British Airways adds lounges access at eight European airports

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• Julian says:

  2 May2 May 04:50

  Have BA started flying to Stavanger again then?

  I flew back via there with BA on Avios in 2014 after my trip back from Longyearbyen (Spitsbergen) to Oslo with Norwegian and then on the overnight sleeper train (only had a recliner seat though) from Oslo. Reason was there was no Avios availability from Oslo for another week or two (in Club or Economy) but there was availability in both classes from Stavanger. Plus the overnight sleeper was I think only 30 Euros (despite being a rather slow but scenic, once light, trip of just over 200 miles)

  The world beach volleyball championships of some kind were on when I got to Stavanger (possible to see some of the heats without a ticket) and I also got to see the oil exploration museum later in the day (train arrived early morning but flight out was in the evening) but I remember feeling rather tired trying to make myself go round that and read the exhibits.

  But unless I remember wrong BA axed the route (operated by a franchise partner back then) soon afterwards. I presume it has been resurrected due to the oil industry related traffic rather than for tourism related reasons?

  Surprised they can’t get lounge access either there or at Bari, Brindisi, Catania and Cagliari as all are cities with significant business as well as holiday functions. The lounge in Ibiza was always rather odd being of a dance music industry focused theme in line with one of the island’s main (although seasonal) economic activities. BA’s Club tickets to these destinations used to be such a ripoff price wise that there was no excuse for not having lounge access but I believe the cash cost has come down considerably as a result of the reduction in legroom to Economy class cabin levels (free middle seat and free meal and drink plus lounge, where available, now being the only benefit)

  • Shoestring says:

    2 May2 May 06:20

    2x 32kg luggage

    • Julian says:

      2 May2 May 06:23

      No extra club class luggage allowance when BA doesn’t even operate a flight to or from Stavanger any more (or rather its flag carrying franchise partner no longer does as of winter 2017).

      It would actually be a thankless task being an HfP story writer with all the people on this website who know better because they have actually flown the route and so know what is currently actually going on at that airport…………

• David O'Sullivan says:

  2 May2 May 06:17

  No lounge access at Cologne

• Tracy Regan says:

  2 May2 May 06:18

  I’m flying back from Heraklion to LGW tomorrow and the information has changed from no lounge to

  Lounge
  Skyserv Lounge
  Located airside and after security check point
  We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

  corporate-wage-slave on Flyertalk has said its the Goldair Lounge. I’ll report back tomorrow.

  • Julian says:

    2 May2 May 06:28

    Is this a business rather than a leisure trip noting that you are returning back to the UK on a Friday. Or is that only because tickets were cheaper on a Friday than any other day of the week?

    Crete is a great island for a holiday due to the huge variety of beaches plus the archaeological sites on top. Although you do tend to rack up rather a lot of miles on the hire car as a result……..

    • Tracy Regan says:

      2 May2 May 16:23

      I actually booked this trip as a BA Holiday as it was by the cheapest way of doing it.

  • Rob Walker says:

    2 May2 May 07:09

    I paid for the Goldair lounge via lounge buddy last year after a previous bad experience at a Greek airport (Rhodes). The lounge was little bigger than a cupboard! There was a constant stream of BA passengers being turned away as we were checking in. I believe it’s also on Priority Pass but we didn’t have Amex Plat at that time. HER didn’t turn out to be as bad as we imagined.

    I thought the ‘other’ lounge was either landside or possibly in the Schengen area of the terminal. Could be wrong, or things may have changed.

    • Kevin says:

      2 May2 May 07:54

      We used the landside lounge at Heraklion two years ago as we early at the airport and check in didn’t open for ages. It was much nicer than the hot, very crowded terminal. Takes Priority Pass, etc.

  • Richard says:

    2 May2 May 08:03

    Hi Tracy, do you see that info in manage my booking? As off to Thessaloniki soon and not sure if it’ll be ‘summer’ or not.

    • Richard says:

      2 May2 May 08:53

      Answering my questions all week. Yes, in manage my booking and Thessaloniki now saying Lounge
      Manolis Andronikos Skyserv Lounge
      Main Terminal, Departure Level 1st Floor, Next to Gate A3, After Security
      We apologise for any inconvenience caused

    • Tracy Regan says:

      2 May2 May 16:25

      Yes, it’s in the manage my booking. It changed form saying no lounge to the information I posted above.

• Julian says:

  2 May2 May 06:21

  I thought I wasn’t imagining this service discontinuation in winter 2017 to Stavanger. See https://londonairtravel.com/2017/06/21/ba-suspends-bergen-stavanger/

  But it seems services must have restarted again more quietly unless the BA lounge access there is merely for Exec Club cardholders using SAS, Norwegian or whatever other services to transit to Stavanger.

  However just checked at http://www.ba.com and Stavanger is not listed as an available airport destination at all. So not even offered as somewhere you can get to with OneWorld alliance partners.

  Just checked at http://www.skyscanner.net and only SAS and Norwegian offer direct flights to Stavanger from the UK as well as connecting services via Oslo.

  So seems like some kind of outdated cut and paste factual error in Rob’s list of airports with BA flights offering Club class service but without Club lounge access at the overseas airport………

  • Rob says:

    2 May2 May 08:51

    It was based on the article we did last September. Forgot Stavanger had gone.

