Asiana, AirNZ among ATW award winners
WASHINGTON – Asiana Airlines has been named Airline of the Year for 2009 by Air Transport World.
Other winners of ATW’s 35th annual industry achievement awards include Flybe, which was named Regional Airline of the Year, and ILFC Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy, who received the Joseph S. Murphy Industry Service Award.
Norwegian was named winner of the Market Leadership Award and Air New Zealand received the Public Relations Award.
In choosing Asiana, ATW editors cited its superb commitment to passenger safety and operational excellence as reflected in industry-leading dispatch reliability and engine inflight shutdown rates, as well as the excellence of its customer service.
Editors also took into account Asiana’s financial performance, with aggregate earnings of $542 million between 2004 and 2007.
Exeter, UK-based Flybe, the Regional winner, “is an industry trendsetter that has demonstrated innovation, adaptation and a willingness to take calculated business risks over its 30-year history as it has grown organically and through acquisition to become Europe’s largest regional airline,” ATW said.
Udvar-Hazy was honored for his philanthropic efforts that led to creation of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.
The award also celebrates the leadership role he plays in challenging aircraft and engine makers to achieve the utmost efficiency and reliability for the world’s airlines.
Norwegian’s award recognises the airline’s adaptation of the low-cost model to the Scandinavian market and its successful blend of low fares and customer-focused information technology to create a new and profitable business model.
ANZ was cited for creating an atmosphere of candour and open access to senior management and for effectively communicating the leadership role the airline has taken on environmental issues.
The awards will be presented on February 17 in Washington at ATW’s gala awards dinner at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Centre.
Ian Jarrett
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