December 12 2019  |  Airline & Terminal News

KLM and Heineken lounge opens at AMS

By Rick Lundstrom

The KLM/Heineken lounge opened November 28

Heineken and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have partnered in their hometown of Amsterdam to bring a new bar experience to passengers using KLM’s ‘Non-Schengen Crown Lounge’.

Located between concourses E and F at Schiphol Airport and set over two floors, the 6,800 square meter outlet is the largest airline lounge in Europe. It will welcome more than one million passengers per year from KLM and its partners, including Virgin Atlantic and Skyteam alliance members such as Delta Air Lines, Air France, Korean Air and China Eastern.

Officially opened on November 28, the bar marks a significant step in the over 20-year relationship between the two Dutch companies. In March Heineken was awarded a five-year contract extension with KLM and Air France. The brand is the exclusive premium beer offering on-board all flights. Since October 2019, Heineken® 0.0 has been listed on all KLM flights.

Prominently located in the main ‘City’ area of the Crown lounge, the Heineken® bar is the first of its kind at an airport and features the flagship brand Heineken® and its zero alcohol variant, Heineken® 0.0. Additionally, on the upper level at the ‘Sky’ bar, a wider selection of beers and ciders from the Heineken global portfolio is available, including regional brands Tiger®, Dos Equis®, Affligem®, Strongbow® and Lagunitas®. The Crown Lounge venue also provides a unique opportunity to engage key target consumers with the Heineken® brand’s key sponsorship platforms, including the new Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix in May 2020 and the UEFA EURO 2020™football tournament later that summer.

“We are very excited to partner with KLM as the exclusive provider of beers and ciders in the stunning KLM Crown Lounge at Amsterdam Schiphol, building on our long-term relationship and shared commitment to give KLM passengers a unique journey from start to finish,” said Dimitris Kyriazis, Director, Sales Europe Export & Global Duty Free for Heineken.

Eline Gambino-Lebens, Manager Partnerships Global Brands, KLM Customer Experience, added: “As two iconic Dutch brands, KLM and Heineken are natural partners in many ways and we are delighted to offer our Crown Lounge guests a fantastic choice of brands from the Heineken global portfolio. We have a long and successful relationship in the skies with Heineken® and we look forward to bringing this to life in new and innovative ways at our latest destination, here at Schiphol.”

“In-flight is a brand-building channel for us to bring our portfolio to the world and we have increased our ’35,000 feet’ range to include several lo/no alcohol ranges, led by Heineken® 0.0,” added Kyriazis. “With the growing trend for a balanced and healthy lifestyle, we want to give passengers greater choice in how they enjoy the great taste of our beers and ciders without any compromise on quality.”

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