For travelling within Europe I’m mostly doing BA or budget airlines nowadays, and I lost my BA Silver status last year, so it’s been a while since I saw a proper airline lounge! As I’m flying Aegean’s business class this time, I finally get a chance to visit their reputable lounge in Athens.
All non-Schengen flights share the same departure hall and you need to clear emigration and security check first. Unfortunately the fast track lane was closed, so all non-EU passport holders had to queue for border control. To make it even worse, the border force had an IT meltdown that lasted half an hour and I was getting really nervous seeing the queue build up. Fortunately they called in more staff to help and I still had enough time to spend in the lounge.
All lounges are located in the same area, convenient if you fancy doing a hop. I visited the Skyserv and Goldair ones last year, and the Aegean lounge is right above them.
The first impression even before I set foot in the lounge is already very positive. I tried scanning my boarding pass at the gate but it didn’t seem to work, so had to seek help from the receptionist.
Once inside, I was immediately pleased by how spacious (1200 sqm) the lounge is, and there’s so much light thanks to the surrounding floor-to-ceiling windows.
In contrast with the massive space and many seats, the lounge is actually very quiet. I suspect there are very limited non-Schengen flights that Aegean and its partners operate from Athens, so it is probably the norm.
The aesthetics of Aegean’s lounge is just lovely. It’s almost uniquely blue and white, recreating an ambiance of the Aegean sea under the sky. Edges of the walls are carefully softened, whereas the reflection of light adds extra hues to the palette. Along with the extending white lines above, they remind me of ocean waves and aerodynamics at the same time.
This is how Aegean describes the design on their website:
The design is inspired by the simple, elegant architecture of Greece, reflects the cutting-edge technology of our aircraft and incorporates our new brand identity. Curved, soft edges and shapes of flow along with a combination of high-quality materials such as marble, terrazzo, glass, and wood bring to life a state of art, modern venue that is built for your comfort and relaxation.
The hangings are reminiscent of the seagulls in Aegean’s old logo. There are two board rooms:
Many rest pods by the window for solo travellers:
The dining zone:
Hot food of the day:
- Cream pie bougatsa
- Pie with chickpea and herb
- Graviera cheese pe
- Oven bakes lima beans
- Orza pasta with shrimps
- Chicken kebab
- Soup with carrot potato and ginger
Options are not hugely generous, but I’m not too fuzzy about lounge food and satisfied easily with a good kebab. The dessert selection looks pretty yummy!
In summary, Aegean’s non-Schengen lounge in Athens is the most beautiful lounge I’ve seen so far, and I’ve been to plenty. I’m truly impressed how they’ve managed to carry through Aegean’s branding so well in such a natural and uncomplicated way.
Aegean operates a lounge in the Schengen departure area as well. Although the design concept appears to be similar, that lounge is much less finer in details and tends to be quite busy.
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