Today Korean airline Asiana walked away with the 2010 World Airline Awards’s top award. The coveted Airline of the Year award was announced during a ceremony, held during Aircraft Interiors Expo in Hamburg.
Organised by Skytrax, the World Airline Awards are now in their 11th year. Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax, handed out awards across 53 categories including Best Cabin Staff, Best Inflight Entertainment and Best Seat, in each of the cabin classes.
The World Airline Awards are the most prestigious awards to recognise product and service quality across the world airline industry. The awards are based on the World Airline Survey, which is organised annually by Skytrax; unlike many airline awards winners are selected by airline passengers. The survey measures over 35 different aspects of passenger satisfaction for an airline’s product and service standards, evaluating the typical travel experience. Regarded as the primary benchmark tool for passenger satisfaction levels of airlines throughout the world, the survey is based upon analysis of both business and leisure travellers and across all cabin travel types – first, business, premium economy and economy class passengers.
Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax, said: “What marked Asiana out above all the other airlines this year was the overall quality of their customer service – across both the airport and the onboard environment. This award represents a true recognition of the front-line product and service that Asiana Airlines is delivering to its customers and the award slogan of ‘The Passenger’s Choice’ underlines the fact that Asiana Airlines are succeeding in satisfying the hardest critics – their users.”
Reed Exhibitions Group Exhibition Director, Ian Crawford, said: “This is the second year that Aircraft Interiors Expo has played host to these prestigious awards; it was wonderful to see so many airline attendees this year. Congratulations to Asiana Airlines and all the other winners.”
Full listing of this year’s winners:
Airline of the Year Asiana Airlines
Best Cabin Staff – Worldwide Singapore Airlines
Most Improved Airline – Worldwide Garuda Indonesia
Best First Class Etihad Airways
Best Business Class Qatar Airways
Best Premium Economy Class Qantas Airways
Best Economy Class - Worldwide Malaysia Airlines
Best Low Cost Airline - Worldwide Airasia
Best Airline – Africa South African Airways
Best Airline – Asia Asiana Airlines
Best Airline – Australia/Pacific Air New Zealand
Best Airline – China Hainan Airlines
Best Airline – Europe Lufthansa
Best Airline – Western Europe Lufthansa
Best Airline – Northern Europe Finnair
Best Airline – Eastern Europe Malev Hungarian Airlines
Best Airline – Southern Europe Turkish Airlines
Best Airline - Middle East Qatar Airways
Best Airline - North America Air Canada
Best Airline - South America LAN Airlines
Best Airline – Central America/Caribbean Taca Airlines
Best Airline - India / Central Asia Kingfisher Airlines
Best Airline – South East Asia Singapore Airlines
Best Transatlantic Airline Virgin Atlantic Airways
Best Transpacific Airline Cathay Pacific Airways
Best First Class Onboard Catering Etihad Airways
Best Business Class Onboard Catering Qatar Airways
Best Economy Class Onboard Catering Turkish Airlines
Best First Class Airline Lounge Thai Airways International
Best Business Class Airline Lounge Virgin Atlantic Airways
Best Regional Airline – Worldwide Dragonair
Best Airline Alliance Oneworld
Best Leisure/Charter Airline – Worldwide Thomson Airways
Best Airline Inflight Entertainment Emirates
Best Low-Cost Airline - North America Virgin America
Best Low-Cost Airline – Australia/Pacific Virgin Blue
Best Low-Cost Airline – Asia Airasia
Best Low-Cost Airline – Europe Air Berlin
Best Airline Seat – Economy Kingfisher Airlines
Best Airline Seat – Premium Economy Qantas Airways
Best Airline Seat – Business Class Singapore Airlines
Best Airline Seat – First Class Etihad Airways
Best Airport Services – Worldwide Thai Airways International
Best Staff Service Excellence – Africa South African Airways
Best Staff Service Excellence – Asia Malaysia Airlines
Best Staff Service Excellence – Australia/Pacific Air New Zealand
Best Staff Service Excellence – China Hainan Airlines
Best Staff Service Excellence – Europe Swiss International Airlines
Best Staff Service Excellence – India/C Asia Kingfisher Airlines
Best Staff Service Excellence – Middle East Qatar Airways
Best Staff Service Excellence – N America WestJet
Best Staff Service Excellence – C America/Caribbean Taca Airlines
Best Staff Service Excellence – South America LAN Airlines
The next Aircraft Interiors Expo takes place from 5 to 7 April 2011 at the Hamburg Messe. www.aircraftinteriorsexpo.com
In co-operation with Hamburg Messe
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For further information please contact Victoria Bailey or Carol Seath at CMS Strategic on Tel: +44 (0)20 8748 9797 or email info@cmsstrategic.com
About the organiser:
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events organiser, with over 440 events in 36 countries. In 2009 Reed brought together over six million active event participants from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific, and organised by 35 fully staffed offices.
Reed organises a wide range of events, including trade and consumer exhibitions, conferences and meetings. Its portfolio of over 440 events serves 44 industry sectors, including: aerospace & aviation, automobiles, beauty & cosmetics, broadcasting, building & construction, electronics, energy, oil & gas, engineering & manufacturing, food service & hospitality, gifts, healthcare, interior design, IT & telecoms, jewellery, life science & pharmaceuticals, machinery, marketing, business services & training, medical education, printing & graphics, security & safety, sports & recreation, and travel.
Working closely with professional bodies, trade associations and government departments Reed ensures that each and every event is targeted and relevant to industry needs. As a result, many Reed events are market leaders in their field.
Reed Exhibitions is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, a FTSE-100 company and world-leading publisher and information provider. In 2008, Reed Elsevier made an adjusted profit before taxation of £1,205 million on turnover of £5,334 million.
About the location: Aviation Cluster Hamburg Metropolitan Region
Hamburg is one of the world’s most important locations for the civil aviation industry. Three key players, Airbus Deutschland, Lufthansa Technik and Hamburg Airport, along with more than 300 small and medium-sized enterprises, employing over 36,000 people between them, as well as a variety of scientific and technological institutions, all contribute their know-how and expertise. The Hamburg Metropolitan Region is widely considered to be an international centre of expertise in aircraft cabins and cabin systems. The city is also home to the annual Crystal Cabin Award, the first and, to date, only prize for innovation in the field of aircraft cabins. Aircraft Interiors Expo, which is organised in co-operation with the Hamburg Messe und Congress (HMC), is being held for the ninth consecutive year at Hamburg’s premier events venue.