This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on June 22, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Hong Kong-grown airport hospitality brand Plaza Premium Lounge has been named the world’s best independent airport lounge for 2017 by leading consumer-aviation website Skytrax at the Paris Air Show on Tuesday.

In a statement, Plaza Premium Group said this is the second time in a row that it has racked up a string of recognitions bestowed by Skytrax, with Plaza Premium Lounge in London’s Heathrow Terminal 2 (T2) and Hong Kong having clinched two of the world’s top three positions together, reflecting their exceptional lounge facilities and service standards.

Its Hong Kong, Brisbane, London Heathrow T2 and Vancouver lounges are also ranked among the world’s 10 best independent airport lounges by millions of travellers.

“This prestigious award is a wonderful recognition of Plaza Premium Lounge’s achievement over the past 19 years, and being voted the world’s best independent airport lounge for two consecutive years by millions of travellers is a true testament to the popularity of our lounge,” said Plaza Premium Group founder and chief executive officer Song Hoi-see.

“This year, we see a record-breaking four Plaza Premium Lounges being ranked [among] the global top 10, which reaffirms the dedication of our colleagues world-wide,” he added.

The Skytrax survey and awards process is totally independent and free of any airline influence or interference, whose final results were determined from 19.87 million eligible survey entries among 105 nationalities between August 2016 and May 2017.

Plaza Premium Group has been providing premium airport services for 19 years in over 150 locations across the world, serving over 12 million passengers per year.

Apart from airport transit hotel and airport meet-and-greet services, as well as airport dining businesses, the group also owns Plaza Premium Lounge, which runs the world’s largest independent airport lounge network.