Frequent flyers and business class passengers have usually been able to look forward to additional service at many airports - but now there may be restrictions.
Bremen - Those who fly a lot have always been rewarded for this: Lufthansa passengers who regularly book flights were able to enjoy additional service in the airport lounges as a bonus until before the Corona crisis.
That seems to be changing in the future.
Probably because of the tense economic situation caused by the corona pandemic, Lufthansa decided to finally close the Lufthansa lounges at the airports in Bremen, Dresden, Cologne / Bonn, Leipzig, Nuremberg and in New Delhi, India, like
Spiegel
reported.
Elsewhere, lounges that were originally divided into Senator and Business Class are being merged.
Lufthansa reacts to corona losses: service restrictions for frequent flyers
According to the news magazine, the Frankfurt-based company reports that the “lounge portfolio is always looked at continuously in order to be able to respond to changing market conditions if necessary”. This means that closings at other locations could also become more likely. The decisive factors for this are changes in passenger flows, the availability of lounge areas and also the rental agreements. In the meantime, the waiting areas are open again throughout Germany, but with mostly greatly reduced service, as a
Spiegel
report shows. Right now, while the airline's route network is slowly being rebuilt.
This also affects some customers on the mind: Travelers complain about overcrowded waiting rooms and a limited gastronomic offer.
The fast-track lanes at the security checkpoints have also been abolished at some airports, which can result in long waiting times for guests with expensive tickets or status cards.
Closing Lufthansa lounges: comfort for business class passengers is reduced
Wherever possible, Lufthansa is looking for possible alternatives for the closed waiting areas.
In the future, passengers should be able to use partner offers from the Star Alliance, for example.
It is not yet known how the alternatives will behave in terms of prices for drinks and food.
Air traffic in particular was hit particularly hard by the restrictions of the corona pandemic. In Germany, the German air traffic control registered a decrease in flights of 43.8 percent in 2020 compared to the previous year. This also had financial consequences: In May of last year, Lufthansa was saved from bankruptcy with government aid of nine billion euros. The flights are now almost back to their original state.
(klb)
