London: The Dilmun Lounge at Bahrain International Airport is today celebrating winning the Best Refreshments award in the prestigious Priority Pass Lounge of the Year awards, 2012. The honour was decided by the members of Priority Pass, the world’s largest independent airport lounge access program.
Jonathan French, head of brand, Priority Pass, says: “To be voted as having the best refreshments in the world is a great reflection of how hard the Dilmun Lounge works to please its customers and fulfil their needs. Business and leisure travellers often have specific meal-time requirements, such as the type of food they prefer and limited time to enjoy a meal or snack. Airport lounges around the world work hard to meet these requirements, which makes the Dilmun Lounge’s achievement so significant.”
George Saounatsos, CEO, Bahrain Airport Services, which owns and operates the Dilmun Lounge, says: “Dilmun Lounge’s food and refreshments selection reflects the premium profile of its guests. The lounge caters for international clientele with a variety of dietary, lifestyle and health requirements. Generally, people love fresh, homemade food and, usually, the simpler a menu, the more travellers appreciate it. We seek to offer a cosmopolitan range of dishes and flavours catering to different ethnic backgrounds, rather than needlessly complicated dishes. Therefore, good, healthy food and refreshments are the Dilmun Lounge’s speciality, served in an aesthetically pleasing environment. It is for these reasons we feel Priority Pass members voted for Dilmun Lounge.”
The Priority Pass Lounge of the Year Awards, established in 2005, are designed to recognise service excellence amongst the lounges in the Priority Pass programme. The Dilmun Lounge was singled out for honour amongst 600 other airport lounges globally, with the award based on more than 40,000 ratings made by Priority Pass members from around the world – frequent and discerning travellers who, being regular visitors to airport lounges, have high expectations when it comes to the services offered by the lounges.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, Priority Pass has millions of members worldwide. The programme provides frequent travellers with airport lounge access, irrespective of their class of travel, airline flown or existing membership of an airline loyalty programme. Founded in 1992 with 55 lounges in 49 countries, Priority Pass today offers access to more than 600 airport lounges in over 600 cities in more than 145 countries.
There were a total of nine winners in the Priority Pass 2012 Lounge of the Year Awards:
Global Award: Swiss-Lounge, Basel-Mulhouse
Regional Awards:
Europe Swiss Lounge, Basel-Mulhouse (global winner)
North America Alaska Airlines Board Room, Seattle
Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) American Admirals Club, Rio
Africa/Middle East Menzies Aviation Shongololo Lounge, Johannesburg
Asia Pacific Travelers’ Lounge, Hong Kong – East Hall
Best Staff: The Yorkshire Premier Lounge, Leeds Bradford
Best Refreshments: Dilmun Lounge, Bahrain
Best Business Facilities: No.1 Gatwick, North Terminal, London Gatwick