Emirates has extended its policy allowing paid-for access to its airport lounges, following the initial introduction of the service at Dubai International earlier this year.
The Gulf carrier’s lounge access terms and conditions now confirm that “Silver and Blue tier members who would otherwise not be entitled to complimentary lounge access, can now pay for lounge access for themselves only”, at a total of 27 international airports.
The service is available at Emirates UK bases including Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester, as well as at the carrier’s recently opened Boston lounge.
Access is charged at US$100 for four hours, and the fill list of airports where the service is available is as follows: Auckland, Bangkok, Birmingham, Boston, Brisbane, Cape Town, Delhi, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Hamburg, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Manchester, Melbourne, Milan, Munich, New York JFK, Paris CDG, Perth, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo Narita and Zurich.
In addition Skywards Platinum and Gold tier members can now pay for additional lounge access for companion(s), over the number they are otherwise entitled to.
Skywards members may pay for access providing they are on an “Eligible Emirates Flight” which is defined as “Emirates marketed and operated flights and Emirates codeshare flights operated by Qantas” – Emirates codeshare services operated by other carriers are not eligible.
Children under the age of 12 years are charged at half the entry rate, and those under two years get complimentary access.
The new policy will allow Emirates to raise extra revenue through ancillary services, following the group’s recent annual report which showed profits down 70 per cent.
The carrier recently announced a new network partnership with fellow Gulf airline Flydubai, which will see the carriers introducing “an expansive codeshare agreement”, as well as aligning their schedules and frequent flyer programmes.
