In 2021 alone, Priority Pass will add over 150 new airport lounges globally, plus 100 new premium airport experiences and off-airport lounges
Total coverage to exceed 1,500 lounges and premium experiences worldwide by close of year
by Suman Gupta
India, July 2021 – Today, Priority Pass, the leading global airport lounge programme, has announced it will add over 150 new luxury airport lounges across the world in 2021. Alongside 100 new premium dining and relaxation experiences and railway and sea port lounges, this represents 20% growth for the network. This announcement comes at the same time that evidence mounts that travel is set to return, with encouraging growth in domestic travel in the US, China and Russia, as well as recent announcements around the relaxing of border closures for vaccinated travellers – with premium experiences more in demand than ever.
Priority Pass has already added 69 new airport lounges this year – including three in India and 14 in China – as well as revealing that nine No.1 Lounges have re-entered its programme. In addition to increasing its lounge footprint, the company is focusing on quality, premium dining and spa experiences, with 17 new locations added in 2021.
As India remains one of the world’s busiest travel hubs, the decision to expand lounge presence in the country remains of considerable strategic importance to Priority Pass and its lounge partners in India, who are invested in elevating the airport lounge experience across the country.
The Priority Pass network is a mix of partnerships as well as lounges owned by its sister company, Airport Dimensions, both owned by Collinson Group. Airport Dimensions has continued opening new lounges and sleep and rest experiences during the pandemic and is positioned to achieve a 483% growth in locations since 2015.
12 months of agile transformation to ensure a safe and reassuring experience
Over the last 12 months, Collinson has adapted its offerings to reflect the ongoing needs of travellers during the COVID-19 era. Collinson’s ‘Ready to Order’ food and drinks technology in partnership with Grab launched across select Priority Pass lounges in India, including Cochin, Pune and Mumbai, enabling lounge guests to order complimentary food and drink from their mobile. While achieving a contactless F&B service, the offering also supports social distancing and reduces food waste.
Supporting the travel industry with shifting traveller expectations
With a customer base of more than 50 million global travellers, Collinson has leveraged its unique insights into consumer expectations to support the travel industry. Most recently this has taken the form of new research The Return Journey, which analyses and compares data collected from 18.5k global travellers in late 2019 (pre-pandemic) with data collected from 12.6k travellers in late 2020 (during the pandemic), providing guidance on the critical path airline, airport and premium credit card brands can take to meet the changing expectations of travellers.
Parent company Collinson Group, working to get people travelling safely and with confidence
Collinson – a global end-to-end travel experiences, airport services and travel medical company – has spent the last 12 months working with airlines, airports and other members of the travel ecosystem as well as governments around the world to restart travel safely. Collinson has also used its travel medical resources to become the world’s leading COVID travel testing company, with partnerships with more than 30 airlines, airports and health passport providers.
Collinson 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.”
“India continues to be a core growth-driver for our clients and their customers, and as such, we have a strategic, long-term – and most of all, exciting – growth plan that supports our clients’ objectives, while delivering an enhanced experience for their customers,” said Priyanka Lakhani, Commercial Director Middle East & Africa and Director South Asia, Collinson, Priority Pass’s parent company. “We’re aware that travellers are wary of returning to the skies, with a recent study by Collinson revealing that 41% of Indian travellers are specifically looking for visible health and hygiene measures when during their next trip, as well as socially-distanced spaces to ‘de-stress’ and ‘relax away from the crowds’. In line with this, we remain committed to growing our network of premium, relaxing airport lounge experiences to continue to help instill confidence and enable travellers to once again enjoy their journeys.”
About Collinson : Collinson is a global leader in the provision of traveller experiences including airport lounge access and medical and security assistance and travel medical services. Collinson’s traveller experiences include the world’s leading airport lounge and experiences programme, Priority Pass, as well as travel insurance, identity assistance, flight delay, international health and travel risk management solutions.
Collinson has over 2,000 employees operating out of 17 locations globally, all working to deliver a broad range of traveller experiences that ensure the safety, welfare and comfort of 55 million people as they travel for business and leisure around the world. Its travel medical and security assistance business unit has more than 55 years’ experience in the delivery of international medical assistance and emergency care, including the handling of pandemics such as Ebola, Zika and the coronavirus. Last year alone, Collinson responded to over 95,000 emergency calls, managed over 40,000 medical cases and conducted over 3,000 aero-medical evacuations across the 170 countries it serves. We work with clients including American Express, Cathay Pacific, CBA, Mastercard, UnionPay and Visa.
With a rich history of connecting different members of the travel, financial services and loyalty ecosystem together, and recognising the central role that travel plays to global economies, Collinson continues to leverage its unique position in light of the pandemic, working to help keep brands front of mind, raise traveller confidence and ultimately support global travel’s long-term recovery.
About Priority Pass : Priority Pass is the original and market-leading airport experiences programme operated by Collinson. It provides discerning frequent travellers access to over 1,300 lounges and airport experiences in over 650 airports across 148 locations, including a growing number of airport dining and spa offerings worldwide that can be accessed in the same way as lounges. Using the Priority Pass app for iOS and Android, members can quickly and easily discover locations welcoming Priority Pass, instantly check their visit entitlement and use their Digital Membership Card to access airport lounges and experiences.
About Airport Dimensions
Airport Dimensions designs, builds and operates airport spaces for lounge and other experiences, and is one of the fastest growing global lounge operators in the world. It has a network of 28 airport lounges and experiences at major airports across the US, United Kingdom and Middle East including Atlanta, Dallas Fort Worth, Gatwick, Heathrow, Dubai and Doha.
In 2020 Airport Dimensions expanded its physical offering for travellers with the acquisition of ONGROUND Hospitality and the Sleep Lounge brand sleep ’n fly, and enhanced its digital experiences with the launch of e-commerce and relationship management platform Connecta.
Under its brands The Club (US), Club Aspire (UK) and sleep ’n fly (Middle East), Airport Dimensions provides award-winning hospitality services tailored to the specific needs of passengers. It also develops value-added airport experiences for over 50 airport and airline partners, including Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Lufthansa and Air China.
