Lounge around before you fly out of KIA

Months ahead of the launch of its Terminal 2, the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) here has unveiled two new international and domestic lounges, packing a punch with a mix of culture, tradition, heritage and a designer aesthetic riding on nature and Bengaluru’s garden city tag.

Dubbed ‘080 Lounge’ based on Bengaluru’s trunk dial code, the domestic lounge will seat 600 passengers in its final avatar.

The first phase, operational for the last three months, has a capacity of 300 with a floor area of about 1,200 sqft.

Also functional is the first phase of the international lounge with a capacity of 550 on completion.

Operated by Travel Food Services (TFS), the lounges are now open for passengers affiliated with loyalty programs, partner airlines and for all patrons who wish to access the services, informs a Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) official.

Garden, greenery and rejuvenation driving its design aesthetics, the international lounge has inverted gardens, spaces curated to passenger needs, entertainment pods with a mini cinema, a wellness zone with therapy rooms and a quiet lounge with a library.

080 transit hotel

Also on the list is a ‘080 transit hotel’, a niche accommodation facility for transit passengers. “It offers a flexible hourly rate payment offering, which can be leveraged by flyers if they want to relax between long layovers,” an official explains. The culinary experience at the lounges is managed by celebrity chef Abhijit Saha. “Food preparations in the lounges will be done using fresh, local, artisanal ingredients and chemical-free greens and vegetables grown in villages near the airport.”

For travellers hooked to their laptops, the lounge has enclosed phone booths doubling up as work places, wrapped in turquoise green. The structure of the cinema pod is inspired by a cocoon with browns and greens.

Inside the Fire Lounge, the main feature on the domestic side, the traditional fireplace is replaced by a sculptural art installation. “It is created as metal waves on a cylindrical form stacked vertically, to resemble the dynamism of fire.”

Three therapy rooms are part of the wellness zone, all complimented by hand-drawn wall art.