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Bmi opens new lounge at Heathrow

Published: 01/06/2009 - Filed under: News »

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Bmi has unveiled its new international lounge at Heathrow’s Terminal 1, with features including a custom-made Aga and a bar resembling a British pub.

Located above gate 5 in T1, the carrier has dubbed the lounge “No.1 Heathrow”, and has opened the facility today after several weeks of teasing emails to Diamond Club members and the media.

The lounge is divided into “informal zones”, including The Study (a work area with a boardroom-style tabel and free wifi), The Cafe (centred around a custom-made Aga), and The Local (a “sophisticated British pub environment” with a leather-buttoned horseshoe bar and Fullers London Pride on tap).

Guests will be able to sample ice creams created by chef and restaurateur Mark Hix, and from July 1 the lounge will also offer a dining-on-the-ground evening meal service for those wishing to sleep in-flight.

Instead of a formal reception desk guests are welcomed into the lounge by Bmi’s Lounge Team, and once inside passengers can enjoy seats by UK designer Mark Dixon and original artwork by Royal Academy of Art graduate Phil Shaw.

The lounge is open to Bmi business class, Diamond Club (Gold and Silver) and Star Alliance Gold customers travelling to Bmi international destinations (excluding Dublin as this destination is considered as a domestic route within the airport).

Business Traveller will be visiting the lounge later this week, and will be publishing a full review, but we'd love to hear below from anyone who has used the new facility.

It's been a busy few weeks for lounge openings at Heathrow. BA recently unveiled its new facility at T3 (see online news May 6), and Skyteam is due to open its first dedicated lounge at T4 later this week (see online news June 1).

For more information visit flybmi.com.

Report by Mark Caswell

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COMMENTS » 

JordanD - 01/06/2009 14:28

To clarify - how does this complement the Star Alliance facility also in T1 (in the old BA lounge pavilion)? And what about the BMI domestic facility - does that remain in its current rather rundown state?

BusinessTraveller - 02/06/2009 15:36

Business Traveller replies:

Jordan D - we contacted Bmi for a response to your queries above, and have received the following reply:

"We would of course encourage any bmi Gold card holders to use the new bmi Number One Heathrow and benefit from the stylish surroundings and homely British comforts. However Star Alliance card holders travelling on a Star-operated flight may choose to go to the lounge nearest to their departure gate.

"This would mean that customers travelling on flights from pier 3 are more conveniently located to use the Star Alliance Lounge, customers departing from Pier 4 would be closer to use bmi Number One Heathrow.

"The Star Alliance access policy would mean that Star Alliance Gold customers have the benefit of access to both lounges and bmi Number One Heathrow is definitely the perfect stop to relax and refresh before taking off.

"We would love to refurbish the bmi domestic lounge. Our whole portfolio of domestic lounges is currently under review. We have made a major investment in bmi Number One Heathrow and in the current difficult trading environment we are yet to confirm when the domestic lounge will be granted a renovation."

JordanD - 07/06/2009 09:57

Thanks for obtaining a very detailed response from BMI.

One wonders whether the left hand knows what the right is doing - Jenny Southan's article on the lounge (http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/the-lowdown-bmis-no.1-heathrow-lounge) quotes BMI's Peter Spencer as saying that BMI "will start looking into revamping its domestic lounge within the next few months", which suggests that they are pressing ahead - different to the response above.

The question is - which is it: they are yet to confirm or are looking into it? Or is that BMI speak for the same thing?

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