• kevin says:

  2 May2 May 06:24

  Does anyone know whether BA has resolved their dispute at LPA. Last time I was there in late march they were giving out 10 euro vouchers instead of lounge access

• Neil says:

  2 May2 May 06:24

  No lounge access at Funchal as of Easter 2018

• Andrew says:

  2 May2 May 06:31

  Ask Alan Partridge if he’ll review the Norwich lounge for you 😉

  • Shoestring says:

    2 May2 May 06:53

    They had some Pouilly Fuisse – quite good – but all this wine nonsense! You get all these wine people, don’t you? Wine this, wine that. Let’s have a bit of red, let’s have a bit of white. Ooh, that’s a snazzy bouquet. Oh, this smells of, I don’t know, basil. Sometimes you just want to say, sod all this wine, just give me a pint of…mineral water
    The chemical toilet was a Saniflow 33, now this little babe can cope with anything, and I mean anything. Earlier on I put in a pound of mashed up Dundee cake, let’s take a look…not a trace! Peace of mind I’m sure, especially if you have elderly relatives on board.
    Airports are great. I’d just like to fly a helicopter all around Norfolk. You know, swoop down over a field. Scare a donkey so that it falls into a river. Hover over one of those annoying families that go on holidays on bikes. And shout at them “get out of the area!” and watch them panic!

  • Julian says:

    2 May2 May 07:04

    I never did like Alan Partridge or Little Britain……………….

    • Mike says:

      2 May2 May 07:16

      I agree – all a bit “silly” rather than “funny”

    • Shoestring says:

      2 May2 May 07:38

      You should read the Steve Coogan books instead – very funny in a way that reflects but is funnier than the comic direction of the various TV series

    • Rob says:

      2 May2 May 08:47

      Rhys spent 3 years at UEA and never used the airport once! We looked at it went he did the voco review in Cardiff but Norwich to Exeter and then slow train to Cardiff didn’t stack up.

      • Julian says:

        2 May2 May 09:44

        Not quite clear why Rhys had the voco review in Cardiff (think they called it a Viva in my day but it all took place in Exeter rather than elsewhere) or how you come to have that much knowledge of his university studies. Is he related to you or your wife in some way as well as working for you?

        I do wonder though if there wouldn’t be more demand for Norwich to Cardiff rather than Norwich to Exeter though. Norwich to Newquay seems like it would also make more sense.

        • Rob says:

          2 May2 May 10:06

          IHG wanted voco reviewing, I had no interest in going to Cardiff for the 2nd time in 12 months, Rhys has friends in Cardiff.

          If they offer us the astounding-looking new InterCon in Lyon next month, however, I’ll take that one …

      • Julian says:

        2 May2 May 09:45

        Also a bit odd that there are no flights from Norwich to Paris, Barcelona, Rome or Venice as normal most popular European destinations,

      • EwanG says:

        2 May2 May 10:19

        The InterCon Lyon does look great but based on personal experience with Generim elsewhere in France, I expect there will be plenty of snagging and other issues! Good luck with IHG getting those fixed!

      • Genghis says:

        2 May2 May 11:43

        Voco is an IHG brand hotel. A viva voce at my alma mater is what you had to do if you were borderline pass / fail at undergrad.

      • signol says:

        2 May2 May 11:51

        There used to be Norwich to Paris flights, with Suckling, though I believe they stopped in 1999. Flybe also operated a Dublin flight, but not enough people used it. They even hired actors at one stage to artificially bump up the passenger numbers!

      • Julian says:

        2 May2 May 12:52

        Presume not enough people are nearer to Norwich than Stansted to want to pay the extra premium to travel from Norwich airport.

  • Oh Matron! says:

    2 May2 May 08:58

    Have flown in and out of Norwich once to Manchester. The departure boards are a sight to behold…

    It’s full of just random words..

    Starlight challenger
    Deep Rouge
    Harvester Long
    (or words to that effect)….

    Basically, all of the platforms in the north sea.

    A shame FlyBE are dropping the route as the only alternative is THE worst train journey in the world (and longest, and poorest with regards to food and stuff), and it’s flat until the last 50 minutes, and the train goes in reverse twice (ELY and Sheffield)

• Julian says:

  2 May2 May 07:02

  Regarding Norwich that’s a not inconsiderable sized lounge for a regional airport so some regularly travelling business types must use it.

  Here are the places you can fly to directly from Norwich Airport:-

  Alicante
  Burgas, Bulgaria (Seasonal)
  Amsterdam
  Aberdeen
  Corfu (Seasonal)
  Dalaman (Seasonal)
  Edinburgh
  Exeter
  Heraklion (Seasonal)
  Humberside
  Ibiza (Seasonal)
  Jersey
  Málaga (Seasonal)
  Mallorca (Seasonal)
  Manchester
  Menorca (Seasonal)
  Paphos (Seasonal)
  Rhodes (Seasonal)
  Tenerife South

  International Interchange possibilities in Amsterdam are also obviously very considerable. All the seasonal routes are flown by TUI apart from Burgas, which is flown by BH Air.

  The runway at 6,040 feet is adequate for most 200 seater narrow bodied (single aisle) commercial aircraft so the limited service reflect the relatively low population level and several other major airports (Stansted and Luton in particular) not being that far away.

  • Julian says:

    2 May2 May 07:07

    Seems there are also some charter flights to Iceland, Lapland and Italy too………

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