El Al’s King David: Modern bar, top coffee, quiet

A significantly upgraded King David Lounge opened last week at Ben Gurion International Airport, expanding EL AL’s luxury passenger experience.

“We believe that the customer’s flight experience begins on the ground, so we continue to enhance the passenger experience from the moment they enter Ben Gurion Airport,” said Oren Cohen Butansky, EL AL’s vice president of customers and service.

The luxurious lounge pampers passengers with a modern and well-equipped bar, new seating arrangements and furniture to enhance passenger hospitality while ensuring their privacy, and quality coffee machines.

The architecture firm of Orly Shrem Architects, chosen to lead the lounge design, planned the space to maximize its potential and create a pleasant and unique atmosphere, while ensuring the privacy of the guests, El Al explained.

The lounge offers a wide range of seating options, from quiet corners to open meeting areas. On the upper floor, a central bar was designed alongside private work capsules intended for passengers looking for a quiet space to concentrate, separated from the main area.

Carpets throughout the lounge were replaced with hardwood flooring. There is excellent availability of USB and power connections throughout the lounge to allow passengers to continue working and charging their devices easily.

The new bar on the gallery floor was established by the BELLBOY group, led by Ariel Leizgold, one of the prominent names in the Israeli mixology and cocktail world.

The group, behind some of the most successful bars in Israel and worldwide, was chosen to lead the new bar in the lounge — from the development stage, to building the bar, to training its staff and creating unique recipes.

As part of the collaboration with EL AL, five exclusive cocktails were developed, inspired by EL AL’s favorite destinations — New York, Tokyo, London, Paris and Berlin.

The lounge’s familiar food has been fully preserved, alongside a new collaboration with Nespresso, which will offer its familiar coffee in a variety of strengths and flavors at locations scattered throughout the facility.

Additionally, the Dan E Lounge, in collaboration with EL AL, will continue to operate as usual to accommodate a larger number of passengers and manage the load.

The King David Lounge upgrade “is intended to provide an advanced service experience to our passengers and make the waiting experience for the flight pleasant,” El Al’s Butansky baid. “The meticulous design, with an emphasis on optimal service and collaborations with leading providers in Israel, together create the highest level of hospitality experience, which we strive to provide to our customers. Very soon, we will begin upgrading the TOP members’ lounge, continuing the momentum of upgrading the service experience for our luxury passengers.”

News supplied by El Al.