Geneva, 21 March 2015: The 2015 Air Transport News Awards Ceremony took place in Ariana Museum.
“It’s a pleasure for Embraer to receive the Regional Aircraft Manufacturer award on behalf of all the Embraer Commercial Aviation team and 19,000 employees of the Company around the world”, said Paulo Cesar Silva, President Embraer Commercial Aviation. “We are honored that the readers of Air Transport News and such a distinguished jury have given us this accolade once again. It’s for us recognition of the hard work and dedication Embraer has put into products and customer services.”
“We strive to manufacture the most efficient, reliable and comfortable airplanes for our customers, so it is an honor for everyone at Boeing to be recognized by our peers for the second year running as “Aircraft Manufacturer of the Year,” said Brian Moran, President, EU and NATO relations for Boeing International.
“It is an incredible honor to receive the prestigious Air Transport News Engine Manufacturer of the Year award for a second time. 2014 was an incredible year for CFM: we celebrated the company’s 40th anniversary; we logged record production levels at 1,560 engines; we were selected as a Supplier of the Year by all three of our aircraft manufacturer customers; and we set another major record, logging a total of 4,225 CFM56 and LEAP engine orders from customers around the globe. We take it as a true testament to the faith that our customers have in our ability to deliver what we promised. On the behalf of all the entire CFM community, thank you very much.“ Jean Paul Ebanga, CFM, President & CEO
On behalf of Goldair Handling, Mr. Dimitris Papamichail (CEO), thanks ATN’s readers for voting our company as the Best Ground Handler of the Year.
In difficult times for the Greek economy, we, a purely Greek company, have achieved to gain the trust of our business partners, being recognized for our reliability, credibility and loyalty.
We are grateful that the airlines and industry partners have appreciated our efforts to become the preferred ground handling provider in our region, in addition with our outward oriented activities through the European alliance ‘ground.net’ and our recent cooperation in Ethiopia – Africa.
The Air Transport News award encourages our shareholders, our management and our staff to continue in the same way in order to further develop and expand our reputation in new markets.
“SITA is greatly honored to receive the 2015 Air Transport News ‘IT Company of the Year’ award, one of the aviation industry’s most prestigious accolades,” stated Francesco Violante, CEO, SITA. “As technology brings about tremendous change to the passenger experience and industry operations, SITA is committed to working collaboratively with the air transport community to add value. Being recognized by this award validates our direction and role in shaping the future of the industry. “
CEO, Dr. Johannes Bussmann: “On behalf of all Lufthansa Technik Employees I would like to thank the voters and the jury for this fantastic commendation. Being selected as the best MRO Company of the year for the fourth time in a row is a great honor but also a large commitment for us not to stop in our efforts to keep the high level of performance and quality in our MRO business.”
Declan Collier, Chief Executive, London City Airport welcomed the announcement of the airport as ‘Airport of the Year Under 10 Million Passengers’. “We are delighted that the readers of Air Transport News and their jury members have seen fit to award us this accolade for the second year in a row.
“London City Airport prides itself on its location – as a convenient gateway to London’s business, finance and political communities for business travellers – the speed at which passengers can depart from, and arrive at, the airport, the punctuality of our operation and our emphasis on best-in-class customer service.
“We recognise that our operation is driven by the needs of our customers – we use research to better understand what those needs are, we deliver against them using innovation and technology and we measure ourselves against customer feedback.
On the occasion of Athens International Airport’s award, Athens International Airport CEO, Dr Yiannis Paraschis, said: “We are very pleased and indeed honoured that Athens International Airport has been distinguished within the framework of the Air Transport News Awards as the Airport of the Year in the category of 10-30 million passengers. I would like to sincerely thank Air Transport News readers and the Jury for their votes. 2014 has been a year of spectacular traffic development for our airport, which demonstrated an increase of +21.2 %, within a very critical economic and political situation in Greece.
During the recent years marked by the Greek macroeconomic crisis, AIA has managed to address significant market challenges, protect its business model and continue to deliver substantial value to all stakeholders and the Greek economy. Targeted efforts towards incentivizing traffic development and enhancing Athens’ attractiveness as a tourist destination, have been key to that end. We believe that what makes an organisation capable of weathering a storm and come out even more efficient and effective, is clearly the ability of its human capital to continuously change and adapt. The Air Transport News Award is yet another recognition for the people of AIA and the Airport Community at large.”
