Adani in talks with Hong Kong-based Plaza Premium Group for airport lounge JV

Mumbai: Adani Airports is in advanced talks with Hong Kong-based Plaza Premium Group to enter into a joint venture to run its airport lounges across the country, a person aware of the negotiations told ET.

If it fructifies, the partnership will mark the re-entry of the airport hospitality services giant into India.

Plaza Premium Group used to once operate a majority of India's premium airport lounges, but it could not continue its services due to security clearance issues post 2021-2022, airport executives in the know said.

"This potential partnership marks a strategic move for the Adani Group to elevate hospitality standards at its airports," said the person cited above. "It's proposed to be a joint venture, so both partners will contribute to existing and upcoming lounges," he added.

Spokespersons at Adani and Plaza Premium did not respond to queries as of press time on Friday.

Adani currently operates most of its own lounges across its airports in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Lucknow and Guwahati. It is building India's most expensive airport worth over ₹19,000 crore on the outskirts of Mumbai. With eight airports in its management and development portfolio, Adani Airports is India's largest airport infrastructure company, accounting for 25% of passenger footfalls and 33% of air cargo traffic in the country.


The conglomerate's airports business is the second largest contributor to its overall revenue. According to its latest investor presentation, it said it expects its airports business to touch 400 million consumers by 2028. Plaza Premium Group has an international footprint of over 250 locations, at 80 airports across 30 countries, as per its website. In June last year, DreamFolks and Plaza Premium Group got into an agreement to expand DreamFolks' global lounge network by adding over 340 lounges in over 70 international airports. Airport operators in Delhi and Bengaluru terminated contracts with Plaza in 2021 and 2022 on issues of security clearance, said executives at the airports.

Growing personal wealth, a growing propensity towards discretionary spending, and offers from banks and credit card sellers are encouraging Indians to increasingly use airport lounge services.

According to a Frost and Sullivan 2022 report, airport lounges have grown steadily in India over the past five years. While traditionally part of airports in bigger cities, in the past two years, lounges have been sprouting up in non-metro airports as well. Any airport with a passenger movement of around 5-6 million a year can accommodate a successful lounge, said the report.

The Indian lounge market is expected to grow at four times of the current market size and is expected to reach 204 lounges by 2040.



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