Airport lounges are no longer simply hush rooms strewn with carpet-lined walls with news channels with food and beverages and buffets created for suit-clad business travelers. Now officially, India has started to celebrate its travel season and a ground-zero new lounge exclusively for Gen Z customers at Bengaluru's award-winning Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), reworking the wait time for a flight as it goes.
Not Your Average Waiting Room
You’re using the Gen Z lounge, the first thing you’re going to notice is that it doesn’t even have beige walls. The entire place is full of neon embellishments, industrial chic and ergonomic furnishings that caters to users of both “digital nomads” and “aesthetic” brackets. The lounge divides into two sets of areas high-energy, and low-energy areas to meet the diverse moods of the new generation:
- Battle Station (Gaming Zone): The latest consoles and high-grade PCs, also an ultra-fast internet (6G), allow travelers to engage in a round of Valorant or FC 26 while waiting for their boarding call.
- The Content Studio a personal corner with ring lights, green screens, and soundproofing for content creators and influencers to shoot you a “Travel With Me” vlog or TikTok with utter silence.
- The Zen Pods: Soundproof sleeping pods for what could have been out of a sci-fi movie, the nap or a corner for a Netflix series.
- Sustainable Eats: The menus favor "clean eating." Vegan options and kombucha on tap here, local options nearby to be served in these dishes, a break from past, full of baggage buffets.
Meet Gate Z, BLR Airport’s newest Gen-Z inspired lounge at Terminal 2 International Departures! Designed as a social-first, experience-led space, the lounge reflects the evolving expectations of today's travellers. #BLRAirport #Terminal2 #GateZLounge #GateZ #GenZLounge… pic.twitter.com/nx4abacmSt
— BLR Airport (@BLRAirport) January 23, 2026
Tech-First Experience
This was then a free fully, “contactless” lounge. Everything is seamless, with QR code check-in and custom oat-milk latte orders through an app. Wireless charging pads are slotted into everything from the tables at the meals to couches’ armrests.
Why Gen Z?
With the Gen Z population projected to be the largest single sector of travellers worldwide by the end of 2026, airports are adjusting to accommodate this demographic group. Generation Z values experience, connectivity and independence over classic luxury. ”It is the younger traveler Generation Z we are targeting not just the old ones, we know those people don’t want a whispery library,” the project’s lead architect says. They want a lounge that is just so ‘post-worthy’ that it can be so truly functional whether at home doing your work or at a play area.
And the community and the social impact
As a means of access the socially aware generation, the lounge runs a “Creator’s Market” a small retail space specializing in eco-friendly products and clothing produced by start-hubs and companies owned by the Gen Zs in India. As large metropolises like Delhi and Mumbai chase this, Bengaluru is once again the “Silicon Valley of India,” a space where tech and lifestyle can and do go hand in hand to make sure even the monotony of layover becomes something seen and enjoyed here.
