British Airways Rome Lounge opens

British Airways has opened its brand-new lounge in Rome’s Fiumicino Airport. The lounge follows a new design concept for the airline featuring the very best of British and European design and delivering a luxurious and contemporary look and feel.

The new British Airways Rome Lounge is now open. It can seat 140 passengers, and it's spread over 460 square yards. It has a totally new style, different to the previous generation of lounges, previously called Galleries (from 2005) and Executive Clubs (from the 1990s).

The new lounge is after security and follows a long rebuilding programme after the previous lounge burnt to the ground. It features a number of zones that create separate spaces for customers to work or relax in ahead of their flight.

The centre-piece of the lounge is a granite topped feature bar, with bespoke lighting and comfortable low seating. During peak times the bar will be hosted by a mixologist enabling customers to sit back and relax as their drink is made to order. In quieter periods, the design of the bar allows customers to help themselves from the wide range of beverages on offer.

The lounge also features high windows that allows natural light to flow in and provides fantastic views across the runway. The windows will feature smart electronic blinds that are programmed with sensors to react to light and heat throughout the day, ensuring that the lounge is always a comfortable environment for customers to relax in.

Sarah Klatt-Walsh, British Airways' head of product, said: "Lounges are an important element of the journey for our customers and we're investing in their future as part of our current £4.5bn spend programme."

The new BA lounge in Rome has marble tables, textured wall decor and some rare artwork. Notable pieces include a Patrick Caulfield from 1973 called "Some Poems of Jules Laforgue".

There are also plenty of mains power sockets (European round pin) and USB sockets close to most of the seats in the lounge.

Access to the British Airways Rome lounge is given to BA Business class pasengers, or BA Executive Club Silver or Gold members, plus Oneworld Sapphire or Emerald.

The opening of the new BA lounge in Rome appears to bring to a halt a wave of lounge closures in European destinations, from Copenhagen, to Dusseldorf, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Istanbul, Oslo and Vienna.

Further lounge revamps are now planned across BA the network, including New York's JFK Terminal 7, a new lounge at Aberdeen, and a refresh of Geneva, San Francisco, Johannesburg and Chicago.