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Manchester Airport’s new PremiAir terminal affords clients a dose of luxury before their trip, regardless of class of travel. Gary Noakes checks it out
Turning left as you board an aircraft to head to the posh seats is a privilege, but turn left into Manchester airport’s PremiAir private terminal and you’ve really made it.
There are two paths into PremiAir’s Scandi-style building. The one on the right is for everyone; the one on the left has its own discreet entrance and leads either to a private suite or a sectioned-off part of the main lounge. Needless to say, both Manchester’s football teams turn left.
Footballers aside, PremiAir is democratic; anyone who can afford around £100 for a departure can use it – and if there is a big group of you, say a wedding party, you too can have your own suite or partitioned area. Class of travel is not important, but admission is limited to passengers on about 25 partner carriers, including British Airways and Oman Air.
Firstly you drive up – it’s just off the M56 next to the Runway Visitor Park with spaces for 20 cars or valet parking. Flight check-in is done at reception, where you hand over hold luggage. A few metres more and you’re in the lounge, where the light wood beams and furniture continue the Scandinavian vibe. Full-length windows overlook the apron and give an airy feel to the building, which can accommodate roughly 70 passengers.
PremiAir is run by Manchester Airports Group and being keen to stress the city’s cultural heritage, photos of The Smiths and Joy Division adorn reception. One of the suites is named after Factory Records founder Tony Wilson, whose son has donated artwork. Others pay tribute to Emmeline Pankhurst and Alan Turing; while at the bar, Manchester Gin is served.
Whether in a suite or the main lounge, dining is a la carte, with a resident chef preparing food to order. Food and all drinks including champagne are part of the departure package in your stay of up to three hours.
Unusually, the lounge is landside, which means unlike most airline lounges, staff must serve alcoholic drinks, although this adds to the exclusive feel.
When the time comes, guests are security screened and passports checked in adjacent rooms before passengers are ushered into a BMW 7 Series (complete with massaging seats and other gizmos). The drive to the airbridge or steps of the aircraft is via a dedicated road, meaning the car does not have to give way to taxiing aircraft.
On return, an arrivals package, from £125pp, means your luggage is collected from the carousel for you while you’re whisked back to the terminal. There, after immigration, more food and a shower await you – something that might prove popular with transatlantic passengers, as no US carrier serving Manchester operates an arrivals lounge.
A round-trip package is from £175, but if clients are flying out with hand luggage and in a real rush (or just too important to linger), £50 gets you straight through the building and into the BMW.
In its first few months of operation, PremiAir’s clients have been mainly from the leisure side, with British Airways supplying the greatest number. Given the relaxed nature of the facility, it’s unsurprising many special occasion travellers have also used it.
“We didn’t want to make it feel corporate, we wanted to create a home-from-home experience,” said Heidi Stancliffe, MAG’s head of product development.
She added: “There is a very healthy chunk of business [passengers], but it’s primarily leisure connecting onto a long-haul destination, with about an equal split between economy and business class.”
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PremiAir has partnerships with many high-end agents in the Manchester catchment via a dedicated portal and offers commission-based deals. It is aiming agency sales at luxury leisure clients.
MAG airport services chief executive Andrew Harrison said the concept had been thoroughly tested to ensure it offered the best customer experience.
“We looked at how busy we can get before the service is compromised – we’re trying to get maybe 10 an hour through. Airline lounges can be a volume game, but this isn’t. We’re pricing it to make sure it’s not out of reach, but not going for mass market volume.”
He said the feedback from the soft launch had been “amazing”.
Harrison said the PremiAir concept would be introduced at other airports if successful. MAG runs Stansted and East Midlands, but there is likely to be more scope in the US, where MAG USA already has the common-use Escape Lounges in nine North American locations.
“We need to be get a year’s trading under our belt and be sure we can deliver this at scale,” he said.
