British Airways has opened its doors to the new Club lounge at New York’s JFK airport. It completes a £50 million investment, following the unveiling of a plush new space for First customers in autumn last year. Customers at JFK Terminal 7 have also seen changes to the public areas and gate spaces to make them more appealing, welcoming and comfortable.
As British Airways’ flagship US lounge, the carefully curated space will play host to the hundreds of business and leisure customers that travel between New York and London on up to 12 transatlantic flights a day.
Spread across 22,000 sq ft (spanning over half an acre), the Club lounge is carefully laid out to offer designated areas that are designed to meet different customer needs. The new space includes elegant, relaxed seating areas as well as ample work stations with power outlets to maximise time in the office. Other spots include an entertainment room with state-of-the-art entertainment and sound from Sony, and the reopened Elemis Spa offers a range of treatments to help travellers relax and recharge ahead of their journey.
For Club customers who plan to take advantage of their flat bed and luxurious White Company bedding onboard, the new lounge offers the ultimate pre-flight dining experience with a brasserie-style dining room where travellers can enjoy freshly prepared dishes from an extensive menu or a range of smaller items chosen to allow customers to ‘grab and go’.
There will be a granite topped Quaich Bar, created in partnership with the Quaich bar at the Craigellachie Hotel in Speyside, Scotland. An experienced bartender will be on-hand at peak times to serve a full range of fine wines and cocktails such as the Broadway Copper Cup made with Copper Dog whisky, orange bitters and berries. An innovative new addition to the lounge is a BrewDog craft beer room, in partnership with the brand. A beer has been designed specifically for British Airways, named after its flight call sign – Speedbird 100. The beer is available on flights from 1 May.
Carolina Martinoli, British Airways’ Director of Brand and Customer Experience, said: “JFK airport is like a second home to London Heathrow so it’s great to mark the final step in our significant customer investment with the opening of our new Club and First lounges. Every detail has been carefully designed and we have created a space to meet our customers’ needs – whether they want to relax and have a meal or enjoy a craft beer and catch up on the world news.”
This is the third lounge to feature British Airways’ contemporary and luxurious design, following the lounge openings in Rome, Italy, and Aberdeen, Scotland, last year. It is part of the airline’s five-year £6.5 billion customer investment programme. The airline is also bringing changes to its First, World Traveller Plus and World Traveller cabins, delivering exceptional new restaurant-style catering from Do&Co, and rolling out industry-leading wi-fi onboard. New routes already launched this year include Charleston, Pittsburgh and Osaka.
The First lounge at JFK opened in October last year after a complete renovation. It offers an opulent bar and bespoke zones to provide different seating areas. The kitchen features a boutique pre-flight dining service, and the state-of-the-art wine room offers an enomatic dispenser so that each glass of wine is served at exactly the right temperature and oxidised to the precise level. The wine list has been curated by London-based Borough Wines with a variety of wines from across the world, introducing customers to a range of new wines.
Customers flying in First and Club World can enjoy enhanced check-in at the exclusive Premium Zone. The First Wing and First check-in are also open to ensure a smooth start to the journey.
