Any update on this. From a friend travelling to NCL on Friday the lounge is now gutted and empty so unless a total interior rebuild I guess the temporary closure has become permanent,

Wonder what will happen to the space.

The optimist in me would be hoping the BA were using the downtime to finally refurbish the lounge as they always had to make do from cast offs from the other lounges. It was the people who worked there that made the lounge so great, always welcoming and they did such a good job of maintaining it the furniture probably lasted longer there than similar lounges.

Unfortunately in the current situation with cost cutting essential it's very likely closed for good. The only use I could see for the space is an extension of Aspire. Most likely will remain empty. Having their own lounge was the only competitive advantage BA had at NCL when you were booking a flight that required a connection. Until flights were stopped from NL you were getting more flights per week from KLM than BA.

That would have been quick. I was there earlier in the week and the chairs, cups, spirit bottles, glasses, plates were all in place.

That was just to wind you up!! ;)

On passing through yesterday I can confirm that the place has indeed been totally gutted of all fixtures, fittings and furniture. No temporary closure here I'm afraid, it very much is a permanent closure.

I could not really press the Lke button on this one. Bit short sighted I feel, unless they make arrangement with Aspire or the currently postponed new airport lounge.

Indeed, it is all very sad, and I presume in time BA will strike an agreement for some sort of on site lounge provision. Short term the Aspire lounge would be the only real option, as the works on the Airport's own lounge have halted and there is currently no restart timescale I'm told.

I sincerely hope in the near future that both EDI/GLA reopen as planned.

Thanks for the update TyneTraveller - rather sad that it has come to this especially for the staff at NCL Lounge.

CWS - I agree entirely - I couldn't press the like button either. I agree that it seems short sighted but let us hope some arrangments can be made.

Merry Christmas to the Newcastle gang (and all our other travellers)

Oh no, this really is dreadful news for my local airport and the lovely staff in the lounge.

Although I only had the opportunity to go in a few times, the staff were always fantastic and it was a nice homely lounge that was exceedingly convenient for the gate. I arrived back a few weeks back and ad I walked past I peered in, hoping it would reopen soon. I’ll certainly contact BA again to express displeasure though doubt my perspective will carry any weight.

I really hope the staff are OK - are they employed by BA directly, or a contractor like BS?

edit - just saw CWS’ post from September that I somehow missed : “Yes, the BS staff, now being made redundant” :(

With the formal closing of the Newcastle lounge, this leaves Manchester, Chicago and Seattle as the only Terraces concept lounges in the network.

As another in the Newcastle club I'm going to hold out some hope, regardless of how irrational it may be. Maybe BA has a long term lease on it and it will work out cheaper overall to reopen once things are back to normal rather than having to use Aspire. Surely they wouldn't put themselves in the position of having no lounge option at all?

I'm trying to avoid thinking about the more likely alternative of some kind of termination option coinciding with covid; closure and then removal of all contents would certainly fit with that scenario.

If it is gone for good it's a massive chunk taken out of something which is increasingly rare - an actually enjoyable airport experience. I love flying out of Newcastle, the combination of being in the lounge (where there's always a comfy seat available) within ten minutes of parking the car (at worst!) plus the friendliness of all the staff (in the whole place, not just the lounge) makes it a delight. The contrast with places like Manchester is enormous. Travelling is generally a chore these days but Newcastle has been a big exception. Make sure it stays that way BA!

I certainly admire the optimism in your post, and only wish that this was not the case. There are no plans to have a branded lounge at NCL in the future. The lounge appears stripped bare, basically derelict. It was indeed a fantastic facility for those travelling far and wide from the North East, convenient and more personal than others as you say, but sadly no longer to be.

Anyone has an in to Amex management? Centurion Lounge NCL? (With the old staff, of course). Well, one can dream :(

Many a Sunday afternoon spent there in a fragile state after a weekend in Newcastle. That first glass on champagne is like getting in the cold sea. Once it’s over yiur bits it’s not an uphill battle.

The warming soup, the sandwiches and cheese and biscuits with amazing staff made it one of the best lounges around.

I just hope the squirrel was looked after properly at this sad time.

I would have thought with a quarter day approaching (25th Dec) which is a day when a large number of commercial rents become payable, that may have had some influence in the space being cleared out to be handed back to the landlord.
Very sad for all concerned.

Slightly off-topic, but the BDA lounge, which used to be BA-operated and one of the last bastions of the 1990s-era Executive Club concept (along with the IAH Club lounge), is now operated by a third party.

NCL Lounge Situation
 

Hi Everyone,

Flying Club NCL-LHR tomorrow and noticed the BA lounge is permanently closed and the Aspire lounge is also closed. Does anyone know if, as has happened in the past, they will be issuing some vouchers to grab food in the terminal? Also, the flight is at 17.05. Will this change the type of meal offered onboard? I recently flew at lunch time and received a sandwich in a bag.

Thanks
James

No and no. Sorry.

