British Airways Set To Refurbish All Heathrow Airport Lounges Within 5 Years

This week has been a big one for British Airways, with the UK flag carrier sharing exciting announcements regarding subjects such as its short-haul cabin and long-haul route network. However, its upgrade plans for the coming years also concern the airport experience, including the refurbishment of all of its Heathrow lounges.

A full-scale refresh

As exclusively revealed yesterday by Head For Points, British Airways is set to fully refurbish all of its lounges at its London Heathrow Airport (LHR) hub in the coming five years. Work on the project is set to start in late 2024, with the Terminal 5 Arrivals Lounge being the first in line to receive a makeover as part of the program.

According to Head For Points, this decision is strategically advantageous due to the facility being situated landside. Additionally, the British Airways website notes that it has relatively limited opening hours, running from 05:00 to 14:00 to target earlier long-haul arrivals. As such, this leaves plenty of time later in the day for the refresh of the lounge, which will include a new barista coffee facility, to take place.

Photo: British Airways

It seems that British Airways is focusing on quality over quantity with the Arrivals Lounge refurbishment, with Head For Points noting that the carrier is reducing shower capacity in favor of bigger and better washing facilities. The order of lounges being refreshed after the arrivals facility remains unknown at this moment in time, but Simple Flying has reached out to British Airways for further information.

Some facilities will be totally reworked

Given that any airline’s lounges tend to attract its most frequent flyers, many of the users of British Airways’ lounges at London Heathrow Airport will be regular visitors who are familiar with their makeup. However, they should be prepared for large-scale changes in some instances, with the planned refurbishment program set to alter not just the facilities of certain lounges, but also their respective layouts.

Most notably, the southern end of Terminal 5, which features a three-lounge complex consisting of the Concorde Room, First Class, and Galleries Club South lounges, will see a full reworking of its layout. Head For Points notes that this is to create more direct access to the Concorde Room for First Class passengers.

Photo: British Airways

Related

British Airways Has Refurbished Its Heathrow Terminal 5B Lounge

The dining area received a significant upgrade, the furniture has been refreshed, and a quiet area has been installed.

As linked above, lounge refresh projects are far from an alien concept to BA. Indeed, with the UK flag carrier having completed the refurbishment of its Terminal 5B lounge at London Heathrow Airport as recently as October 2023, Head For Points notes that this will likely be among the last facilities to be worked on. With the program working on one lounge at a time, it will be interesting to watch it develop.

A week of big news

As mentioned earlier, this week has been a big one when it comes to news involving British Airways. Most notably, the oneworld founding member has revealed the new seats that it will use on its Airbus A320neo family narrowbodies going forward, as part of a £7 billion passenger experience investment scheme. Additionally, plans to resume flights to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur have also been announced.

What do you make of British Airways’ planned lounge refurbishments? Have you ever visited one of the UK flag carrier’s lounges? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comment section.