Northstar

AIRLINES www.travelweeklyweb.com Asia's largest pay-in lounge HONG KONG – Plaza Premium Lounge (PPL) has opened their flagship Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport. Centrally located in the airport's West Hall and measuring 15,000 square feet, the expansive 24-hour retreat will be the largest pay-in lounge in Asia. The lounge, designed by Kinney Chan of Kinney Chan & Associates, is divided into several zones to provide travellers with multiple experiences and choices while at the lounge. Beyond the welllit reception area, guests enter the main lounge and are greeted by a variety of seating configurations and a sleek, sophisticated design. Plaza Premium Lounge at HKIA's West Hall Catering to single travellers, couples and large parties, guests can choose to take a seat at one of the booths, share a communal table or appreciate the panoramic view of the runway from one of the bar stools. While the neutral palette conveys warmth, the designers have taken full advantage of the full-length windows, inviting an abundance of natural light into the space. At the fully-equipped working station, executives can stay connected with the lounge's free Wi-Fi, charge up their devices in one of the many power sockets, complete a transaction at the private workstations while enjoying the panoramic view of the airport runway. Plaza Premium Lounge also introduces a new dining concept in the West Hall Lounge with the launch of The Market Place. Catering to discerning diners with an appetite for variety. In the exclusive bar area, The Hub, together with the wine dispenser, hot and cold tapas will be served daily, this includes croquettes, daily soups, mezza platters, among many others. "The opening of the West Hall Lounge at Hong Kong International Airport marks a new chapter for Plaza Premium Lounge," said Song Hoi-See, founder & CEO of Plaza Premium Lounge Management Limited. "For 15 years, our company has been enhancing the airport experience for passengers. In designing this flagship lounge, we continue to innovate the airport environment. To create this lounge we focused on enhancing the ambience, service, facilities and food and beverage offerings to create the ultimate airport retreat," added Song. Lufthansa to offer new connection to Southeast Asia SINGAPORE – Following a phase of moderate regional growth primarily due to the introduction of larger aircraft, Lufthansa plans to offer a new flight connection from Frankfurt to Southeast Asia. The new flight schedules will begin as of March 30, 2014. The German carrier plans to increase its seat capacity by 27 per cent, compared to the year before. For the first time, Kuala Lumpur will be linked to Frankfurt, via a non-stop flight, five times weekly while Indonesia's capital Jakarta will be included in the flight schedule via Kuala Lumpur. The flights will operate with a modern Lufthansa Airbus A340 600 with eight seats in the First Class, 48 seats in the Business Class and 270 Economy Class seats. In future, Lufthansa will connect Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta with its main European hub in Frankfurt. Additionally SWISS and Austrian Airlines fly from Bangkok to Zurich and Vienna with SWISS also offering a connection from Singapore to Zurich since May 2013. Currently, Kuala Lumpur could only be reached with Lufthansa four times a week with a connection from Bangkok. This intra-Asian Lufthansa flight from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur will be dropped as a result of the new direct flight from Frankfurt to Malaysia. The flight schedule of the Lufthansa Group airlines Lufthansa, SWISS and Austrian Airlines at the Star Alliance hub airport in www.travelweeklyweb.com Bangkok will be improved, in order to offer passengers greater flexibility with flying times and transfer possibilities in future. The departure of the Lufthansa flight LH773 Bangkok will be brought forward to 12:00 hours, with arrival in Frankfurt at 18:30 hours (local time). Flight LH772 with take-off in Frankfurt at 17:35 hours, will in future already arrive in Bangkok at 09:35 hours. As a result, passengers will be provided with an optimal offer of connecting flights of the Star Alliance partners Thai Airways in its regional network. The flight schedules of SWISS and Austrian Airlines to and from Bangkok will remain unchanged with night flight connections in both directions, which are particularly popular with business travellers. "With the current service extensions and flight schedule measures we are improving the offer for our customers in Southeast Asia. Indonesia will now be connected with the Lufthansa network once again and for the first time our European network can be reached non-stop from Malaysia," said Steffen Harbarth, area manager, Asia-Pacific, Lufthansa. "With our new flight we are extending the offer to our customers in Southeast Asia by 27 per cent compared with the same period last year and will thus grow next year at an above average rate in this part of Asia," added Harbarth. DECEMBER 2013 | TRAVELWEEKLY ASIA ■ | 13

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