Washington Dulles International Airport and SpringHill Suites by Marriott have launched Comfort Zone, lounge areas in the airport with modern comfortable seating, to allow passengers to prepare for or regroup after the security screening process.

The Comfort Zones, arriving just in time for summer travel season, offer soft couches and convenient tables in three areas at the airport for the more than 22 million business and leisure passengers who travel each year through Dulles International. 

“The partnership between Washington Dulles International Airport, marketing and advertising firm JCDecaux and Marriott to bring a SpringHill Suites’ Comfort Zone to the airport will create a wonderful opportunity for passengers and continue the tradition of providing world-class service and comfort to our customers,” said Jerome L. Davis, Airports Authority executive vice president and chief revenue officer. “We have already seen positive passenger feedback in the few days that the Comfort Zones have been opened.”

The transformed areas near security checkpoints are designed to offer increased comfort for passengers, while still maintaining the highest level of security.

This is the first time the brand has been able to enhance every security checkpoint located in an airport, and it is the fifth location where SpringHill Comfort Zones were installed in partnership with JCDecaux and aviation services provider Aviator.

“Extending the hospitality of SpringHill Suites by providing more than the expected is a priority for us,” said Loren Nalewanski, SpringHill Suites by Marriott vice president and global brand manager. “Business travel can be tough and our goal is to help travelers start the trip with a unique and stress-free experience as they pass through one of the countries busiest airports.”

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority was established in 1987 by the governments of Virginia and the District of Columbia to manage and operate Washington’s Ronald Reagan National and Dulles International airports, which together serve more than 40 million passengers a year. The Airports Authority also operates and maintains the Dulles Airport Access Road and the Dulles Toll Road and manages construction of the Silver Line project, a 23-mile extension of the Washington region’s Metrorail system into Loudoun County, Va. No taxpayer money is used to operate the toll road, which is funded by toll revenues, or the airports, which are funded through aircraft landing fees, rents and revenues from concessions. The Silver Line construction is funded by a combination of toll-road revenues, airport contributions and federal, state and local government appropriations. The Airports Authority is led by a 17-member board of directors appointed by the governors of Virginia, Maryland, the mayor of Washington, D.C., and the president of the United States.