Priority Pass future growth backed by £500M
Priority Pass to accelerate travel innovation, backed by the Collinson Group's £500 million growth programme
The Collinson Group recently announced £350m in new financing, which will accelerate the £500 million growth strategy; reflective of both strong confidence in the Group’s performance and its commitment to driving innovation and leadership in airport experiences.
A core focus will be acceleration of the digital roadmap, leveraging new data and AI capabilities, and significantly expanding the group’s lounge network.
Priority Pass, the world's original and market-leading airport experiences programme, today set out how it will benefit from the Collinson Group's £500 million, five-year investment programme, accelerated by a new £350 million financing facility. A significant proportion of the programme will be directed towards expansion of the group’s proprietary lounge network and investment in Priority Pass – continuing to strengthen the latter’s core proposition, accelerating the development of digital, AI and data capabilities, and broadening the range of travel services available to clients and travellers.
The investment builds on significant enhancements already underway across Priority Pass. These include a new enterprise-level technology platform leveraging modern data and AI architecture, alongside the global rollout of the new Priority Pass+ app. These enhancements are designed to create a more connected digital ecosystem for clients, partners and members, while enabling greater personalisation over time.
As a family-owned business, Collinson takes a long-term approach to growth, continually reinvesting in its businesses, clients and their customers, and partners. This has enabled Priority Pass to continue expanding its global network and developing new solutions and services, while growing ahead of the wider travel market.
An extensive part of Collinson Group's investment programme will be focussed on expanding its global airport lounge footprint, through Airport Dimensions, sister company to Priority Pass. This additional lounge capacity within the group will help to protect and enhance the experience available to Priority Pass members as global air passenger traffic is expected to almost double to nearly 19 billion journeys a year by 2045. Priority Pass recently surpassed 1,900 airport lounges and travel experiences worldwide, with its global network expanding by 6.7% over the past 12 months.
Christopher Evans, CEO of Collinson International, owners of Priority Pass, said: "Travel plays an increasingly important role in people's lives. While operating costs across the travel industry continue to rise, so too do traveller expectations, with people seeking journeys that are more seamless, connected and personalised. That makes investment in the customer experience more important than ever before.
"This investment reflects a principle that has remained core to our business for more than 35 years: that investing in better travel experiences creates genuine value for our partners, our clients and travellers alike. Recent shifts in what technology can enable means we need to increase our investment levels to realise the value new technology can bring through Priority Pass, further allowing our clients to offer differentiated and personalised experiences to their customers.
"As we surpass 1,900 lounges and travel experiences globally, the Group's investment in lounge capacity through Airport Dimensions means our members will benefit from a network that keeps expanding for the long term. This powerful combination is unique in our sector. It allows us to work closely with financial institutions, travel brands and airport partners around the world to help them build stronger customer relationships while shaping the next generation of airport experiences and delivering long-term value."
An enhanced digital experience for members
Investment in Priority Pass is resulting in upgraded systems, advanced technology and the new Priority Pass+ App – the latter of which introduces functionality designed to make it easier for members to plan their journeys, access their benefits and manage their membership in one place.
Future functionality will include enhanced and intuitive travel planning – leveraging AI, past behaviours and real-time geo-location (where enabled) – to proactively suggest suitable lounges and travel experiences for members’ journeys. This lays the foundation for greater personalisation over time based on individual user preferences, while further supporting Priority Pass partners by surfacing relevant and timely experiences to members. Partner integration will continue to evolve, enabling secure in-app purchases of experiences and travel benefits.
An enhanced user experience can also be enjoyed through easier activation, saved card functionality, biometric authentication, and email or mobile one-time verification. Eligible members can view and manage multiple Priority Pass memberships in one place, making it easier to switch between benefits without managing separate accounts or logins; and in the near future, eligible principal payment cardholders will be able to use the Priority Pass+ app to share their visit entitlements with supplementary cardholders (where their issuing bank allows) – even when the latter is travelling independently.
Expanding choice and access for travellers
Alongside enhancing its core systems, Priority Pass continues to invest in new solutions and services to better support clients' commercial objectives and meet evolving traveller expectations. This includes the launch of Priority Pass Private, a luxury, full-service airport experience designed to reward discerning travellers with a more elevated and seamless journey through the airport.
Airport fast track* is also now available at 28 airports, providing access to expedited security lanes through the Priority Pass app. Over the next 12 months, the network is expected to expand to more than 170 bookable fast track lanes across more than 150 terminals and more than 130 airports globally. With 73% of travellers identifying fast track as the top technology for improving the airport experience¹, the service responds directly to increasing demand for greater convenience, efficiency and control. It joins a growing portfolio of end-to-end travel services that support members pre, during and post-travel, including airport parking and luggage storage.
A trusted partner for leading global brands
Over the past 35 years, Priority Pass has evolved from an airport lounge access programme into a broader travel ecosystem that supports travellers before, during and after their journey. The programme now sees more than six million guest visits per month, indicating the growing value travellers place on premium, end-to-end airport experiences.
The growth programme will further help shape the next generation of airport experiences, with astrengthened relationship with lounge partner CAVU – operators of Escape Lounges – resulting in dedicated areas for Priority Pass members and LoungeKey cardholders live across five UK lounges to help increase capacity. Escape Lounges reception teams also support Priority Pass members and LoungeKey cardholders with priority access once space becomes available, further increasing lounge visits for the partner.
Investing in the future of travel
This announcement follows the Collinson Group's recently announced £350 million Revolving Credit Facility, which supports a £500 million investment programme across the Group over the next five years. Alongside investment in Priority Pass, the programme will fund expansion of the Group's global lounge network, growth of its insurance portfolio, the development of new technology and products, entry into new markets and investment in its people.
The Group also recently renewed its commitment to the Collinson Foundation, pledging 5% of profits by FY29 towards programmes supporting education, employment, entrepreneurship, innovation and crisis response.