Oneworld opens new Amsterdam Lounge
The brand new oneworld alliance lounge at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is a good one, with a small cocktail bar, a huge variety of seating, buffet dining, and some signature seats around the green living wall.
The lounge is located in Amsterdam Airport Schiphol's non-Schengen departure area, which is used for most international flights such as to the UK or Doha. The lounge occupies the 473 square-metre area on the top floor that was previous occupied by the British Airways Amsterdam lounge, one of the last outstation lounges the airline operated. The lounge is spacious, bright, and light, with an impressive view over the airfield.
As soon as you enter, there is a small cocktail and wine bar, designed to welcome you to the lounge as soon as you arrive. There are four seats at this bar, although seeing the amount of traffic the lounge generates, they may be the last to be occupied.
The lounge is operated by global aviation ground services provider Swissport, in collaboration with their lounge brand Aspire, and is oneworld's second branded lounge. It is situated next to the existing Aspire lounge which has had a redesign and freshen up to bring it up to the same standard as the new oneworld lounge.
The new oneworld's lounge design includes a subtle nod to Dutch design with tailor-made lighting pieces inspired by the spherical lights on many of the Amsterdam's iconic arched canal bridges. This is also reflected in the shape of the entrance to the lounge itself, and on the feature silver cubby seat in the middle of the lounge.
The ornithology of Amsterdam also comes to the fore in the lounge with some small touches, such as the bird statues perching over the lounge bar, and one even seems to be smoking.
A notable feature are the 'zoom rooms' with privacy for making zoom calls.
The buffet area is in a small side alcove, with curved sides to the refectory area, and even a circular drinking trough. To the right of this area is a fridge with wine bottles and a self serve bar.
Jochem Straatman, the Art Director of D/DOCK located in the Amsterdam Houthavens, is the oneworld lounge designer. He says "the Amsterdam lounge is a futuristic, vibrant setting that blends open spaces to encourage relaxation, especially as the Dutch skies are omnipresent through the immense windows, which are a fantastic feature of this lounge. With a Travel Bright twist, guests can also experience a mesmerising luminous horizon, theatrically revealed by lifted curtains."
He added; "we have delivered a contemporary, premium lounge experience with typologies, fittings and furnishings that pay homage to life in the Netherlands. The lounge experience makes travel simple, relaxing and enjoyable. While this and the Incheon lounge have their own distinct identity, both share the same unique oneworld look and feel, creating a sense of familiarity across our lounges."
D/DOCK claim customers can easily navigate their way through the lounge, to find a space to suit their mood, and discover its eye-catching signature 'mood light', changing its colour depending on the time of day.
The designer says there is a 'Travel Bright' twist, where 'guests can also experience a mesmerising luminous horizon' with theatrically lifted curtains", which is in effect three small archways with two seats and a table apiece in the lounge.
The entrance is similar to the only other oneworld lounge, in Korea, also designed by D/DOCK. It has a 'portal' design, a familiar and immediately recognisable feature across the nascent oneworld lounge network.
There is access for business and first class passengers of the Eight oneworld member airlines. American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc and Royal Jordanian from Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Economy Class passengers on oneworld are also admitted if they have Sapphire or Emerald Frequent Flyer Cards, which means Gold or Silver on BA, or Platinum or Gold on Qantas.
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