Review: the Aspire Lounge at Belfast City Airport

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

• _nate says:

  21 Apr21 April 04:46

  What a shame that the BA lounge has gone. It was a simple lounge but the staff were great. However, if the direct boarding is still there, that’s a good thing.

• PSE says:

  21 Apr21 April 05:51

  Of course the third option is to be a BA Gold or Silver card holder and fly with them, or travel in business with BA or KLM, or be a SkyTeam Gold or Silver etc.

  It would be very, very unusual to find the lounge near capacity at Belfast City. I’ve never been refused entry in, historically, either of the two lounges since the terminal opened many years ago.

• Jim says:

  21 Apr21 April 06:33

  We found this a surprisingly spacious, quiet and generally pleasant place to be. Particularly having been met with the usual overcrowding of lounges during holiday times at LHR T5 on the outbound leg.

  We were there last week at the same time as you, and I remember you doing your photos for this piece.

  If you have some form of prepaid access, it of course makes sense to use this lounge just to get the value and novelty of boarding direct from the lounge.

  • Rhys says:

    21 Apr21 April 08:49

    You should’ve said hi!

    • k says:

      21 Apr21 April 14:08

      He probably spotted your brown shoes and thought better of it!

      • Rhys says:

        21 Apr21 April 14:10

        What’s wrong with brown shoes!

• Michael AC says:

  21 Apr21 April 07:51

  There’s a whole section past the main lounge. Last time I was there there were no seats in the main lounge, but the other section was almost completely empty. So it’s bigger than it seems.

  • Rhys says:

    21 Apr21 April 08:50

    I don’t think so. At least, not last week. The old Aspire appears to be behind – not sure if they open it during periods of high capacity perhaps?

    • Michael AC says:

      21 Apr21 April 10:08

      Where your back is facing in the second picture, was that closed? It’s got some more seating and chairs facing the windows. Might only be when it’s very busy, which it was a few weeks ago when I visited.

      • Rhys says:

        21 Apr21 April 10:11

        Yeah was closed

  • Save East Coast Rewards says:

    21 Apr21 April 08:50

    My last visit (middle of last year) they said they were going to merge the two lounges (the BA and the original Aspire) and as far as I know that work was completed months ago (but I’ve not seen for myself) perhaps they’re a partition wall that can be opened now to expand the lounge space and that explains why some people see the BA lounge at its original size as they might only open the extended area when truly busy.

• Wee paul says:

  21 Apr21 April 10:11

  I get access to this lounge as a BA gold and I hope that BA isn’t paying much for my entry. I’m coeliac so medically gluten free. Rhys used the word meagre to describe the food… Non existent is more appropriate for coeliacs. Even the crisps, a local brand, are full of gluten. For me the door to board directly to the pier for the BA LHR flights (not Citiflyer) is the Lounges only saving grace. Sure, there is self serve alcohol, but most of my flights are heading to London for work so not advisable!

  • k says:

    21 Apr21 April 14:11

    Its just the cheap n nasty booze on offer anyways, so you’re not missing much.

• Michael says:

  21 Apr21 April 18:52

  I think the food and drink offering was definitely better when it was a BA lounge. It’s gone downhill, but still good relative to the offering in the old Aspire lounge. The direct boarding is very convenient though, and really for mainline BA flights you can relax from entering the lounge. If you’ve no hand baggage stowage worries it’s easy to maximise lounge time to the very end of boarding!

  To think in the past there used to be a Flybe lounge where Starbucks now is, and the space of the present Aspire and old Aspire lounges was two bmi lounges (business lounge and diamond club lounge)!

• Catherine says:

  21 Apr21 April 21:49

  Food in Aspire at BHD varies according to time of day. For the first few flights of the day, home-made porridge is generally available, along with croissants, pastries, bacon butties, sausage butties and a pancake machine. By early evening, two home-made hot mains are generally available – typically a chicken stew/curry and a vegetarian alternative, with rice. There is also a small fridge which usually contains individual portions of cheddar, brie and natural and fruit yoghurts. There’s usually also Tayto crisps with traditional flavours (e.g. salt and vinegar, cheese and onion, smoky bacon) and depending on time of day, small finger sandwiches. But quantity can be hit and miss so if a series of full flights has just departed, stocks may be lower. Mid afternoon does tend to be a low point.

  But the stand-out feature of that lounge is the staff. They know their regular customers by name, and go way beyond their job descriptions to help all passengers. On one occasion, Sam, for example, at the end of his own shift, carried luggage for me all the way across the railway bridge to the train station. Nicola regularly makes porridge to order, and Jackie (sadly now working elsewhere) used to offer informal exercise coaching/stretching classes during quiet spells in the lounge. They’re treasures and among the best anywhere in the world. (I travel 250,000 miles+ annually, so have a reasonable grasp of norms.) When it was a BA lounge, I gave them all Golden Tickets. Now they’re Aspire, the means by which they can be recognised is limited so I’m writing this instead.

• JG says:

  21 Apr21 April 23:09

  That’s a lovely review of a lovely lounge Catherine, hope you send it to Aspire management!

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.