Emirates has opened its first branded lounge in Africa at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport, in plenty of time for next year’s World Cup.
The new facility at OR Tambo, Africa’s busiest airport, features leather armchairs, chef-prepared meals and showers, and is the airline’s sixth new lounge opening this year.
Located on the airport’s Mezzanine level between gates A4 and A7, the lounge also has flat screen televisions, a state-of-the-art business centre with free internet access and a space for around 135 passengers.
The lounge is available to Emirate’s premium travellers holding First and Business class tickets, and members of its Gold Skywards frequent flyer programme.
Emirates is gearing up to take advantage of the 2010 World Cup to be hosted by South Africa. In September, the airline launched travel packages to South Africa which included match tickets (see online news September 23).
The state-owned airline said it continues to invest in new airport facilities, to the tune of $72 million this year alone, with a further two openings in Tokyo and Amsterdam planned for 2010.
It is unclear whether Dubai’s rising debt burden will affect Emirate’s investments over the coming years, but the airline said it was still on track to add more aircraft to its fleet, including two new A380 super-jumbos in December and January.
Contact emirates.com
Report by Andrew Gough
