Monday, 26 October 2009 at 10:42
Emirates Airline is extending its seating capacity out of Manchester in the UK - but not with aircraft - with sumptuous leather armchairs in its newest dedicated airport lounge.
The 147-seat facility at Manchester International Airport is the latest push by the Dubai-based airline to provide exclusive lounges for premium passengers at key airports across its network.
Mohammed Mattar, Emirates' Divisional Senior Vice President Airport Services, who attended the official opening ceremony Thursday, said: "We've invested more than a quarter of a billion dirhams on fantastic lounges across the world - these sanctuaries really provide that home from home feeling that is so important to our passengers.
Coupled with Emirates Chauffeur Drive, dedicated check-in counters and priority baggage handling, the Emirates Lounge is central to our seamless premium product." The 9,429 square foot Manchester lounge first opened its doors to passengers on October 1st, and has already received rave reviews from premium travellers. The Emirates Lounge has floor-to-ceilings windows, offering passengers spectacular views across the airport's runways.
Andrew Cornish, Managing Director of Manchester Airport, who also attended Thursday's opening event, said, "Emirates is very important to the future development of Manchester so I'm delighted to be here as the lounge opens. One of the reasons behind our redesign of Terminal 1 at Manchester was to make it more focused for our business audience and to create the type of airport environment suitable for our airlines to operate their business for many years to come.
It's significant that we've seen the addition of the lounge here as part of the Emirates growing network of lounges and I know passengers travelling through will be looking forward to seeing the lounge for the first time." In addition to Manchester, the airline offers dedicated lounges in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Auckland, Bangkok, Dubai, Mumbai, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, London Gatwick, London Heathrow, Munich, New York JFK, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Johannesburg, Singapore, Beijing and Zurich.
More lounges are due to open in 2010 including one at Birmingham International Airport.
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