Last year the Manchester Airport Group (MAG) unveiled its new luxury lounge 1903, at company headquarters and main hub Manchester Airport. Now, all set for summer, the company is adding another option, designed to boost the comfort of passengers, a new restaurant bar concept: Proof.

Entirely owned and operated by MAG, the eatery, which puts the focus on fresh, healthy and nutritional fare, will debut at East Midlands Airport in summer 2018, before being rolled out to the group’s other British airports Manchester and London Stansted.

Like the 1903 and its other lounge brand Escape, Proof will be run by the company’s in-house lounge team, which has already introduced seven waiting areas into the UK and four in the States.The catering and bar operation for MAG’s UK Escape Lounges was also all brought in-house last year, giving MAG end-to-end control of the operation of its airport lounges.

The East Midlands Airport branch, dubbed Proof 65, will feature a choice of tapas-style ‘small plate’ food built around sustainable local produce infused with Mediterranean flavours and includes dishes such as Egg and Red Leicester Cheese Frittata, and Hot Smoked Salmon Fish Cake with Gin Aioli.

“Ultimately, we are trying to give our passengers the best possible choice”

Gin does not make its only appearance in the hot smoked salmon, as the juniper spirit is the star of the Proof drinks list which hosts 15 different gins, and local small-batch drinks including Two Birds (Market Harborough), Burleighs (Loughborough) and Nelsons (Uttoxeter) alongside more well-known famous Geneva tipples such as Sipsmith and Hendricks.

Beth Brewster, executive vice president of Lounges at MAG, said: “MAG is innovative in the UK in establishing its own in-house food and beverage product. Ultimately, we are trying to give our passengers the best possible choice of environment as they spend time in our terminals, whether that’s at an airport lounge, at a MAG-operated bar, or at one of our fantastic partner brand restaurant, bars and coffee shops.: