INTERNATIONAL. Airport hospitality companies Plaza Premium Group and marhaba have formed a strategic partnership to enhance their airport lounge and meet and greet services around the world.
The partners said they will consolidate services and customer engagement through cross-selling, and make joint investments in services and facilities in the future. The partnership will initially cover major airports in strategic markets across Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
Head of marhaba Global Shahab Al Awadhi said: “We are thrilled to join forces with Plaza Premium Group to offer travellers more value and a broader range of options to improve their travel experience at a time when quality and safe hospitality services play an increasingly important role at airports globally.
“marhaba and Plaza Premium share the same values and passion for service excellence and safety. We are both committed to delivering world-class services to help travellers make the most out of their airport journey. This strategic partnership will enable us to significantly enhance our offering and expand our footprint, while leveraging experience and synergies. We look forward to a fruitful collaboration across our global network.”
Plaza Premium Group Chief Commercial Officer Bora Isbulan said: “This strategic alliance brings together the best of two industry leaders in airport hospitality in terms of expertise, talents and service network. While the travel industry is currently evolving rapidly, our collaboration is especially crucial now when the industry must unite to achieve operational efficiency, consolidation of resources, optimisation of distribution and ultimately, offering a better experience for global travellers.”
The marhaba and Plaza Premium Group portfolios include airport lounges – namely marhaba and Plaza Premium Lounge – and meet and assist services marhaba and Allways.
marhaba, which means ‘welcome’ in Arabic, was launched in the UAE to help passengers arriving in or departing from Dubai International. The brand is part of dnata, one of the world’s largest air services providers.
marhaba started to expand its global footprint in 2017 by opening new airport lounges in Karachi (Pakistan) and Melbourne (Australia). Since then, it has opened two additional facilities in Singapore and Manila (Philippines) and substantially increased the capacity of its airport lounges in Dubai.
Plaza Premium Group offers airport lounges, airport terminal hotels, airport dining as well as meet and assist services in over 180 locations across 49 airports globally.
