Blending luxury and hospitality at Paris CDG’s Salons de Réception

Following a visit to meet Groupe ADP in Paris on 4 March, we continue our series on the evolution of the Extime Paris concept, two years on since its creation. The Extime project was developed as an eco-system to add value to retail, dining and services, initially at ADP airports but with ambitions to expand to other locations. In this article we focus on the VIP Terminal opened last year at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, one element in a wider strategy to elevate hospitality group-wide. Click here for our initial story and here for our story on the Extime Campus initiative.   

FRANCE. When the Salons de Réception, or VIP Terminal, opened at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in June 2024, it signalled the latest step forward for Groupe ADP in its hospitality strategy.

The terminal, completed just in time for the Paris Olympic Games, is designed as the first ‘Exclusive’ boutique terminal concept for the company at one of its airports, and is only one of three in Europe, alongside those at London Heathrow and Frankfurt Airport.

Hailed as a ‘palace on the runway’, it was designed by Jacques Garcia for dignitaries and high-net-worth travellers who want privacy and exclusivity. Prices for a group of three begin at €4,800, with around 10-15 groups a day using the facility.

As we discovered on a tour of CDG in early March, all airport amenities feature here, including check-in, immigration, tax refund, dining, hospitality and shopping options (available online or via shuttle to and from the main terminal) plus one’s own suite while at the location.

Each comes complete with fully personalised hospitality, TV, desk, Bluetooth connection, showers and bathrooms, and even flower arrangements to fit an occasion such as a birthday or anniversary. Every suite also benefits from its own personal service and a chef to adapt menus to each guest’s needs.

The visitor is also cocooned from the rest of the airport from check-in until transport to the door of the aircraft. While the terminal is close to runways it is also fully soundproofed, meaning that from arrival to departure the space represents an oasis of calm.

The Extime Exclusive Terminal extends the reach of hospitality to high-spending private clients, mirroring the approach of ADP’s recent acquisition of P/S (Private Suites), a specialist in VIP terminal services in the USA.

P/S offers passengers high-end, tailor-made services such as private lounges, F&B, spa, valet, check-in and baggage reclaim, plus personalised experiences, including transport to the aircraft by airside car, security checks and border crossings on site.

P/S has boutique terminals at Los Angeles (since 2017) and Atlanta (2023), with openings in Miami and Dallas Fort Worth to come next year before the FIFA World Cup begins (co-hosted by the USA, Mexico and Canada). Each location’s design is different and inspired by the locality and region.

P/S has around 4,000 members in its programme who will enter the ADP eco-system as a new concept takes shape – P/S – An Extime experience.

The P/S acquisition was announced last October at the same time as that of Paris Experience Group (PEG), a creator of tourist experiences in Ile-de-France. This too extends ADP’s touchpoints with the traveller and “brings Extime to downtown Paris,” according to Groupe ADP Chief Customer Officer Mathieu Daubert.

“This makes our activity more global; it means we are connected all along the journey within Paris. It allows us to propose a value proposition to customers during their time here as PEG customers are also our airport customers. More than 90% of PEG customers are foreign visitors, who also account for 40% of our sales. So we have a clear overlap.

“We try to multiply the interactions with them and ensure that PEG experiences become Extime experiences. All of this creates a better value proposition for Paris visitors.”

He adds: “The second objective is to share our distribution channels with PEG. They work with hotels and travel agencies in downtown Paris, so through this they can also sell our airport services. We aim to stimulate demand among travellers before their arrival at the airport, create a coherent B2B2C channel, and be more than the sum of our parts.”