When Scottish twins Sonia Dixon and Adrienne Campbell started welcoming royals, popes and heads of state to London’s Heathrow airport in 1989, luxury wasn’t on the menu. The diplomatic suites that then dotted the terminals were funded by the British government as functional retreats from prying eyes and security threats.
To get in, passengers had to be on an official list that also included the secretaries-general of the UN and Nato, chairs of central banks and — somewhat incongruously — the mayors of the surrounding London boroughs of Hillingdon and Hounslow.
“They were lucky if they got a bit of shortbread with their tea,” says Sonia, who’s now 66. After more than 35 years of service, she and Ade, as her sister is better known, are still working in the same roles as VIP liaison officers.
Sonia remembers gently letting down a very senior British royal (she declines to confirm if it was the late Queen) who requested a boiled egg before an early flight. “I said that we had no facilities to offer cooked food. And she said, ‘My dear, pop it in the kettle — I do’. I said, ‘Ma’am, I would if I had an egg to boil’.”
Today, boiled eggs are, in fact, still not on the menu — although I suspect one could be rustled up for a peckish potentate. But, after a £3mn refurb of what is now called The Windsor by Heathrow, which was completed last week, a new menu created by the British chef Jason Atherton does include pan-roasted sea bream with beetroot risotto or Earl Grey chocolate mousse.
The centre occupies a corner of Terminal 5, with its own modest entrance. For a fee that starts at £3,812 for up to three people in the smallest of eight now lavishly furnished suites, anyone with business-class or first-class seats can spend up to two hours here before or after a flight. Above all else, they pay for speed, security and privacy; The Windsor has dedicated baggage handling and immigration facilities. Airside limousines whisk passengers straight to their planes, where, depending on the airline, they can choose to be installed in their flatbeds before anyone else boards, or moments before take-off.
But more than 15 years after Heathrow extended its VIP services beyond the diplomatic list to commercial customers, who now include chief executives and celebrities, it has raced to meet wider demands for comfort among the airport’s 0.06 per cent. (The service handled just 50,000 of the 84mn people who passed through Heathrow last year. An even smaller number uses the Royal Suite, a small building closer to the runways that is still reserved for diplomatic passengers on private flights.)
Sonia and Ade, who waved off a female president hours before we meet, are the only fixtures to have survived successive upgrades. They hum with enthusiasm and charm as they sit in matching uniforms in the Chelsea, one of the Windsor’s bigger suites. It now resembles a room in a contemporary luxury hotel, with a huge marble coffee table and a bespoke sofa from Larkbury London. There’s a silver button for butler service on a sideboard close by. The first choice for passengers is typically either Taittinger or Moët, although I gather the chicken burger is the most popular item on the menu.
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Working in shifts between 5am and midnight every day, a team of about 150 butlers, chefs, drivers, managers and liaison officers keep The Windsor going. The space is serene, a world away from the chaos of the terminal on the other side of the walls; only the rather utilitarian private bathrooms, with their Covid-era hand sanitiser dispensers, give away our location at one of the world’s busiest airports.
The sisters are obliged to be as discreet as a Mayfair concierge, and take gentle prodding before agreeing to share some of their less nuclear anecdotes. “I’ve been in the vicinity of conversations that, oh my goodness . . . there are things I’ll take to the grave,” says Sonia, who has met most British prime ministers and US presidents since Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.
Now divorced and with grown-up children, the sisters, who are neighbours in the same development in nearby Berkshire, are often mistaken for one another. One British prime minister, who I deduce was Gordon Brown, was once heading for his flight when Sonia stopped him and he told her to look along The Windsor’s main corridor. “‘Oh my God, there are two of you!’ he said.” Brown asked her why he had never met Ade, only to learn that he had, several times.
The Windsor now competes with the palatial airline lounges that its commercial customers could access for free in the terminals. Yet demand is rising. Charlotte Burns, Heathrow’s VIP lead, says discretion and a personal touch is at the heart of a service that Heathrow soon plans to expand upstairs, creating a larger, open-plan lounge with the same speedy access to flights. “The airline lounges are beautiful but you don’t get the privacy that our customers crave,” she tells me. “They also want to feel special when they’re here.”
The suite’s art collection includes works by David Hockney and Marc Chagall. Burns is overseeing the creation of a signature scent for its candles (I suggest jet fuel). Passengers who don’t want to miss out on duty-free can be escorted by a personal shopper through the bowels of the terminal to a door that delivers them between Fortnum & Mason and the Rolex store — or have items brought to their suite.
Many customers are regulars, and the sisters are on hugging terms with royals who were small children when they first met. An internationally famous American rapper asks Sonia to teach him a new Scottish phrase every time he passes through. “Once it was ‘fit like’, which means ‘how are you doing?’ So every time he gets off an aircraft now, he sees me and says, ‘fit like!’”