I suspect BA will offer access to the Aspire lounge in time, but not until passenger numbers pick up. No vouchers are offered as a substitute for no lounge.

Onboard catering will be the standard Band 1 temporary COVID-19 'rest of the day' offering (until 19 January, after which things are planned to revert to near normal), consisting of a paper bag with a choice of non-vegetarian or vegetarian sandwich, dessert pot and mineral water bottle. A full bar service is available on request.

I was there yesterday; BA lounge is closed and has been completely emptied. Aspire lounge very much closed. Bar 11 on the main concourse is open and serving. You'll need to buy a 'substantial meal' (clearly marked on the menu) to get alcohol.

Sadly the NCL Terraces lounge has now been removed from the oneworld lounge listing. The Galleries lounges at both BRU and YVR have also been removed - almost certainly two more BA-operated lounge casualties of COVID.

If all three of the above closures are confirmed, that would be five BA-operated lounges permanently closed since the pandemic started in March 2020 - the BDA Executive Club lounge has moved over to a third party operator albeit in the same space (similar to what happened in JER, PHX and STR in recent years), and of course the TXL Terraces lounge was closed when the airport closed.

I just hope they found a home for the squirrel. This is very sad for numerous reasons in the thread.

What a sad state of affairs - the NCL Lounge and more importantly their staff will bemissed by many inclduing me.

I really just hope that its down to not having a date when it will reopen rather than being closed full stop.

Sadly the lounge has been stripped out.

Sign of the times, unfortunately.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e74fdf33d.jpeg
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Some sad images taken today and which sum up where we are now compared to a little over 12 months ago.

Alternative NCL lounge
 

Morning all

my parents are currently sat in NCL. Is there an alternative lounge they can use? They’re booked in to business.

No alternative provided by BA. I understand the Aspire is shut still too so no paid access available either.

Such a PITA! I’ve just spoken with my dad and he says all the cafes are closed but the shops are open, although also said it’s like a ghost town. His taxi driver said it was his first airport ride in over a year!

It was very quiet last week, I think only Boots was open (even duty free was closed - had to go through some corridors to get to departures).

The first holiday flights to Portugal started yesterday and BA begin their limited Sat/Sun schedule (Portugal) this weekend so this may prompt more outlets to open.

According to the airport website Caffè Ritazza should be open, but that seems to be it. Not one bar even open.

Was there yesterday and that was the case. Also Boots and WH Smith. No bars open, no duty free. The smoking area is open though (and nobody smoking) it's hidden behind (closed) Dixons and it's usually for customers of one of the closed bars, for the moment they have a few notices directing you towards it and they have set the access code to 1234. It gives you a good view of the apron.

Once you see your BA flight pull into gate 3 then go downstairs and sit by the area outside where the lounge used to be. If everyone boards early, the aircraft departs early and you can be halfway to London on the HEX before it's even due to land!

Does anyone know what the building work at the airport is? When walking to the smoking area there's a lot of bits boarded off, when on the plane I looked up and it seems like there's an extension being built. Does anyone know what was being planned there?

In the beforetimes the airport were planning to build a new lounge and I think construction had started on it. I'm pretty sure it's on hold currently, but looking at these renderings, it looks like the area you were describing.

Again another sign of just how far away we are from early 2020 :-(

I've heard from two sources that BA are "reviewing" the lounge situation, though I don't want to build up any false sense of hope here. Aspire opens on 1 June at NCL (and elsewhere), and by coincidence BA has renewed third party lounge contracts in all sorts of places with effect from 1 June, the extent of that we will only find out towards the end of next week.

If - and I appreciate it's a very big if - the Aspire lounge does become available to eligible BA passengers then I hope that part of the agreement includes capacity guarantees. I would occasionally try and use the Aspire lounge with my Priority Pass when flying BA but they would often refuse me access on the basis it was full. It was never full or even close to it, but the justification was that they had X number of passengers on the Emirates flight to DXB. Being able to have a proper cooked breakfast was the main attraction so fingers crossed that we do have some good news on that front in due course.

Currently at NCL.

Security was a whole 3 people deep....

Boots / WHSmith / Caffe Ritazza are open for F&B

Duty free is open

Sad to see so few flights, but positive to see BA return to the regions.


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My first flight in over a year is in 7 days. Really looking forward to it. The lack of lounge will be a pain but at least its the start of travel again.

Im hoping once numbers start to pick up BA will revist the lounges. We have to remember BA we going through money like nothing and closing the lounges will have saved money. Our company did something similar with Head Office space.

Anything would be welcome, though a third party lounge won't be as homely as the BA one was. Since the refurbishment a few years ago, the general departure area at Newcastle has felt more cramped. It may just my perception, but it feels like there are fewer seats that aren't within a catering establishment, so you end up having to buy something if you want to sit down. The location/physical presence of the outlets certainly feels like it reduces the light into general departure area compared to before.

All in all, it's no longer a pleasant place to wait and it's very difficult to get work done compared to the tranquility of the BA lounge. Something approaching that would be lovely...