NEWS FLASH
Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport plans to open a new business class lounge by the end of the year, with the existing "Business Club" facility to be closed. In a statement to EX-YU Aviation News, Belgrade Airport confirmed the lounge, which is operated by Avolta (formerly known as Dufry), will be moved to the existing premises of the Air Serbia Premium Lounge (pictured), while Air Serbia itself will open a new lounge on the other side of the airport terminal. The shift will mark a notable upgrade for premium passengers, with the existing Air Serbia lounge significantly larger than its Avolta-operated counterpart, with restroom facilities, showers, prayer room, baggage storage, bar and kitchen.
Finally a good PP/business lounge for pax not travelling on JU/TK/QR
ReplyDeleteMuch better looking than the renders
ReplyDeleteThe pictures are all of the current lounge.
DeleteI do hope that Avolta will keep the lounge in good condition, once they take over. But only time will show!
ReplyDeleteThe photographs posted by the Admin, are the PR photos by AirSerbia, so we have no idea if everything (or anything) inside the lounge would stay the way it is now.
Trust me the only change they will make is that they will take down the Air Serbia sign.
DeleteWould be the best solution as Air Serbias lounge looks magnificent.
DeleteTotally agree it looks great...
DeleteAre they likely/have they said whether they’ll keep the same agreements with different lounge programmes?
DeleteSo JU passengers will now need to trek to the other side of the airport? What if flights are leaving from A gates? Most airlines run more than one lounge from their hub airport. This is sad. I wonder what will happen to old the Biznis Klub.
ReplyDeleteBecause airport didn't let them to have more than one lounge.
DeleteAlso, most if not all JU flights leave from C gates..
DeleteRight, I think all of the flights are from the C gates, or if not they are planned to be.
DeleteWhich airline the size of JU operates multiple lounges at their hub?
DeleteŠetnja je dobra za kičmu.
DeleteYes шетња је добра за кичму but here it doesn't apply since JU flights leave from C gates not A.
Delete@13:00 You have obviously not been at the airport in the past couple of years, based on your questions. Air Serbia is almost always C gates where their new, much larger lounge will be located. News article also says what will happen to the old generic lounge IN THE FIRST SENTENCE. Now that's really sad - asking question without reading the article and not understanding where is Air Serbia located at the airport.
Delete@17:07 You obviously did not read the post. The question was what will happen to the current Dufry run business club and not the current JU lounge which will become the new Dufry lounge. I also did not know that Vinci gave exclusivity of gates to any operator, and the question about what partner airlines using A gates will need to do has not been addressed. Actually read posts before posting smart alec remarks!
Deletewhat will happen to the current Dufry run business club? of all the things in the world, that keeps you up at night?
DeleteWhat will be instead of Business Club?
ReplyDeleteProbably demolish it and extend central plaza?
DeleteWhat about partner airlines like QR and KL?
ReplyDeleteWill they leave from A or C?
DeleteWhat difference does it make? My last flight on QR 10 days ago departed from C12 but the lounge is at A4. You just walk. It's 7 minutes.
DeleteYou do realise business people don’t like to waste time walking and would rather work or relax as ling as possible in a lounge. I thought having a second lounge was supposed to improve things. It may have been best placing it in the area behind Nikola Tesla trg to enable both sides to be equally close and after security.
DeleteSo you are saying all airports offer direct access from the lounge into the plane and you don't have to walk anywhere? One thing is your wishes to be in the middle of the terminal (and by 2027 that won't be the middle of the terminal anymore since C pier will be extended) and it is another thing where there is space and it is realistic to build one.
DeleteThat's the point. Most airports and their lounge placements are designed around proximity of premium passengers to the plane. 7 mins is way too long. Look at Dubai, Frankfurt and even Brisbane, where you board directly from the lounge onto your plane.
DeleteSeriously, comparing DXB to BEG? Frankfurt, financial hub of Europe? Brisbane, city in country multitudes times richer than Serbia? Business people in BEG will be just fine.
DeleteBoarding directly from the lounge didn't spread all over the world for a reason. Just not flexible and practical for most airports.
DeleteNew lounge at C10 is ideally positioned for US bound gate and future C pier expansion.
Complaining for the sake of complaining. For a airline this size this is perfect, not to mention for the balkans.
Delete@17.23, it is not about complaining. Business users are astute and what you are saying is that they should do what you believe "is right for the Balkans". Well hello, they are trying to attract passengers from Miami, China etc, you actually need to provide a world class solution which is to have multiple lounges even if they are smaller. Belgrade's terminal is very very long and not centralised hence the constructive comments. But I guess no one can make those on this forum without being shot down because anything goes in the Balkans according to you.
Delete>Belgrade's terminal is very very long
DeleteLOL you need to travel more. BEG is compact compared to many airports and terminals.
With so many people in Serbia becoming wealthier these last few years there will be a definite need for increased sizes in business lounges. JU should have at least two lounges in it's hub airport, with the smaller one catering to those on the go. An arrivals lounge for business class and Gold members would be also a great next step. Yes, they are expensive but nowhere near as expensive in Serbia than FRA/LHR or others that have similar facilities in their hubs. There will be a LOT of business class passengers coming to Serbia in the run up to the Expo and the airport needs to accommodate for this, as does the airport in Nis.
ReplyDeleteWhere does this megalomania come from? The new J lounge will be twice as big as the current one, the new contract lounge will also be bigger, that's more than enough to cover the increased number of J pax for the time being. I'm not even going to comment on the arrivals lounge idea, one would think BEG is the new financial capital of Europe or something.
Delete@16:19 Good idea about the arrivals lounge, if JU wants to be able to flex it should do so at it's own hub. Also, the extra perk offerings over the others will encourage business passengers to book with JU over competitors, which translates into a lot more money rolling in vis a vis the the higher paying customers. I just realized there are going to be a lot of passengers coming from China soon and some of them have standards that are pretty high nowadays.
DeleteAs the gates expand even more there will be more passengers and less room at the existing lounges.
DeleteAnd who do you exactly think is going to pay for the arrivals lounge and its functioning? Some of you live in a fairy land.
DeleteWhats that Air Serbia’s lounge VIP zone about? VIP have their own lounge and “VIP” corner in never full business lounge is reality show AKA Big Brother, Farma, Elita etc
DeleteVIP room was created back in 2015 when Air Serbia lounge opened and you have just noticed it now? It has nothing to do with your reality shows. If you have travelled the world in private jets you would have noticed those terminals also have VIP rooms&lounges for hire, for additional privacy and function.
DeleteExisting lounge is the most horrible lounge I had been in in my life across all the airports. I actually went outside of it and bought myself a sandwich rather than eating inside.
ReplyDelete