marhaba and Plaza Premium Group form partnership to enhance airport hospitality experience globally

Dubai, UAE, 16 December 2020 – marhaba and Plaza Premium Group have formed a strategic partnership to enhance their offering of airport lounges and meet and greet services around the world. The partnership will see the two companies expand market presence by consolidating service distribution and customer engagement through integrated cross-selling capabilities.

The partnership will initially cover major airports in strategic markets across Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The two companies are committed to further expanding their cooperation over the coming years with plans to make joint investments in services and facilities.

Shahab Al Awadhi, Head of marhaba Global, 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."

Bora Isbulan, Chief Commercial Officer, Plaza Premium Group 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."

marhaba and Plaza Premium Group are renowned for providing excellent airport experience including airport lounges – namely marhaba and Plaza Premium Lounge - and meet and assist services – namely marhaba and ALLWAYS - to all travellers. Since the pandemic started, both brands have implemented a number of measures to ensure the safety and wellbeing of customers and staff.

marhaba, which means 'welcome' in Arabic, was launched in the UAE to help passengers arriving in or departing from Dubai International Airport. The popularity of meet & greet services has grown exponentially in line with Dubai's growth as a major international travel hub, and marhaba has continually expanded its product offering with a growing list of services and extra options designed to make the passenger airport experience as comfortable as possible.

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 (The Philippines) and substantially increased the capacity of its airport lounges in Dubai. marhaba now operates airport lounges in six countries providing service excellence to passengers with a team of over 800 customer-oriented employees.

The marhaba brand is part of dnata, one of the world's largest air services providers. A trusted partner of over 300 airline customers, dnata offers ground handling, cargo and catering services at 126 airports in 19 countries.

Plaza Premium Group is the world's leading airport hospitality solution provider offering airport lounges, airport terminal hotels, airport dining as well as meet and assist services in over 170 locations across 46 airports globally. With a mission to "Make Travel Better", Plaza Premium Group's flagship brand Plaza Premium Lounge operates the largest independent lounge network and has been awarded "World's Best Independent Lounge" for four consecutive years at Skytrax World Airline Awards, which is referred as the "Oscars of the aviation industry".

About marhaba

Launched at Dubai International airport in 1991, marhaba is a premium Meet & Greet and Airport Lounge Service that aims to make the passenger journey as easy and comfortable as possible, by providing invaluable airport services to passengers ranging from tourists and families, to VIPs and corporate customers. marhaba offers Meet & Greet Services at two airports in the UAE, and operates or manages 14 departure airport lounges in six countries, the UAE, Singapore, Switzerland, Pakistan, Australia and Philippines. For more information visit marhabaservices.com 

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.

To learn more: www.plazapremiumgroup.com

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