December

İstanbul Sabiha Gökçen Airport Welcomes Plaza Premium Group in Offering Seamless World-class Airport Hospitality to Global Travellers

İstanbul Sabiha Gökçen, a fully owned asset of Malaysia Airports and recognised as Turkey’s emerging city airport, entrusted its premium services with Plaza Premium Group, a the leading global airport hospitality brand

Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (IATA Code: SAW), a fully owned asset of Malaysia Airports, will hand over the operation of the lounge areas in the terminal as well as all premium services, including fast track and meet & assist services to Plaza Premium Group, a leading global airport hospitality services provider, on January 1, 2021. Upon service handover, Plaza Premium Group will be investing in a series of enhancements and upgrading service and facilities to create an elevated lounge experience and to promote a seamless airport journey for global travellers in the New Year.

Plaza Premium Group is currently serving more than 20 million passengers annually at 49 international airports across Asia Pacific, Middle East and Americas, and will open a new lounge in the international terminal in addition to the already available two lounges at Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen. The two lounges are located in the Domestic Departures Terminal by gate 205 and International Departures by gate 203, both lounges spans 418 square metres and accommodates more than 100 guests in the lounge area. With panoramic views of the airport runway, guests are invited to indulge in a wide range of services and facilities that are tailored to all kinds of travellers such as families, business and leisure travellers. Promoting a safe and hygienic environment, both lounges include comfortable seating, work stations that encourage privacy and social distancing and a dining area featuring pre-packaged and individually portioned food and beverage selections for travellers to relax and enjoy a worry-free airport experience before their onwards journey.

SAW is Istanbul’s second busiest airport, registering 35.6 million passengers in 2019 and was named Europe’s fastest growing airport for seven consecutive years from 2009 to 2015. Despite the global pandemic this year, SAW remains among Europe’s top five busiest airports and is positioned as Istanbul’s emerging city airport. According to Malaysia Airports Group Chief Executive Officer (Group CEO), Dato’ Mohd Shukrie Mohd Salleh, “Our partnership with Plaza Premium Group goes back to as far as 1998 when they opened their first lounge at KL International Airport in Malaysia and we have seen them grow to become a leading provider of airport hospitality services all over the world. We are confident they will bring the same high service standards to SAW. The presence of Plaza Premium Group at the airport is a manifestation of our continued commitment to ensure world-class service culture and hospitality is practised at all our airports.” Song Hoi-see, Founder & CEO of Plaza Premium Group further shares, “We are thrilled to extend our Skytrax award-winning airport hospitality services to Turkey and Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, a major airport hub in the region also one of my favorite cities. This strategic expansion is a significant milestone for us especially during this unprecedented time, we hope that this is the beginning of reviving global travel as we continue to strengthen our connection with travellers in the world.

By partnering with Plaza Premium Group, İstanbul Sabiha Gökçen now takes another important step in customer satisfaction as part of MAHB Group’s global vision.

About Malaysia Airports
Malaysia Airports is one of the world’s largest airport operator groups in terms of number of passengers handled. It manages and operates 39 airports in Malaysia and one international airport in Istanbul, Turkey. The 39 airports in Malaysia comprise five international airports, 16 domestic airports and 18 Short Take-Off and Landing Ports (STOLports). Its flagship airport, KL International Airport also includes its second terminal klia2, is striving towards being the preferred ASEAN hub. Over the years, Malaysia Airports and its airports have received numerous awards that acknowledged its commitment towards excellence in various areas such as in improving connectivity and service levels, enhancing stakeholder engagement and in ensuring good governance.
Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad is listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (Bursa Malaysia)
For more information on MAHB, please visit www.malaysiaairports.com.my.

About Plaza Premium Group
With a mission to Make Travel Better, Plaza Premium Group is the pioneer and industry leader in innovating global airport hospitality services and facilities in over 180 locations of 49 international airports across the world. Established in 1998 and headquartered in Hong Kong, the group comprises four core business segments – airport lounges Plaza Premium First and Plaza Premium Lounge; airport terminal hotels Aerotel and Refreshhh by Aerotel; airport meet & greet services ALLWAYS and a range of Airport Dining concepts. The Group has also developed Smart Traveller, a mobile-app based global airport membership programme that is designed for air travellers, offering uniquely-curated perks, benefits and rewards experience through points earning and redemption. In addition to its own brands, Plaza Premium Group provides airport hospitality solutions to leading airlines, alliances and corporates around the world, including but not limited to Cathay Pacific Airways, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, China Southern Airlines, Star Alliance, SkyTeam, American Express and many more.
The Group has won more than 60 accolades in the last five years, including “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, and “Best Airport Lounge Operator” for 2018 & 2019 by TTG Asia magazine. In 2020, the Group has successfully been awarded ISO 9001:2015 for Hong Kong Headquarters, proving the quality management in providing airport lounge services. In addition, the group’s Founder and CEO Mr. Song Hoi-see was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year and Master Entrepreneur of The Year 2018 Malaysia.
Plaza Premium Group currently employs over 5,000 staff and serves more than 20 million global passengers annually. By continuously innovating and striving to surpass travellers’ expectations of airport experiences, the group is growing exponentially across major international airports globally.