Passengers of all airlines and travel classes can purchase access to the Plaza Premium Lounge. The principle is the same across all of the brand’s lounges, of which there are now 36 in total dotted around the world.
“We were especially intrigued by Helsinki’s geographical location and position as a transfer hub. For example, Helsinki is only an eight-hour flight away from Beijing, the number of passengers on routes between China and Finland has grown rapidly, and the future prospects for transfer traffic between Asia and Europe are bright here,” says Mr. Song Hoi-See, founder and CEO of Plaza Premium Group.
Recognisably local
Plaza Premium Lounge is located in a new, spacious and bright part of the airport with great views of the apron. The lounge has a live kitchen, shower rooms, a play area for children, workstations, and other services such as charging stations, complimentary Wi-Fi and a printing service.
“In the past 10 years, there has been a significant change at airports around the world. The central element of operating an airport used to be getting people from place A to place B, but nowadays it is increasingly important to stand out, to be unique and offer services. When I landed at Helsinki Airport, I knew immediately that I was in Finland. The use of wood in the new airport premises creates an identity for this place, and the central square Aukio presents Finnish nature,” says Mr. Song.
For Plaza Premium Lounge, it is a key principle to make each location true to the brand, but also recognisably local.
“You could say that 70% comes from our identity and 30% comes from local specialties. The facilities, the food and the atmosphere must say something about your location,” says Mr. Song.
At Helsinki Airport, this can be seen in the lounge restaurant, which serves international cuisine and selected Finnish signature dishes.
“We have noodles that are important for our Asian customers, but also Finnish meatballs. On social media, people have already been saying that they are better than the ones that mother makes,” Mr. Song grins.
Always one step ahead
“The Plaza Premium Lounge has brought an important addition to the service selection at Helsinki Airport,” says Nora Immonen, Vice President of Commercial Services at Finavia. “In addition to business passengers, lounge services are increasingly interesting for other passenger groups, and the Plaza Premium Lounge caters for passengers with children, for example. The excellent kitchen has also been praised by our passengers. We are very happy to have another award-winning international brand at our airport.”
Customer service, comfort, convenience and value creation are at the core of Plaza Premium Lounge.
“Airports and air travel are in constant change, and that is what makes this business so interesting. We always strive to be one step ahead, developing our operations with love and care,” says Mr. Song.
The Plaza Premium Lounge is located close to Gate 40 and Aukio, the central square of the non-Schengen area. Passengers of all airlines and travel classes can book lounge access in advance through Finavia’s website or through the Helsinki Airport app. Access can also be purchased at the lounge directly. The only precondition is that the passenger’s flight must depart from the non-Schengen area, located after passport control.
The Plaza Premium Lounge brand has been awarded the “World’s Best Independent Airport Lounge” for four consecutive years (from 2016 to 2019) at the Skytrax World Airline Awards, the global benchmark of aviation excellence, as well as the “Best Independent Airport Lounge 2018” by Business Traveller Asia Pacific magazine and “Best Airport Lounge Operator 2018” by TTG Asia magazine.
Emre Cakir the Director of Helsinki Airport’s Plaza Premium Lounge (left), Heikki Koski the Director of Digital Development at Finavia and the acting Director of Helsinki Airport, Nora Immonen the Vice president for Commercial Services at Helsinki Airport, Kimmo Mäki the CEO of Finavia, Pasi Laurinen the Commercial Manager of Helsinki Airport’s VIP and lounge services, the founder of Plaza Premium Group and CEO Song Hoi-See and Katja Siberg Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Finavia.
Pictures: Plaza Premium Lounge
