File this under the interesting things that Plaza Premium can do for your airport. Under a new contract signed between Bangalore International Airport Limited and the Plaza Premium Group, the Bengaluru Airport operator has appointed the group to manage passenger services at the Kempegowda International Airport, Bangalore.

As per BIAL, the intention to sign up an external vendor is to provide delightful travel experiences at the Bengaluru Airport. The 10-year full-service management appointment covers the entire portfolio of BLR Airport’s services, including Service Delivery, Control Center, Training Center, Customer Engagement, Marketing Communications, Sales & Distribution, and Technology. The agreement covers a wide range of services, including Meet and Assist, Porter Services, Luggage Storage and Flower Booking, PRM (Persons with Reduced Mobility) Services, Limo Services, Concierge Services, Valet Parking, Car Spa, Travel Concierge, Pet Care Service, Personal Shopper, Robotic Assistance etc. and more services will be introduced to enable an end-to-end and globally connected passenger journey.

Does this mean BIAL is outsourcing the entire airport operations to Plaza Premium Group? Not really. They have determined that the front-end operations could be done by someone better than they could do it themselves, so all sorts of customer-facing services are now being given away to Plaza Premium, presumably in a white-labelled model where you wouldn’t see Plaza Premium’s name, but more in line with, offered by BIAL or something similar. This will allow them to offer a whole suite of services from the Plaza Premium expertise.

In the meanwhile, the management of BIAL can focus on other airport operational aspects such as route development and other business to business and business to government functions while handing over the business to customer interactions to Plaza Premium Group (these might be the same people who moved from the payroll of BIAL to Plaza Premium).

On this occasion, Hari Marar, Managing Director and CEO of BIAL, said,

We are optimistic that our timely partnership with Plaza Premium Group (PPG) will bolster our mission to transform passenger experience at BLR Airport. The Power of One concept will ensure optimal service and safety standards, along with seamless airport experience. This partnership is a positive step towards restoring passenger confidence in air travel.

Not just that, Plaza Premium Group has tied up with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to develop an end-to-end passenger services technology platform, which will connect the reservation, sales & marketing, customer engagement, back-of-house command and control, manpower management, training centre and the entire operation information management functions.

The newly developed PPG Passenger Services Technology Platform will be built based on the existing PPG operating platform with a tailored architecture that suits BIAL’s passenger’s needs. The platform will include an Omni-channel Booking Engine that enables sales & distribution, a Customer Engagement Center with customer profiling & personalisation capabilities, a Service Delivery Platform for dispatch and real-time incident management, and a Back Office System that powers HR, administration, asset and information management.

PPG has also partnered with one-stop customer engagement technology service provider oneDirect to ensure passenger interactions are managed through one single platform via various touchpoints. Through the “Power of One” concept, Plaza Premium Group will coordinate the standards, data & insights, methodology & efforts, with consultation and input from BIAL’s management and operation teams to further optimize and commercialize customer experience and achieve the vision for unmatched, memorable, world-class passenger journey.

Song-Hoi-see, Founder & CEO of Plaza Premium Group, said,

We are beyond grateful to be trusted by BIAL to jointly create world-class airport experience and very importantly, to serve millions of domestic and international travellers in the new era of travel. India is one of the fasting growing air travel markets with Bangalore as the key driving force. PPG is no stranger to the Indian travel market and we see huge potential in the travel market, therefore we have strategized to invest over USD15 million and will deploy a workforce of over 800 staff over the 10 years, supported by our Hong Kongbased headquarter with the hope to grow with BIAL in the years to come. With a strong local alliance with TCS and oneDirect, we are confident that we will be able to take BLR’s passengers service to the next level with datadriven decision-making, advanced technology and very importantly, the PPG team’s love and passion for quality customer service.

Bottomline

Very soon, when you arrive at Bengaluru International Airport, you could be dealing with Plaza Premium Group employees who will take care of you from the time you step into the airport to the time you depart on your plane. Plaza Premium Group will be involved in running many operations for the airport.

What do you make of this ‘outsourcing the frontline operations’ by BIAL to Plaza Premium Group?

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