Malpensa here is the Alda Merini Lounge for passengers flying from T2. At the moment it will not be Priority Pass
Usually the bum shuns gala appointments, or at best is a ticket-paying gatecrasher. Yesterday, however, I [...]
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Usually the bum shuns gala dates, or at best is a ticket-paying gatecrasher.
Yesterday, however, I made an exception to the rule and literally checked in just to visit the newly opened lounge in Terminal 2 at Malpensa Airport.
SEA, the company that manages Milan's airports, held a small grand opening of the hall that for all intents and purposes is operational for a couple of weeks, an event intended primarily to highlight the naming of the Milanese poet Alda Merini, continuing the tradition of naming names after people connected with the arts (Leonardo, Montale, Monteverdi) and, as far as Malpensa is concerned the case (but it may not be) all lounge names begin with M.
Location
The lounge, well indicated in the signs inside the airport, is located to the left of the gates for document control for those heading out of the Schengen area. An old lounge present in the terminal was housed here in the 1980s and, legend has it, hosted presidents of the Republic as well as Claudia Schiffer.
Access
As we had already written in recent days entrance fee is charged, through the Via Milano portal, and free of charge for passengers holding Dragon Pass cards and those traveling with easyJet in fares that provide this service. When specifically asked by SEA, they clarified that an agreement with Priority Pass is not planned at the moment.
Which is also consistent with the fact that even the Airport fast track is open to American Express holders, which happens instead at T1, but also works at Bergamo, which of the low-costs is the #1 airport in Italy.
Access can be purchased at the admission desk for 39 euros or online On the official online site of Milan airports milanairports-shop.com at the discounted price of 25 euros. Again, even more so in this case, I confirm that it does NOT make any sense to pay to enter any lounge. The only lounge that makes sense to pay for has an entrance fee of 850€ and that is the one at La Premiere in Paris.
The lounge
This article is not intended, and cannot, be a review. I am just trying to tell you about the lounge so that you can consider whether or not to pay to enter it.
The hall is dark, unfortunately its location, almost basement, does not give any kind of opening to the outside. The only door to the runway has no view and does not let in any light. To solve this lack of natural light, the architects, the same ones who took care of the Leonardo Hall extension, chose to install windows of light, i.e., backlit blow-ups.
The hall is not very big, of course we are talking about a low-cost passenger terminal, but when I think about the amount of people I often pass inside the Hello Sky of Bergamo I understand why, at the moment you want to keep out passengers with PP, and consider at a later date based on the influx whether to open up to even the most popular of "all you can lounge" cards.
Food & Beverage
The lounge was regularly operating yesterday, so the buffet offered was the standard one and not special for the occasion.
The catering is taken care of by the same company that takes care of the other lounges at MXP, in terms of offerings the difference will be the lack of a hot proposal, otherwise you will be able to find what you find in the other lounges in the main terminal.
In conclusion
I am not a regular visitor to Terminal 2, indeed in my history as a passenger I have taken off from this airport only once in my life, on the contrary though I often sleep at the Moxy Which is right in front of the terminal.
It certainly lacked a lounge and is a very good proposal, of course many will be disappointed by the lack of the Priority Pass arrangement, but I think it is an obvious choice otherwise the queue at the entrance would reach duty free.
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