Originally Posted by
Waipara_Sam
will be used by eight Star Alliance partner airlines that also operate out of the Tom Bradley terminal including ... Swiss Air.s
*ahem* Swiss International Air Lines, given Swiss Air is long gone.
However, this IS good because the LAX transit puts off plenty from going that way, yet this press release talks of customs clearance not immigration. Those using the transit pen now don't effectively go through customs, just immigration. The mere fact of having to do that at all will still mean flying through Asia retains an advantage - nobody clears immigration and customs transiting Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai, Inchon, KL etc.
It will mean an end to the rush to the terminal with the VS flights from LHR, both of which seem to parallel NZ2 and NZ1's arrival at LAX (and which make a world of difference between getting through immigration in 5-10 minutes vs 1-1.5 hours).
The good thing is that it should mean everyone with status in transit can readily get to the lounge, whereas at present only BP passengers are allowed to.
However, let's just hope that the new lounge, at 3x the size, will be adequate for NZ, SQ, LH, LX, NH, OZ, TG and TK (and maybe there will be a first class area given all of those airlines, except NZ have first, and then maybe GEs get access to that like they do at LHR). It should also have plenty of showers as well.
Now, how about the same for SFO? (The EVA lounge is a zoo, SQ lounge is closed and UA lounge is a UA lounge).