immediate and long-term effects on the world’s economy, Collinson – a global end-to-end travel experiences, airport services and travel medical company – has spent the last 12 months working with airlines, airports and other members of the travel ecosystem as well as governments around the world to restart travel safely. Collinson has also used its travel medical resources to become the world’s leading COVID travel testing company, with partnerships with more than 30 airlines, airports and health passport providers including Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Heathrow Airport and IATA.
Airport Dimensions also recently announced its contactless solution Connecta, a new ecommerce and passenger loyalty platform that better enables travellers to shop for duty free, order food, book a lounge space, pay for car parking, and navigate their way around the airport, all while accruing or spending loyalty points.
Collinson Joint CEO David Evans said: “Our investment in Priority Pass is a clear reflection of our confidence in the travel recovery, which our research has shown will also include an increased appetite for premium spaces and experiences while travelling. But the strong growth of our Priority Pass network is only one facet of the work Collinson has done in the past year to restart travel. As a family company with a more than 30-year history sitting at the intersection of travel and financial services, we know the damage that COVID has done to travel, international commerce and trade, and is why we’re committed to efforts such as rolling out testing, and working with governments and the travel industry to build and roll out new solutions. And now, with a network growing to include over 1,500 lounges and premium experiences available, we look forward to welcoming travellers back to our Priority Pass programme as they return to travel.”
