Airport Experience® News - Pre-Conference Issue 2026

ONE-ON-ONE

Right: While not yet deployed in North America, Plaza Premium Group is prioritizing expansion of its Aerotel flex-term, on-airport hotel concept. (Aerotel London Heathrow pictured. ) Below: Plaza Premium First is the group’s more premium lounge offering , designed to cater to more affluent travelers with upscale amenities and services. (Pictured are the interior of the Plaza Premium First lounge at YVR and the front desk at PNH.)

may want massage services, another a spa. There’s nothing stopping us from giving a differentiated experience Technology is another area. We want to introduce things such as a self-check-in kiosk, which would address the long queues, because sometimes the bottleneck is not necessarily the capacity but simply the front desk [processing]. That’s the future. And one thing that we’ve already done, but certainly will continue to do, is to bring in more localization. WARD: Do you anticipate further differentiation within the lounge offering, maybe lounges for younger travelers, or families, or another approach?

SONG: There’s no such thing as one size fits all. We have some Gen Z and younger travelers – what are they looking for? They’re looking for good vibes. They want to be able to create their experiences. They want more technology. BÉLANGER: We actually brought in younger people to challenge us on what they were looking for. For me, it was eye-opening to listen to their viewpoints. What they expect, primarily, is experiences. Historically, food, bar and seating would’ve been something they’re looking for, but now that’s changing. It’s not about the free stuff, it’s about the experience we can provide. WARD: In North America there is some conflict between the concessions operators and lounge providers, because the former say lounges are taking the passengers – and the passenger dollars – out of their establishments. What are your thoughts? SONG: There is so much blue ocean out there when it comes to the overall pie. I think what’s important is that we don’t work in isolation – we need to all work together. We can collaborate with some F&B partners. We’ve been exploring this – maybe they want to serve some unique foods inside our outlet, which are not supplied by us. No problem. And we can cross-sell and cross match each other. In some cases, maybe the lounges are full. We can always redirect some of our passengers over to our strategic F&B partners, and vice versa. What’s important to highlight is that there needs to not be conflict. We just have to be very smart and very disciplined with our approach to be able to touch all the different passengers.

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AX NEWS FEBRUARY 2026