JFX1764

Looks like the Cairo lounge has changed to the (new?) Pearl lounge by McDonald's.

Stewie Mac

DKR has now closed to civilian traffic (Senegalese airforce and presidential use only ), the new airport, coded DSS, opened a couple of months ago 45km outside town. There are two airport lounges there, but as a BA silver flying IB Y I got a voucher for refreshments at the 'Bar Leo', which was good for a ham and cheese baguette and a big can of Flag.

Beaulieu

I'm at the lounge now, and contrary to what BA say in MMB there is currently no access to any business class or shiny card holders. The lounge is simply called "The Lounge". Access is only via the expected lounge membership cards, but the guy on the front desk suggested that he was in negotiations with BA/Comair about it.

Nevertheless, for when an agreement is put in place, the lounge is comfortable enough with plenty of seating, drinks, spirits, sparkling wine and hot food. There is wifi provided but it is very slow and better off tethering on the local mobile networks which bring 4G connectivity to the masses these days... Photos will follow when I'm on a better internet connection.

Globaliser

I'm happy to be able to report that the refurbishment of the JNB domestic SLOW lounge has tripled the number of showers, which will help at peak times.

The ambience of the lounge has changed a bit. There are more hard surfaces and floors, and the spaces feel more open and hall-like than before. This is not a bad thing; it's just different - and my impression is that there are now more tables designed for eating at.

corporate-wage-slave

South Africa / Durban update

In common with other South African airports, Durban's King Shaka International Airport at La Mercy completely separates international and domestic travellers. In the case of Durban it is done quite skillfully by using glass wall ways to divide up the passenger flows and gates, these could be moved as demand requires, but the upshot is that unfortunately passengers on the DUR-LHR route cannot access the SLOW lounge, a truly excellent lounge (though nothing like as big as JNB) even though it is but a few partitions away from the international area.

Consequently the arrival of the BA service has meant that the one and only lounge in the international area has to be opened up specially for BA's passengers, three hours before departure time, and it closes when boarding is completed. There are sometimes only 2 or 3 international flights a day from DUR. The uMp(h)afa lounge is over two floors, the smaller upstairs area is quieter but some of the seats there show signs of wear and tear - presumably they were brought up from downstairs. There are good views of apron and you can see the BA boarding gate too, to enable leaving the lounge when boarding has started. The lounge is named after a local wildlife reserve, the parenthesis is sometimes used in Zulu and other Bantu languages to modify the sound of the next vowel rather than being directly pronounced.

There is no need to get an invitation card at check-in, the App or self printed boarding pass will do fine.

To give slightly more directions: the international airside area of DUR is quite small. After security and then passport emigration control, there is just the Fego café, a medium sized duty free shop, the seating area and the corridor to the handful of international gates. The lounge is visible just past the café, before the corridor to the gates, and you need to take the lifts (elevator) or stairs up to reach it. It is clearly signed, it would be difficult to miss it.




The entrance is somewhat eye catching.


View from the upper level of the lounge.


Food counters






And the cereal is kept in Tupperware like containers, Balmoral style.



DUR
King Shaka International Airport,
uMp(h)afa lounge
Airside: International departures, upper level past café

Opening hours: 3 hours before departure, closes at Final Call.
Access: standard BA rules but travel needs to be on the BA international service to LHR. Also Priority Pass and cash entry. Operated by Menzies.

Food and drink: Limited selection of hot and cold food and snacks, including some hot breakfast options (bacon, sausages and scrambled egg); cereals, sandwiches, bread; cakes, salads. Ha'lal savouries (Emirates also uses the lounge).

Selection of beer (local Peroni, Amstel, Heineken, Castle and Castle Light, Savanna, and very limited selection of wine (Delheim Sauvignon Blanc, Rustenberg Chardonnay). Standard rnage of Schweppes soft drink cans, Coca Cola including Light, Appletiser and Grapetiser, Cape Aqua still and sparkling water

Champagne: South African sparkling white Kleine Zalze Methode Cap Classique Brut NV

Free lounge and airport Wifi
Local newspapers and magazines
Internet workstations
Business work area
Charging points (ZA and international sockets, no USB)

Toilets and showers inside lounge

corporate-wage-slave

Just some update for PLZ, it's a small lounge, and can get a bit crowded but is otherwise fairly comfortable for a fairly elderly airport terminal.









PLZ - Port Elizabeth
Bidvest Premier Lounge

Airside on the First (upper) level above gate 5, clearly signposted. The lounge is fairly small.

Open 05:00 until the last flight.

Opening hours: 3 hours before departure, closes at Final Call.
Access: standard BA rules but travel needs to be on the BA international service to LHR. Also Priority Pass and cash entry (ZAR 254). Operated by Bidvest

Food and drink: Good selection of hot and cold food and snacks, including some hot options, cereals, sandwiches, bread; cakes, salads.

Selection of beer and wine. Standard range of Schweppes soft drink cans, Coca Cola including Light, Appletiser and Grapetiser, Still and sparkling water. Bean to cup coffee machine.
Champagne: not available.

Free Wifi
Local newspapers and magazines
Charging points (ZA sockets and USB)
Apron and runway views
Smoking room.

Toilets outside lounge on the same level but effectively used by lounge users only. No showers.

armouredant

There is no oneworld lounge at VFA. Just flew out today; best option is the Priority Pass lounge which has a tiny selection of barely edibles, yet an incredibly well stocked bar.

bluemoon68

Was told last week "there is no BA lounge here (LVI)". The one lounge that is open upstairs, is open to priority pass and dragon pass.

Temps

Flew out of Livingstone this afternoon and saw quite a few BA passengers head upstairs only to come down again and go into the cafe.

If comair access is coming, it isn't there yet and mmb tells the same story for me.

wijibintheair

Of course the bar was well stocked - it is Zimbabwe! It has for a very long time been a country with a proud tradition of drinking - my dad tells a story of flying on Air Rhodesia from then Salisbury to Bulawayo (a very short flight indeed), where the flight took off and a few minutes later returned to Salisbury because someone had forgotten to stock the bar, and the captain knew there would be a riot on his hands if the passengers could not have a drink!

Beaulieu

Yes. That is the case as I put in my subsequent post. There briefly was an agreement for that lounge when it appeared on MMB according to the station manager, but that the lounge owner then wanted too much money. Not sure if it still is appearing in MMB as I haven't got any bookings to LVI at the moment.

Lux

BA6501

Comair now use the Amushe lounge (info/photos available on the PP website)

(Also, the code should be WDH on the card, as in the title )

BA235

BA6501

Sadly the wifi was not working last week - and it seemed to be that way for a while, from the staff's reaction!