Video games are the latest twist on the airport lounge
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Gaming enthusiasts will soon have another airport destination for their layover entertainment, as Minneapolis, Minnesota, adds video gaming lounges to its offerings. The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports that the Twin Cities’ international airport will soon have a space dedicated to the pursuit.
Gameway, the company that will be operating the lounge, is planning to develop a 3,500-square-foot space. It already has locations at Los Angeles International Airport, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
According to the company, the location at Charlotte features 15 individual stations equipped with either PlayStation or Xbox (MSFT-0.72%) consoles and current game titles. The stations come furnished with custom seating, 43-inch 4K displays, high-end audio equipment, and device charging capabilities, with space allocated for travelers’ luggage. An additional six workstations, featuring high-performance gaming PCs and premium Corbeau gaming chairs, round out the facility’s offerings.
Although many of the businesses connected to the airline industry make their money in the skies, lounges are growing as an earthbound means to draw some of the spending of travelers with disposable income. These passengers don’t mind dropping some dough to make their inter-flight commute a little more exciting. (Gameway’s Charlotte space costs $15.99 for 30 minutes, $25.99 for an hour, and $45.99 for an unlimited pass during its 7 a.m.-to-8 p.m. operating hours.)
In June, Delta Air Lines (DAL-0.26%) opened a 39,000-square-foot lounge at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York for its most high-end flyers. On its most recent earnings call, the carrier said it will have more than 700,000 square feet of worldwide lounge space by the end of the year.
American Express (AXP-0.42%) CEO Stephen Squeri, whose company is also keen on the lounge business, put the value proposition this way last week: “When you start to move up the food chain…you might have a little bit more discretionary income, you’re traveling more, you’re taking advantage of lounges, you’re taking advantage of fine hotels and resorts and hotels.”
