More good news today as we wait for the list of countries we will be able to visit. British Airways have announced a phased reopening of their lounges at Heathrow T5.
From 4 July 2020, British Airways will begin a phased reopening of its lounges, starting with its First and Arrivals lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5. Any customer who is eligible for lounge access will be able to use the First lounge on departure including customers travelling in Club World.
UPDATE: Since BA sent this information it appears that Galleries Club will now also be open in the morning until 12.30pm. So if you are in Club or have a silver card, you will have to stick to the Club lounge during those times. This is due to the higher than expected number of passengers and the need to keep social distancing in place.
The airline has put in place a number of measures to ensure the health, wellbeing and safety of its customers and staff. British Airways will be trialling automatic contactless lounge entry screens, enabling eligible customers to scan their own boarding pass when entering the lounge, minimising contact between customers and staff. The automatic lounge entry screen trial will start in mid-July.
On entry to the lounge, customers will be provided with a card to place on their seat when they leave, allowing cleaners to thoroughly sanitise the seating area after each use. Throughout the lounge customers will also find a number of sanitisation stations and safe distance markers. Bathrooms and shower facilities will be meticulously cleaned after each use. Showers will be available in the Arrivals lounge and will be cleaned after every use. The Elemis spa will be closed.
In the lounge, you will now be able to order food and drink (including alcohol) through a new online service called ‘Your menu’ which will be accessible once in the lounge. There will be separate morning and afternoon menus with a choice of hot and cold food. Once ordered, the food and drinks will be brought directly to your seat. This works by scanning a QR code or for those that can’t there is a disposable paper menu.
There will be no newspapers or magazines but you can use the press reader app.
As I mentioned before, the terrace area in the First lounge will be converted into a Concorde Terrace and will temporarily be available for the exclusive use of BA First customers and Concorde room card holders. Hopefully, this includes a glass or two of the wonderful Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle Champagne!
The phased reopening will see more lounges re-open across the network throughout July and early August. If you are eligible you should be notified in advance of which lounges are open and available for you to visit.
You can find more detailed information and FAQs on the official BA page here.
2 comments
This is most helpful, Michelle. Thank you.
Do you know if the First check-in area is being used as before with the helpful FastTrack baggage check? I assume not yet.
I have not had officially confirmed but it looks like it will be open.
Comments are closed.