The sisters were born in Aberdeen, where their father worked in factories, and have lost little of their accents. They moved to Lancashire, aged 11, and joined the army as telegraphists after leaving school. Sonia landed her first job at Heathrow in 1980 (Ade followed in 1985). Early roles included security before they discovered a natural talent for soft-power diplomacy.
Sonia remembers being so struck by the warmth of the late Mikhail Gorbachev that she told one of his officials that she almost felt like hugging him. She did not realise that the official was Gorbachev’s daughter. “I carry on with my business, getting the boarding cards ready, and he comes out of the room, and gives me a huge hug. His daughter says it’s the first time anyone had asked for one.”
The next time the former Soviet leader passed through Heathrow, Sonia was waiting to greet him on the tarmac, at the end of a long line of diplomats and officials, as well as her own trainee liaison officer. “He went along shaking hands and then, right at the end, he picks me up, swings me round and puts me down again. My colleague was thinking, ‘Oh my God, is this what we do in this job?’”
Empathetic yet unfazed by status or celebrity, the sisters say they have learned to gauge a customer’s mood the second they arrive. Princess Diana was polite but rarely keen to chat. Sonia remembers once consoling another celebrity who was sobbing over pictures of herself on the front of that day’s newspapers.
Scottish charm and humour tends to disarm even the most demanding or stressed-out guest. Sonia remembers greeting former Prime Minister Edward Heath, who was running late for a flight to Tokyo. “He came out of his car and his face was all red, and I could tell he was really flustered,” she recalls. “I go straight out and tell him not to worry because his flight has been delayed. And, as I’m talking to him, I realise we’ve linked arms and I’m sort of patting his belly. His protection officers are going, ‘Oh, what’s this’, but he loved it!”
Part of the challenge is to welcome VIPs in a way that suggests that time stops for them, while gently reminding them that their flight to JFK absolutely will leave without them if they don’t get a move on. “The airlines don’t care who a passenger is these days,” says Ade, who once had a VIP turned away from an open jet door because she had arrived nine rather than 10 minutes before departure.
Bosses at the airport long ago gave up offering the sisters promotions to managerial roles. “We don’t want it, we’d rather be face-to-face,” Ade says. She and Sonia recently went part-time, and now work 20-hour weeks on alternating shifts. They’ve just hit retirement age, but have no plans to hang up their lanyards. In a couple of weeks they’ll fly together from Heathrow to Miami to join a soul music cruise. In the days before The Windsor went commercial, they were allowed to use it. “But we never did, we like to see all the people in the terminal,” Sonia says. Where does she like to stop for her own pre-flight meal? “Anywhere that serves a glass of wine!”
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My favourite lounges — by Brian Kelly, aka ‘The Points Guy’
Delta One Lounge, New York JFK
Even with how much I’ve travelled over the last 15 years, it’s been tricky to find a city that rivals New York when it comes to airport lounges. The Delta One Lounge at JFK (pictured above), which opened last summer, only continues to reinforce my bias. Qualifying travellers enjoy priority check-in and a private security checkpoint. Pair that with the Radio City Music Hall-inspired bar and a year-round outdoor terrace, and your trip — whether for business or pleasure — is off to a fantastic start.
Air France La Première Lounge, Paris Charles de Gaulle
Air France upgraded its La Première offering at Charles de Gaulle just in time for last summer’s Olympics. As well as the elegant main lounge (complete with Sisley spa and a food and wine offering overseen by Alain Ducasse), there are now three private suites, each with a living room, bedroom with double bed (pictured below), a bathroom and outdoor patio. The suites have to be booked in advance, and start from €800.
American Express Centurion Lounge, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson
American Express originated the concept of offering lounge access for credit card holders, and its newest location brings more firsts. It’s the largest location to-date, with the brand’s first whiskey bar and three outdoor, year-round terraces. Aside from nailing all the usual amenities, the design features lots of greenery and a 50-year-old olive tree as the centrepiece to pay homage to Atlanta and its reputation as “the city in the forest.”
Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, London Heathrow
After entering via the grand marble and glass staircases, you’ll find a variety of places to relax, including a “Retreat” section with leather loungers, a sunken living room, an upstairs loft with a pool table and an outdoor terrace. If you’re looking to get in a quick workout in between flights, you have access to Peloton stationary bikes with a lovely view of the tarmac.
Chase Sapphire Lounge, New York La Guardia
New York-based Chase is one of the more recent banks to launch airport lounges for credit card holders, but its quality and attention to detail have put it a cut above the rest. Its Sapphire Lounge at La Guardia boasts stunning design — complete with a 360-degree bar — a wellness area with complimentary facials and a retro arcade for kids.
Brian Kelly started The Points Guy, a blog and subsequently website focusing on airline loyalty programmes and reviews, in 2010. His book ‘How to Win at Travel’ is published this week by Avid Reader Press
