If you enjoy relaxing in a spa between flights and rightly appreciate the spas offered by the various British Airways lounges, you’re going to have to come to your senses and find another way to unwind.

Logically, these spas were closed during the pandemic, but the British airline has just announced that it will not be reopening them!

No more Elemis Spas in British Airways lounges

These spas offered free 15-minute treatments, ranging from a neck and shoulder massage to an eye massage and a chair massage. They were available free of charge to British Airways long-haul passengers in first and business class, and to Gold members of the British Airways Executive Club loyalty program.

They were available free of charge to British Airways long-haul passengers in first and business class, and to Gold members of the British Airways Executive Club loyalty program.

Even if the sometimes limited availability of treatments caused passengers to cringe, it would be hard to see this as anything other than a cost-cutting measure.

In return, the airline has just announced that it will be offering its customers sleep pods for relaxation.

Relaxation pods in the lounges

• To promote the health and well-being of its customers before the flight, British Airways has launched a new “Forty Winks” lounges, which opened on May 17.
• Free and self-service via the “Your Menu” app – customers don’t need to book.
• Forty Winks” lounges will also be installed in the Concorde lounge at London Heathrow’s Terminal 5 and New York JFK’s Terminal 7 when restrictions on international travel are lifted.

The new pods are currently available from British Airways’ First at London Heathrow. The airline will then add these sleeping cabins to its Concorde lounge at London Heathrow Terminal 5 and New York JFK Terminal 7, when restrictions on international travel are lifted and these lounges open.

Launched in partnership with Restworks, the “Forty Winks” lounge enables customers who need to sleep before the flight to take a nap in a dedicated EnergyPod.

The EnergyPod is the world’s first chair designed exclusively for active napping. With its unique combination of gravity-neutral positioning and privacy visor, the EnergyPod is the first nap pod for a short rest at the workplace. By offering siesta cabins for rest in its First and Concorde lounges, British Airways promotes the well-being of its customers and helps them combat jet lag during their travels.

The “Forty Winks” lounge in first class at Heathrow is free and self-service, so customers don’t need to book in advance. Seven cabins are available, and customers can use the “Your Menu” application to check in real time whether a cabin is available. This information will also be available on a screen outside the Forty Winks entrance. As part of the airline’s ongoing engagement to ensure the safety of customers and colleagues, Dettol hand sanitizing stations will be positioned in the nap lounges, and Dettol antibacterial wipes will be used to keep pod surfaces clean after each use.

Customers can set the EnergyPod’s timer to the desired duration, or use the one-touch start button for a pre-programmed 20-minute perfect nap. The EnergyPod tilts to elevate the feet and help relaxation. The adjustable privacy visor can be pivoted into place to block distractions. Free audio content for use in the lounge and when traveling can be downloaded via the Restworks Mobile application.

Our opinion

While the introduction of EnergyPods meets a need and, we have no doubt, will be appreciated by customers, we don’t think it will compensate passengers for the elimination of spas.

First in terms of customer experience, then in terms of the airline’s image and positioning.

Unfortunately, the crisis has left its mark, and we can expect cost-cutting measures to be implemented across the board, and we know that when it comes to sacrificing the customer experience to preserve margins, British Airways is never the last.

A few days ago, the truculent Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways and shareholder in British Airways, declared that “if I had to give British Airways a mark, I would give….2 out of 10“.

Phot Credit : British Airways

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