Airport lounges, once the private retreat of the most elite travelers, have become a more widely-available and wildly-desired amenity, especially since at least limited access to lounges has become a feature of many credit cards.
Online frequent-flyer groups are full of questions about particular lounges, complaints about access or amenities and even advice on which airports to fly to or from for best lounge access.
Numbers of the lounges, including some with airline branding, are operated by companies with units across numbers of airports. Among the bigger operators are Swissport, which also operates the Aspire brand, and Plaza Premium and Aspire.
A recent, but not untypical response by airports, airlines and lounge operators can be seen at Helsinki’s airport, where several new lounges have opened recently, others have expanded and another is under construction, more than doubling its total lounge areas in the past two years.
