Originally Posted by Frequent flyer 101

It is impossible to say for sure as most of the transaction details are not public knowledge.

It is reasonably safe to assume that:

• Airlines pay a fee to other airlines when their passengers use their lounge
• Depending on the fees and the number of passengers, there will be a point where the cost of opening your own lounge becomes cheaper than paying an alliance partner to use their lounges
• A reasonable % of passengers do not know that they can use partner lounges

Since LHR is a busy airport with AA/CX/QF having several flights per day with reasonably high premium passenger volume, then it become viable according to the assumptions above. The key is knowing at which point it becomes cheaper to operate your own lounge rather than pay per use.

I'd be curious to know how some of the other alliance lounges work (e.g Skyteam lounge at DXB) in terms of financing and cooperation. I also remember Air Canada and SAS has 'The London Lounge' many years ago so perhaps that was a simple joint venture as opposed to an alliance based deal.

Just speculating, but perhaps there is also an element of prestige/branding going on here. It makes much more sense to position your own lounges at your biggest destinations with high volume of premium passengers.