Cathay Pacific adds 'The Noodle Bar' to new Bangkok and Manila business lounge

Ask anyone who's ever passed through Cathay Pacific Airways' Hong Kong business lounge to name their highlight and they'll often say: "The Noodle Bar". It's testament to the organic functionality of the lounge as a whole (and of course the noodles) that something so signature and bespoke jumps to mind. When everything works, it's the one per-centers who stand out.

The Hong Kong-based airline's new lounges in Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport and Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport boast their own versions of the famous Noodle Bar. But true to form, it's a flourish on top of a whole lot of homely functionality, at least as homely as a place in a departure hall can be.

Their pedigree is a cozy one, designed by Studioilse, a household name in design, if your household happens to love design – or Ikea. The London-based studio is led by Ilse Crawford who recently did a collection for the mass-market home furnishings chain. Crawford is the founding editor of British Elle Decoration and launched Donna Karan Home in New York until she returned to London to adapt her functional yet decidedly human vision to public places.

Cathay Pacific's brief for these two, an updated lounge in Tokyo and London coming down the pike, was for spaces that would help "passengers feel relaxed" while " … engaging the senses and focusing on wellbeing as a core principle".

"This has been achieved by working with warm, natural materials like wood and stone, softening the acoustics where possible and adopting a considered approach to lighting … The overall feeling of the lounge is of a domestic space, more like a living room than an airline lounge."

On top of that, you've got all the business accoutrements one expects like, free wi-fi and work spaces – not to mention a killer wonton noodle soup.

See cathaypacific.com.au.