This 95-year-old U.S. Airport Is About to Get Its First Lounge

Vacationers at Chicago’s Halfway Worldwide Airport quickly have extra pleasant departures and layovers. 

The favored Midwest airport will quickly be residence to The Membership MDW — the airport’s first airline lounge in its 95-year historical past in line with an announcement from the airport. The Membership MDW will likely be a brand-new lounge will embody snug seating, meals and beverage, and workstations. The three,300 sq. foot lounge will likely be situated adjoining to Terminals A and B, and open to all vacationers by means of the acquisition of a day go, or complimentary entry for vacationers who’re members of the Precedence Cross community of airline lounges. 

“Annually, greater than 22.7 million individuals journey by means of Halfway, and we’re excited to have the ability to supply every of them this new service worthy of our world-class metropolis,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson stated in an announcement celebrating the brand new lounge. 

The lounge will start development subsequent spring, and is concentrating on a fall 2024 opening.  The design will likely be impressed by Chicago’s structure and have monochrome colours. 

Vacationers could welcome the expanded house as Halfway has been outpacing pre-pandemic passenger visitors, with a 106 p.c load for the 12 months to this point, the airport shared. Halfway is a hub for Southwest Airways and Frontier Airways, and accommodated over 19 million passengers in 2022. The airport claims to be the “world’s busiest sq. mile for incoming and departing flights” because of the frequency of planes. Halfway Airport at the moment options a wide range of eating and purchasing choices together with Dunkin’, Farmer’s Fridge, Woodgrain Neapolitan Pizza, and extra. 

Many bank cards supply entry to the Precedence Cross lounge community, which incorporates entry to 1,400 airport experiences throughout 600 cities. Precedence Cross, which not too long ago celebrated its thirtieth anniversary, additionally has memberships obtainable for vacationers who don’t have entry by means of the bank card. The branding of The Membership has been used at different airport lounges together with Las Vegas, Cleveland, and Atlanta.