Airport lounges have come a long way since the first lounges were opened at American airports in the 1940s. Back then, ‘lounges’ were designed mainly for VIPs and other delegates who were distinguished or rich enough to use this method of transport.

As air travel became more affordable in the following decades, airport lounges evolved into, well, lounges; purpose-built comfortable environments where paying passengers could relax until their flight number was called.

But that is not to say lounge planners world-wide have stuck rigidly to simple designs. Forbes’ World’s Ten Best Airport Lounges highlights some interesting features:

● The Continental Airlines Lounge at Ronald Reagan National Airport, Washington D.C. has had millions of dollars spent on it and is now a sleek, wood-panelled club reminiscent of a first-class lounge on a Cunard ocean liner.

● At Copenhagen International Airport, SAS Airlines’ two-tiered (bright, open and airy) lounge makes use of local Scandinavian design and materials, including blonde birch, maple, oak, limestone, wool and leather. In a nod to Scandinavian culture, Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson designed the giant kaleidoscope sculpture suspended from the ceiling.

● The Malaysian Airlines Lounge at Kuala Lumpur International Airport is the only one in the world with a glass-enclosed rain forest and a river running through it, along with a gym, bedrooms, a computer-games corner and a nursery with babysitting services.

Air travel is on the increase

Despite the impact on world air travel of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001 and the global economic crises in recent years, the number of air travellers worldwide continues to increase annually.

Most modern airports around the world are designed and equipped to cope with huge numbers of paying passengers, and also the inevitable swelling of these numbers over time, but others simply are not. Many fixed air conditioning systems serving airport lounges at older terminals badly need to be updated, not just to cope with summer temperatures, but to provide a sufficient year-round cool air supply.

The main reasons why some lounges overheat are:

The amount of glass used in their construction can cause problematic solar gain.

For security purposes, airport lounges are completely enclosed with little in the way of natural ventilation.

Heat generated by food outlets can be massive, especially at large airports where there could be 100+ food and retail outlets; including pubs, bars, fast food restaurants and other eateries.

Heat can also be emitted from lounge lighting, electronic signage, and from banks of information monitors that announce flight landings, departure times and delays. Similarly, systems at check-in desks and scanners at customs areas can also generate considerable heat.

Added to that a large number of people within an enclosed space, radiate a considerable amount of heat.

Air con failure in Hawaii

Hawaiians are used to heat, of course; but when the air con system suddenly broke down at Honolulu International Airport in August 2011, even they struggled to cope with the stifling atmosphere within the airport’s lounges. State officials described the air con system breakdown as ‘a major failure’.

The outage affected the lounges, central concourse, customs and baggage claim areas. For arriving passengers from Europe, the overwhelming heat came as a shock, and even travellers from other hot climates were taken aback by the lack of adequate air conditioning.

Most modern airports also include exclusive VIP lounges where business class passengers expect the very best in comfort. At London’s Gatwick Airport VIP lounges, for example, passengers in possession of a Priority Pass can enjoy special treatment away from the crowds: a coffee (or something stronger), and a delicious meal in a sumptuous lounge, where the temperature would be expected to be ‘just right’. Passengers can understandably become very frustrated with higher (or lower) than normal temperatures.

Where hired air con can save the day

Most airports use a facilities maintenance company (an ‘FM company’) for air conditioning system maintenance. They have their own engineers in place to keep the system up-and-running, but sometimes a serious fault can defeat them.

Although system breakdowns at airports cannot generally be isolated to one common issue, faults often occur due to there not being a sufficient budget in place for planned maintenance or servicing. Similarly, the intervals between servicing may just be too long - particularly during times of financial concern or economic instability.

This is where the option to utilise the services of an experienced air conditioning hire specialist can prove ideal: during emergency call-outs – not necessarily life-threatening ones, but where uncomfortable conditions for paying passengers prevail. Hired air conditioning units with the capacity to cool entire terminal buildings at airports can be sourced, delivered and installed by air con rental specials in a matter of hours.

Whether the temperature needs to be maintained for all airport users or if it needs to be easily controlled to create a more refined environment in paid for lounges, air conditioning hire is an efficient and economic solution for the short term.