A surprising number of airports have VIP facilities that most of us travelers would never even know about. We’re not talking about standard airport lounges, but rather about special facilities that offer private aviation levels of service while traveling with commercial aircraft.
Along those lines, London Heathrow Airport (LHR) has just unveiled its fully updated private terminal service, which looks pretty incredible, though also has eye-watering pricing. While most of us will never get to experience this, it’s still cool to see what the airport offers!
Basics of The Windsor by Heathrow private terminal
The Windsor by Heathrow is the name of Heathrow Airport’s upgraded private terminal for VIP guests. Previously, this was known as The Windsor Suite, but after a £3 million refurbishment that lasted eight months, it has been rebranded. This is actually only the start of a refresh of this facility, as there are plans to expand it significantly over the coming years.
Pricing for this service starts at £3,177 before VAT, or £3,812 including VAT, for a total of up to three guests. Alternatively, it can be accessed with a Priority Pass™ membership… in my dreams. 😉
The facility is only available to those in first and business class, with no restrictions as to which airlines people are traveling. The facility is located at Terminal 5, though with a totally separate entrance, so you can skip the main part of the terminal entirely. The service is available for departures, connections, and arrivals.
So, what’s included with this service?
- A door-to-door experience, whereby guests can be picked up in an electric BMW at their home or hotel, and driven to the facility; then when it’s time for the flight to depart, guests will be transferred directly to the plane via BMW
- There are eight private suites, so each party is given a private suite to hang out in, and you won’t ever see other guests
- The Windsor by Heathrow offers private security, immigration, and customs, so that guests can completely skip this typical formalities in the main terminals
- The Windsor by Heathrow offers fine dining from Chef Jason Atherton, including signature dishes like English butter shortbread with praline cream, Earl Grey tea ice cream, custard sauce, and charred mandarin
- The facility doubles as a private art gallery, with museum-worthy art from around the world, which guests can purchase with the click of a button via a QR code
- The facility offers a private shopping service, including the option of being taken to one of the shops at Terminal 5
Of course the primary selling point here is the privacy, efficiency, and exclusivity. A lot of the other stuff is fluff.
How many people actually use this service?
I’m sure I’m not the only one who is curious how many people use a service like this. The airport claims that this service is used by roughly 50,000 guests annually, of the 83.9 million travelers who pass through the airport.
To crunch the numbers, that comes out to 137 guests per day. If you were to assume that on average two people are traveling in a party, that would mean that suites are occupied over 60 times per day. Given that there are only eight suites, that means most suites are probably occupied a good percentage of the time. I wouldn’t have expected this service to be so popular.
The five most common destinations for this include Doha (DOH), Dubai (DXB), Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), and Riyadh (RUH). I don’t think that detail will surprise anyone. The most common airlines are American, British Airways, Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar (clearly people are choosing to fly British Airways or one of the other Gulf carriers, rather than Saudia, to Riyadh).
It’s also noted how the number of people using this service has doubled over the past 10 years, with plans for it to double again in the next three years.
Bottom line
The Windsor by Heathrow is the refreshed private terminal at the UK’s busiest airport, which has seen a significant increase in demand over the years. While most of us will never be able to visit this, it’s still cool to see what’s offered.
What do you make of The Windsor by Heathrow?
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