Economy passengers can get in for 49 francs: Zurich Airport launches a new lounge concept

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Waiting for the plane can sometimes take a long time – and if you sit outside the gate for a long time, you’ll be doing so in a pretty hectic environment, especially if there’s a lot going on at the airport.

It’s no surprise that customers who fly a lot and take advantage of frequent flyer benefits like to wait in lounges, some of which are lavishly equipped by airlines. There is food and drink there. And anyone with a business or first-class ticket can still enjoy the lounge, especially since these places have showers, lounges, and some even have their own bars and restaurants.

As a rule, access to these more privileged areas of the airport is not open to economy customers. However, some airlines also offer economy customers access to lounges for an additional fee.

But now Zurich Airport, the country’s largest airport, is launching a new lounge offer called “ZRH Comfort”, aimed primarily at the economy target group.

Access fee 49 francs per person

The new waiting area at the Airside Center is called “ZRH Club” and “can be booked by all passengers, regardless of booking class or airline, for 49 francs per person via the Zurich Airport website,” according to an announcement from the airport on Monday. The service is scheduled to begin on November 1 of this year. Included is access to a “separate, serviced lounge area with snacks and beverages, as well as a priority lane at security.”

Who can access the lounges, when and how often has recently become a matter of debate in the aviation industry, especially in the USA. Following the lull of the corona epidemic, air traffic has increased strongly again in the last few months and is now back to the pre-pandemic level. This means that the number of visitors in many lounges has increased significantly; some halls were severely overcrowded. Some US airlines are exploring the idea of ​​restricting access for certain customer groups.

Passengers in Zurich will decide whether the new lounge concept is worth the 49-franc airfare. And whether it is worth it for them to use the various snack options: According to Zurich Airport, the “Traveller variant” choice includes, for example, a glass of champagne or two deciliters of wine, as well as three pieces of maki sushi.

Some passengers may also prefer the new lounge idea at Kloten due to access to the priority lane at security. Zurich, an airport location where processes generally work better than other airports such as London or Amsterdam, has been receiving a lot of criticism lately for extremely long queues at security checks. The cantonal police, who were responsible for this work, justified this due to staff shortages.

Source :Blick