The oneworld alliance has began the method of opening its personal branded lounges. We just lately noticed the opening of the primary two lounges, at Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN) and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS). Whereas I can’t personally vouch for this, there’s a (logical) rumor relating to one of many subsequent doable places for the lounge community…
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse Manchester not within the playing cards
In 2019, Virgin Atlantic introduced plans to open a Clubhouse at Manchester Airport (MAN). The plan was initially for this lounge to open in 2020, although if I recall appropriately, one thing huge occurred that yr. 😉
Almost 5 years later, it appears fairly clear that Virgin Atlantic has given up on its Clubhouse plans in Manchester, as there aren’t any indicators of this lounge. For that matter, it’s logical that Virgin Atlantic would not need to put money into a lounge right here.
Not solely is the airline attempting to return to profitability, however Virgin Atlantic retired many planes at first of the pandemic, limiting the service’s development. At this level, Virgin Atlantic’s community out of Manchester additionally isn’t big — the airline flies to Atlanta (ATL), New York (JFK), and Orlando (MCO) year-round, and flies to Barbados (BGI) and Las Vegas (LAS) seasonally.
Will a oneworld lounge open in Manchester as an alternative?
Twitter/X person @SPD_travels has an fascinating replace relating to the lounge state of affairs in Manchester, which makes fairly a little bit of sense. This confirms that Virgin Atlantic not plans to open a Clubhouse in Manchester.
As a substitute, a brand new alliance lounge will likely be opening on the airport. It’s not said what that alliance is, nevertheless it’s fairly clearly that oneworld is being referenced, primarily based on the point out of it being an alliance that’s just lately rising its lounge community, and which is seeing new service to the airport.
Now, logistically, does it make sense for oneworld to open a lounge in Manchester? Manchester is served by many oneworld airways, and presently doesn’t have any oneworld lounges, however slightly clients are despatched to contract lounges.
The oneworld airways on the airport embrace British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, and Royal Jordanian. On high of that, Aer Lingus operates some transatlantic flights out of Manchester. Whereas the airline doesn’t belong to the oneworld alliance, it’s a part of the oneworld transatlantic three way partnership.
The terminal logistics restrict which oneworld passengers might use this lounge, although. This lounge can be positioned in Terminal 2, so meaning some oneworld passengers wouldn’t have entry:
- Finnair operates from Terminal 1, whereas British Airways and Iberia function from Terminal 3
- In the meantime Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, and Royal Jordanian, function from Terminal 2; on high of that there’s Aer Lingus, which might very effectively ship its passengers to this lounge
So it’s not the world’s largest oneworld presence, nevertheless it looks as if there’s extra advantage to working a oneworld Lounge right here than a Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse. Solely time will inform how this performs out, so it’s anybody’s guess when the lounge might open, how huge it may very well be, and so on.
Backside line
Whereas we’ll need to mark this as “creating” for now, it appears to be like just like the oneworld alliance is perhaps opening a lounge at Manchester Airport, within the area that was presupposed to be a Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse. Virgin Atlantic has reportedly scrapped plans to open its personal lounge on the airport, so it appears logical for oneworld to step in and use this area, given the alliance’s lounge targets.
What do you make of the prospect of oneworld opening a lounge at Manchester Airport?
