Priority Pass has outlined plans to add over 150 new airport lounges to its programme by the end of the year, as well as 100 new “premium dining and relaxation experiences and railway and sea port lounges”.

The new additions will bring the group’s coverage to over 1,500 lounges and experiences worldwide, which it says represents a “20 per cent growth for the network” in 2021.

Owner Collinson said that evidence was mounting “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”.

Priority Pass has added 32 new airport lounges so far this year, including Lufthansa’s business lounges at New York JFK, Newark and Washington Dulles, 14 lounges in China, and new locations in Russia, Turkey, Egypt, and India.

But as previously reported, the group will lose around 60 Plaza Premium lounges from its portfolio at the end of June, following the ending of a contract.

Plaza Premium to end contract with Priority Pass and Lounge Key

Collinson has confirmed to Business Traveller that the 20 per cent expansion figure takes into account the loss of the Plaza Premium lounges from the Priority Pass network.

Priority Pass said that the new lounges were a mixture of partnerships and facilities owned by Airport Dimensions, a Collinson subsidiary, which has lounges under development at locations including Cleveland Hopkins International, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, San Francisco International and Abu Dhabi airport.

Commenting on the news Collinson’s 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.”

Since the onset of Covid-19 Collinson has built a portfolio of test centres across the UK, including the first in-terminal facilities offering the mandatory Covid-19 tests currently required for all arrivals into the UK.

Collinson launches in-terminal tests for arrivals into England

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