Airport Retreat Open March 14 – Air Canada’s Signature Suite
We ventured out to the airport this week to check out the new impressive Air Canada Signature Suite. There’s a full-service restaurant here with a menu designed by Chef David Hawksworth, premium liquor at the bar, and design details that create an atmosphere of calm before you climb aboard you’re flight. Now we just have to figure out how to become a Signature Class customer and when we can travel next.
Air Canada unveiled its second Air Canada Signature Suite for its eligible Signature Class customers travelling to intercontinental destinations from Vancouver International Airport (YVR). The airline’s second exclusive airport retreat continues to enhance its award-winning premium offering with another space where eligible customers can relax before their flight from YVR. It features à la carte dining at a complimentary, full-service restaurant from a menu created by acclaimed Vancouver-Chef David Hawksworth.
The Air Canada Signature Suite officially opens March 14, 2020 and is accessible and fully complimentary to Signature Class customers, excluding upgrades and point redemption programs. The 4,400-square-foot (408 square metres) suite, conveniently located in Air Canada’s international departure area at YVR above the International Maple Leaf Lounge, can accommodate seating for up to 105 premium customers. It hosts a full-service restaurant offering à la carte dining from a Hawksworth-designed menu. The suite also features a cocktail lounge space with full-service bar and a selection of specialty snacks, a quiet sitting area and concierge service.
Other notable features of the Air Canada Signature Suite at YVR include:
• High quality spirits supplied by the airline’s partner Diageo, Moët & Chandon Champagne (both brut and rosé available) and Signature cocktails;
• Works of art drawing inspiration from and celebrating the Pacific Coast landscape and waterways include pieces such as Shape Agenda by Vancouver sculptor Jordy Buckles, and photographic work of Montrealer Nicolas Ruel, Victoria Peak.
• Cloudscape chandelier by acclaimed Toronto design firm Moss & Lam;
• Luxury skin care products from Molton Brown.
The interior design is a defining element of the experience .
Designers Heekyung Duquette and Eric Majer have created an intimate sequence of spaces. Features of the design offer a retreat from conventional airport frenzy, providing customers with a serene, luxurious atmosphere:
• Arrival is marked by smoked glass walls containing bronze mesh sculptural screens. Customers are greeted by concierges stationed at bronze podiums fronting a luggage checkroom, allowing visitors to explore the space unencumbered.
• Ascending stairs up to the main space brings visitors into abounding natural light and impressive panoramic views of layered feature spaces: bistro, bar, and dining area.
• Locally-produced bronze wall panels exude warmth and luxury, leading to the à la carte dining area and private dining room.
• Telupana Blue stone – quarried on Vancouver Island – delineates and enlivens the bar.
• Sumptuous custom hand-made wool carpet emulates the grey-blue hues of ocean vistas.
• Nature makes its way into the à la carte dining room with a burst of forest flora contained within sculptural vessels that evoke the undulating inlets of the BC coast.
• The dining scene comes alive with glowing cube lamps reflected in glassware, and the expansive view of the tarmac beyond.
• Within this space is a bronze-clad private dining room for a more exclusive dining experience.
• Its smoked glass doors are overlain with a filigree pattern of maple leaves in the wind, another reference to Air Canada imagery.
• Throughout the Signature Suite, a heightened sense of quality is conveyed through the display of noble materials, the intricacy of its details and craftsmanship, as well as proudly showcasing Canadian craftsmanship, furnishings and art
