HKIA Lounge Operator Plaza Premium Eyes More Recruits Amidst Traffic Surge

Airport lounge operator Plaza Premium Group (PPG) aims to ramp up its headcount by the end of the year, with a particular focus on recruiting staff from ethnic minority groups, amidst a surge in passenger traffic buoyed by post-pandemic tourism.

PPG targets to employ 500 more workers in 2023, complementing the other 500 in additional staff count from 2021, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Aug. 4. PPG operates four lounges at the Hong Kong International Airport’s Terminal 1.

A key strategy is to tap into ethnic minority workers, whose language skills and diverse backgrounds prove to be advantageous in the industry, the SCMP report said, citing Joanna Lee Chui-ha, PPG global director of human resources.

This move runs in tandem with PPG’s participation in “Extra Mile,” a community initiative by the Hong Kong International Airport that offers a placement programme for non-Chinese speakers and entices potential recruits to be part of the airport workforce. This comes amidst an expected surge in air travellers.

In June, passenger throughput climbed 6.9% month over month to 3.3 million passengers in June, with traffic to and from Southeast Asia, mainland China and Japan logging the highest increases, the Airport Authority reported last July 18. Passenger traffic has now rebounded to about 60% of its level prior to the pandemic.