Celebrity-Only Lounge at LAX? L.A. Council Says A-O.K.

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday backed a 10-year lease with a security firm that plans to create a private lounge at Los Angeles International Airport for celebrities, high-profile figures and others who want to avoid the paparazzi.

The lounge will also be available to any LAX passenger who is willing to pay a hefty per-use fee, expected to be around $1,800.

The council voted 10-0 to concur with the Airport Commission’s approval last November of the lease with Studio City-based private security firm Gavin de Becker & Associates.

The firm is planning to build a “remote lounge” for actors, musicians, athletes and government VIPs to use to avoid the main terminal areas and to board their scheduled flights out of the public eye.

Los Angeles World Airports, which operates and owns LAX, will take in an estimated $3.4 million from the lease annually, and more than $34 million over the entire 10 years of the contract.

— City News Service