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MARCH 2020 FORBES ASIA
with close to $130,000 monthly rent—almost
broke him. “I soon ran out of money,” says Song.
It didn’t help that the Asia financial crisis was in
full swing at the time.
Despite the crisis, money started to roll in that
summer when he signed his first corporate cli-
ent, Citibank. It took six months, he says, to con-
vince the bank that adding his lounge to its card-
holder loyalty program would be a good idea.
“It’s unique value—it was the world’s first airport
lounge open to all travelers—that won them over
in the end,” Song says. “It was not easy because it
was a new business.”
Business slowly grew over the next several years,
helped as Asia and air traffic in the region recov-
ered. Song tided himself over by selling the ser-ENTREPRENEURSis a shopping complex that includes the world’s
tallest indoor waterfall, tropical gardens and a gi-
ant glass atrium. The $2.6 billion Skycity project,
covering 25ha and being built next to Hong Kong
International Airport, will offer entertainment,
shopping and dining to travelers and residents.It wasn’t always like this. Song was a globetrot-
ting banker flying business class for the former
Lehman Brothers in the late 1980s, first in New
York and then Hong Kong. In 1991, though, he
quit to become an entrepreneur, opening a ser-
viced office business called Plaza Business Centre.
As an entrepreneur, he could then only afford
coach. Plunged into the no-frills wilderness of
economy class, Song saw opportunity: if airlinelounges were serving even 1 of every 100 passen-
gers, the remainder represented a massive, un-
tapped market. “If I could start a business to ser-
vice these people, the business should work,” he
recalls during an exclusive interview at his com-
pany’s headquarters overlooking Hong Kong In-
ternational Airport.
Song opened his first lounge in July 1998 in
Hong Kong’s then-brand new international air-
port, and open his second lounge a few weeks
later in the Kuala Lumpur International Air-
port. Doubling as his office, that first lounge—“Gone are the days when airport operators de-
fined themselves solely as infrastructure providers,”
says Dimitri Coll, director for airport service quality
at Airports Council International World. “Increas-
ingly they are sophisticated, innovative, and com-
petitive businesses in their own right, and custom-
er experience has become a key business driver.”
Today, airports offer shopping malls, dining,
gyms, entertainment and culture. South Korea’s
Incheon International Airport has free nap spac-
es, shower facilities and an ice skating rink, while
Singapore’s new Jewel facility at Changi Airport