Above: The SkyTeam lounge at Beijing Capital International Airport in China
SkyTeam, a global alliance between 20 member airlines, has announced that it will open its first facility in North America later this year at Vancouver International Airport in British Columbia, Canada. The lounge will serve as a luxurious environment for First, Business and Elite Plus customers flying on any of the nine member airlines currently serving the airport.
SkyTeam currently offers six branded lounges globally at airports in Beijing, China; Dubai, UAE; Hong Kong, China; Istanbul, Turkey; Heathrow, UK; and Sydney, Australia.
Perry Cantarutti, CEO and managing director, SkyTeam, said, “With the opening of Vancouver later this year, SkyTeam will offer more branded airport lounges around the world than any other airline alliance. Increasing the number of shared facilities worldwide realizes significant synergies for our airlines while offering a greatly enhanced airport experience for our top customers.
“Meanwhile, we continue to invest in technology so that we can capitalize on emerging customer trends, drive greater efficiencies and continue to deliver value for our airlines and their passengers.”
In addition to operating the lounge network, SkyTeam focusses on gathering data to provide its members with valuable industry analysis. This includes utilizing more than 10,000 high-value travelers as SkyPriority auditors and recording more than 50,000 observations at 600 airports globally.
This information is then used to enhance the passenger experience through various improvements, including altering signage at check-in areas in some airports and improving the performance of some baggage handling systems. SkyTeam also runs a number of reward programs and business solutions for its passengers.
