Northstar

22 | www.travelweekly-asia.com GAMECHANGER Plaza's premium experiences stretch across the world When did you first identify demand for airport lounges for those who didn't have premium lounge access? Back in 1990s, all airport lounge service concepts were only dedicated to respective airlines' commercially important persons – first and business class customers, which account for about 15% of airlines passengers. I created this business concept through my personal bad experience at airports in late 1990s. When I worked as an investment banker, I enjoyed all those travel perks such as limousine services, business class flights and the use of airline lounges, but when I left the bank to start my own business, I flew economy class and started comparing the experiences. As a businessman, an airport experience was long, dreary and largely an inefficient use of my time. I started to think what I could do to better the experience for economy passengers. From your first lounge in Hong Kong in 1998, to your latest lounge at London Heathrow, how has the product developed in terms of design and facilities? We have modified the design and facilities of our lounges over time to feature more cultural elements of an individual country or city. Also, we have upgraded our products by bringing in universal adapters, USB sockets, Wi-Fi, and signature honeycomb seating to our facilities. We have introduced a wider selection of beverages and hospitality services. In the last few years, we have ventured into airport transit hotels, meet and greet, and airport dining services to provide one-stop service for travellers. Can you explain Flight Club – what is unique about it? Flight Club is a new dining concept unique to Plaza Premium Lounge and the airport environment, dedicated to bringing an unparalleled airport dining experience, with the promise of healthy eating in a theatrical way. It is currently available at KL International Airport, and London Heathrow Airport T4. You are developing Aerotel landside at London Heathrow, following those at Singapore Changi and Abu Plaza Premium Lounge was Skytrax's World's Best Independent Airport Lounge in 2016 and 2017. Founder and CEO Song Hoi-see says close observation and constant feedback from guests has helped the company drive innovative products like Flight Club and Aerotel. He talks about the company's rise and future direction to Travel Weekly Asia. Dhabi. What persuaded you there was a demand for this product, and how successful has it been? Through feedback from our guest travellers requiring private resting facilities for five or six hours overnight, we were encouraged to open a landside transit hotel with flexible booking hours. Aerotel is located inside Heathrow Terminal 3 and will feature a 24-hour library lounge that serves food and drink to guests. You once said "in our industry you need to be a little crazy, think out of the box and innovate". Do you have any 'crazy' ideas that you have yet to pursue? And what are they? Our next 'crazy' idea will be introducing Arrture, a global airport travel rewards loyalty programme that brings together today's global air travellers and global air travel service providers onto a single platform. Partners can incentivise and build repeat engagements with Arrture members to build brand awareness, brand affinity, and revenue for their business. Flight Club – healthy food for the fliers at Kuala Lumpur International Airport "Our next 'crazy' idea will be introducing Arrture, a global airport travel rewards loyalty programme" – Song Hoi-see, founder and CEO of Plaza Premium Lounge How do you ensure that the pay- per-use lounge business remains relevant and competitive? There are more than 1,000 international airports with enough passenger footfall for lounges, and we only have presence in 36 international airports. This implies a huge room for growth. Travellers are becoming more savvy and sophisticated. The need for comfort, convenience and value – what Plaza Premium Lounge stands for - becomes more essential. We attach great importance to learning and development by providing training for colleagues in different departments and levels in order to ensure our service excellence. We invest in about 130,000 hours of training on an annual basis, which is well above the industry norm.

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