Our daily feature celebrates memorable scenes, moments, launches and campaigns from the global aviation and travel retail sphere.
Today’s choice comes from a Hong Kong company but with a Middle East setting. It shows the Grand Opening of Plaza Premium Lounge at King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
There are few more globe-trotting companies in travel retail than Plaza Premium Lounge, a world leader in Premium Airport Services, notably (but not exclusively) passenger-paid lounges.
The company was founded by Song Hoi-see (pictured left), a former investment banker who after founding his own business was forced to fly economy class and without the airport lounge privileges he had previously enjoyed. The notion of Plaza Premium was born and in 1998 Song launched the company’s first lounges at Hong Kong International and Kuala Lumpur International airport.
It has since grown into an extraordinary success story. Today Plaza Premium Lounge operates in 19 countries, including multiple locations in several of those. Dammam is the latest but certainly not the last.
