Qatar Airways opens Heathrow lounge

Qatar Airways' Heathrow lounge

Qatar Airways is to open its new premium lounge at Heathrow tomorrow.

The Terminal 4 lounge will be the airline’s first outside of Doha and will be available to first and business class passengers.

It comes as the carrier prepares to boost its flights from Heathrow to Doha on 25 March, when the route will operate five times daily. The new lounge has been designed to resemble a boutique hotel or private member’s club and is staffed by ex-five star hotel and restaurant employees.

Facilities include private showers, heated floors, hotel-style towels and luxury toiletries and amenities, as well as free WiFi, power sockets and a business centre with PCs and printers.

“The new lounge could not have come at a better time, with the soon to be launched fifth daily flight from Heathrow and the introduction of several exciting new business and leisure destinations in recent months, including Chongqing, Kolkata, as well as the upcoming destinations of Perth, Kigali and Zanzibar,” said Richard Oliver, country manager UK and Ireland at Qatar Airways.

Akbar Al Baker, CEO of the airline added: “London has long been one of our best-performing routes, so Heathrow was an obvious choice for our first Premium Lounge outside Doha”.

The carrier will also add flights from Doha to Baku, Tbilisi, Gassim, Helsinki, Zagreb and Mombassa this year.

By Amanda Greenwood, 25 January 2012, Wednesday 2:55 PM