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Plaza Premium Group now boasts six Plaza Premium Lounges in the Middle East following the opening of a new 1,260sqm facility in Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 3.

“Dubai International connects travellers to more than 220 destinations across the globe including the US and Canada, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Taiwan, Europe and more, in many of which we operate airport lounges and other airport hospitality services,” enthuses Plaza Premium Group’s founder and CEO, Song Hoi-see.

“This is part of our strategic expansion plan in the region to introduce our Skytrax-winning Plaza Premium Lounge in Dubai, ensuring a complete departure-transit-arrival experience for our guests.  We are now able to serve more than 15 million passengers passing through the airport terminal’s Concourse A every year.”

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Situated on the upper level overlooking departure gates A2 and A3, the lounge’s design is said to draw inspiration from the surrounding desert sands and ocean waves. It features a sweeping balcony, high ceilings and is bathed in natural light.

Milan gateways opt for Copenhagen Optimization solution

Milan’s Malpensa (MXP) and Linate (LIN) airports are to introduce a cloud-based planning solution from Copenhagen Optimization (CopOpt) that operator, the SEA Group, is confident will help it improve its forecasting capabilities.

SEA has opted for CopOpt’s Better Airport software which has already been successfully implemented at a host of other international airports that include London Heathrow, New York JFK’s Terminal 4 and Toronto Pearson.

CopOpt notes that it was awarded the contract after a competitive tender, where several forecasting solutions were trialled in a head-to-head competition, with the most accurate being declared the winner.

The ability to more efficiently forecast future passenger developments, subsequently allowing for the better utilisation of infrastructure and manpower, is said to the USP of its software solution.

CopOpt managing partner, Anders Dohn, said: “Going through the competitive tender was a great experience and we have been impressed by the professionalism of SEA. We are delighted to be implementing our forecasting solution and through it supporting SEA Group in their mission of providing value to all stakeholders and being a beacon of growth in Northern Italy.”

While SEA’s airport operations management applications manager, Riccardo Conti, noted: “The Better Forecast solution was not only the most accurate in our trial but will also be able to reduce time spent on forecasting through automation.

“From the beginning, we were impressed with CopOpt’s data-driven approach to airport operations. We are looking forward to a successful and lasting collaboration.”