Closure of 49 airport lounges inconvenience travellers

Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL), which operates seven airports in the country including in Mumbai, stepped in to offer some relief to passengers by allowing them access to their lounges

Mumbai, Sept. 22: The sudden closure of 49 lounges in 34 airports across the country on Sunday has affected thousands of travellers who accessed them using debit and credit cards. Dreamfolks, an airport service aggregator company which operates the lounges, said the closure was temporary while Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL), which operates seven airports in the country including in Mumbai, stepped in to offer some relief to passengers by allowing them access to their lounges.

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Vaibhav Khandelwal, who flew out of Chennai on Sunday morning, posted on X, “Denied access to airport lounge at Chennai airport on SBI Vistara and ICICI Coral credit card due to some issue at @DreamFolks_Srv. Also, the lounge wasn’t sure if @prioritypasscom will charge for domestic lounge access on my existing pass.”

Dreamfolks, which counts among major airport lounge operators in India, claims it commands 90% market share in the country’s domestic lounge access market for debit and credit card holders. The company has partnerships with major debit and card providers, banks, airlines, enterprises and travel agencies, through which passengers are provided access to their lounges.

A Dreamfolks statement acknowledged the disruption in their services, but said it was “temporary”.

“Our dedicated team is working diligently with our partners to identify the root cause and implement solutions as quickly as possible. We would like to clarify that all our contractual agreements remain in full force. We are fully compliant with our obligations and are executing our services accordingly,” said the statement.

Meanwhile, in an interim measure, Adani Airport Holdings Limited (AAHL) has permitted passengers to access their lounges by accepting all major debit and credit cards from other access providers.

“Passengers at airports across India have been experiencing disruptions in lounge access. This is due to the unexpected suspension of services by Dreamfolks Services Ltd in violation of its service agreements with the affected airports,” the company said in a statement. Since Dreamfolks operates lounges in airports owned by the company, efforts are being made in collaboration with banks to facilitate immediate resumption of services, the statement added.