New expanded international Plaza Premium Lounge coming to Vancouver airport

The atrium in Pier D at Vancouver International Airport. (Daily Hive)

The Plaza Premium Lounge experience for globe-trotting passengers at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is set to see a complete lift.

The longtime original location of the international lounge just after the international security screening point is now closed.

And for the time being, customers are using a temporary lounge space within a cordoned off area of the atrium area in the newly built Pier D wing of the terminal building.

This is because YVR is getting a new Plaza Premium Lounge for the international terminal.

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Sangeeta Chaudhury, the director of marketing of North America for Plaza Premium Lounge, told Daily Hive Urbanized the company is now in the process of building a brand new and bigger lounge, with new services and facilities.

At the moment, she says, few details are available, but it is anticipated the new space will open at the start of the second quarter of 2024.

The Vancouver Airport Authority also indicated the new permanent Plaza Premium Lounge will be located next to Gate D68 on Level 4. This location is just before the Pier D atrium.

In June 2022, the airport authority also told Daily Hive Urbanized this is an unfurnished space that will be leased to an operator in the future to open their own lounge experience.

Access to the future new permanent lounge will be from Level 3, where the general waiting and seating areas and restaurant/retail spaces for all passengers are located.

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The atrium of Pier D international wing at Vancouver International Airport, as of June 3, 2023. The future new Plaza Premium Lounge will be located on the upper level terrace to the left of outdoor atrium as seen in the photo. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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The temporary Plaza Premium Lounge for Vancouver International Airport’s international passengers, November 2023. (Daily Hive)

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The temporary Plaza Premium Lounge for Vancouver International Airport’s international passengers, November 2023. (Daily Hive)

Other newer lounges at YVR are also located on Level 4, including the international terminal’s Cathay Pacific First and Business Class Lounge and the SkyTeam Lounge, as well as the domestic terminal’s primary Plaza Premium Lounge near Gate B15, which opened in 2015 — the same year the A-B terminal building connector reached completion.

YVR’s newest lounge is currently the 2017-renovated Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in the international terminal. This past June, Cathay Pacific reopened its 2016-built lounge at YVR after a long pandemic closure.

Other lounges at YVR include the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge and the smaller cafe-style Plaza Premium Lounge in the domestic terminal, the SkyTeam Lounge in the international terminal, and the Plaza Premium Lounge and Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in the US transborder terminal.

In total, Plaza Premium Lounge has four locations at YVR, which are accessible to some business class and first class passengers depending on the airline, and select bank/credit card partners. Alternatively, passengers can also pay an admission fee for entry.

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The original Plaza Premium Lounge for international passengers at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is now permanently closed. (Daily Hive)

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One of the Plaza Premium Lounge locations at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) in 2005. (Plaza Premium Lounge)

Across the global aviation industry, demand for such airport lounge experiences — which offer complimentary food and beverage, quiet space, extra space to stretch, more comfortable seating options, faster Wi-Fi, charging stations, and special luxurious amenities, services, and features, including showers — is surging.

According to Business Traveler, as of this past summer, airport lounge usage has exceeded pre-pandemic figures, with a 12% increase in lounge visits spanning 1,374 lounges at 671 airports worldwide compared to 2019.

A June 2023 industry report on the “Global Airport Lounge Access Market” forecasts this sub-sector of the aviation industry will generate US$55.7 billion annually by 2028 — up by US$6.4 billion compared to 2022.

“The increasing disposable income of middle-class people and the increasing trend of using flights for save time are contributing to the overall growth of the Airport Lounge market. There will undoubtedly be an increase in demand for airport lounges as more companies conduct business on a global scale and depend on air travel to hold meetings and attend conferences,” reads the report.

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The 2015-built Plaza Premium Lounge in the domestic terminal of Vancouver International Airport (YVR), near Gate B15. (Plaza Premium Lounge)

Demand is driven not only by the strong post-pandemic rebound of the global aviation industry, but also from growing overcrowding within airports. This is also being experienced at YVR; over the first nine months of 2023, YVR has already recorded 19 million passengers, which puts the airport on track to begin to come near its pre-pandemic 2019 record of 26.4 million passengers

As well, there has been an expansion of airline loyalty programmes, which has added demand to the airport lounge business from growing partnerships between airlines and lounge providers.

Plaza Premium Lounge, headquartered in Hong Kong, is one of the world’s largest independent airport lounge brands and operators, with over 250 locations in 80 airports in 30 countries, serving 20 million travellers annually.

For 2023, the prestigious annual Skytrax World Airline Awards named three Plaza Premium Lounges as amongst the world’s top 10 independent airport lounges, with the Plaza Premium Lounge at Rome–Fiumicino International Airport (FCO) being ranked first.

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Seating areas at the Cathay Pacific lounge at Vancouver International Airport. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Dim sum at the Cathay Pacific lounge at Vancouver International Airport. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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