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| Qatar Airways’ CEO Akbar Al-Baker (left) takes Ambassador Khalid bin Rashid bin Salim al-Hamoudi al-Mansouri and BAA chief operating officer Normand Boivin around the new facility in London |
Chief executive officer Akbar al-Baker opened the lounge in the presence of invited guests before giving them a tour of the facility. The number of flights on the London Heathrow – Doha route, is being stepped up from four to five a day from March 25.
The lounge is designed to resemble a boutique hotel or a private member’s club rather than a conventional airport facility for an airline.
Qatar Airways recruited lounge staff from five star hotels and restaurants to work in the theatre-style Global Brasserie kitchen, innovative Delicatessen, and elegant Signature Martini bar that are key features of the new Heathrow lounge which can accommodate over 90 passengers.
The lounge also includes private shower facilities, with heated floors and mirrors, hotel-style towels and luxury branded toiletries and amenities. Business and leisure travellers can stay connected with free Wi-Fi throughout the lounge and discreet power sockets at every seat as well as a business centre that includes PCs and printers.
Qatar’s Ambassador to the UK, Khalid bin Rashid bin Salim al-Hamoudi al-Mansouri, congratulated al-Baker after the formal inauguration of the facility.
“Qatar Airways has been continuously setting the standards in the aviation field across the globe for over a decade. This new lounge raises the bar yet again and reflects all that is best in Qatari standards, hospitality and luxury.”
Al-Baker observed that London has long been one of the airline’s best-performing routes, so Heathrow was an obvious choice for the first Premium Lounge outside Doha.
“The lounge is the latest development in our rapidly expanding global route network and we are eyeing opportunities to open further airport lounges in destinations where we operate more than two frequencies a day,” the CEO added.
During 2012, Qatar Airways will launch flights to nine new destinations: Baku (Azerbaijan) on February 1; Tbilisi (Georgia) on February 1; Kigali (Rwanda) on March 21; Zagreb (Croatia) on May 9; Perth (Australia) on July 3; with dates yet to be announced to Gassim (Saudi Arabia), Helsinki (Finland), Mombasa (Kenya) and Zanzibar (Tanzania).
A video of the new premium lounge at London Heathrow during its official opening ceremony can be viewed on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNsZK-lpEd8