“Winning the Air Transport News Airport of the Year award is particularly meaningful as it was decided by the passengers that use our airport. It is a clear indication that our continued investment in creating an efficient and memorable passenger experience at Dubai International is delivering a service that ensures we remain the global hub of choice for travellers globally,” Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports.
It is gratifying that our peers recognise the efforts made by every single one of our team members.”
“Being recognized by our customers and industry in our 15th anniversary year is particularly significant. The customer focused initiatives and projects we are implementing have enhanced the passenger travel experience, taking seamlessness and efficiency to a new level globally. Today we are a 20 members alliance with a relevant global footprint in place; we remain more focused than ever in delivering value to our members and customers: the best is still to come from SkyTeam.” said Michael Wisbrun, Managing Director, SkyTeam accepting the Airline Alliance of the Year award
Kevin Knight, Etihad Airways’ Chief Strategy and Planning Officer, said: “We are honoured to receive the Cargo Airline of the Year award in recognition of our commitment to working closely with our partners in Europe, ensuring our customers have greater access to new routes and services that enhance the two-way flow of trade and commerce between Europe and the emerging markets across our global network.”
“The prestigious award, Regional Airline of the Year, granted by the ATN jury and fuelled by all the positive votes of its well seasoned readers is a tremendous honor for all what KLM Cityhopper stands for and achieves day in and day out for each and every flight and passenger in our large operation and network.
We exist only to serve passengers in a safe, punctual and comfortable way and to deliver results in a cost efficient way as well for our shareholder KLM and network partners. The election of KLM Cityhopper as ‘Regional Airline of the Year 2015’ is truly fantastic and supports our stance to continously improve our operational excellence and keep innovating for the future.
All our staff have made this possible by many years of hard dedicated work and will be happy to hear this great news. They all deserve this award!” Boet Kreiken, CEO & Managing Director, KLM Cityhopper
“It is a great pleasure and an honor to receive the recognition of Vueling as the Low Cost Airline of the Year in 2015 from Air Transport News and the distinguished members of the jury. Undoubtedly, the key to our success lies in offering our passengers a product which is similar to the traditional airlines, with a strong technological and innovation nature and competitive prices . This is why I want to share this award with all the people who are part of the company and, of course, with all passengers who rely on us, helping us to keep growing every day within the aviation industry.” Álex Cruz, President and CEO of Vueling Airlines.
“Dr Temel Kotil, CEO, Turkish Airlines accepting the award of the Airline of the Year said: “On behalf of Turkish Airlines, I am honoured to receive such a significant award, “Airline of the Year” from a distinguished online information source for the aviation industry; Air Transport News.
We are still proud of being awarded “Airline of the Year” in 2013, and also being nominating for “Leader of the Year” award in 2014 on behalf of my company. I always believe that such awards are the manifestation of the continued success of Turkish Airlines.
Our award is the result of our love and care for our business and passengers, indicating that Turkish Airlines is always a rising star in the aviation.
We highly appreciate our award, as it will boost our ambition for our hard work on being always the best on our business”.
David McMillan said, “I have had a long and hugely rewarding involvement with the aviation sector over my career. It has allowed me to engage with people from all sectors of the industry and – with them – to contribute to its development, for the good of all. I am delighted to receive this George Iatrou Lifetime Achievement Award and would like to thank Air Transport News for this honour”.
“This year, ICAO for the first time had two female candidates running for the post of the Secretary General. I was honored and privileged to be the runner up. Through my campaign, I visited many member states in many regions and it gave me the privilege to learn great deal about the challenges that face the aviation sector, but the greatest lesson of all was that aviation is a small community and we are aware of the common concerns. We grief together when we hear about accidents or disaster and we celebrate together when we innovate or reach common solutions. But one common issue is how to be part of the development of this industry to make it grow in a safe and sustainable manner. ” said accepting the Woman of the Year award, Capt. Aysha Alhamili
Finally, Robert Deillon, CEO, Geneva Airport stated accepting the Leader of the Year award: “It is a great honour for me to receive such an award. It is probably because of my team and the great industry I am in”.
In particular, the winners by category are as follows:
-Regional Aircraft Manufacturer of the Year: Embraer
-Aircraft Manufacturer of the Year: Boeing
-Engine Manufacturer of the Year: CFM
-Ground Handler of the Year: Goldair Handling
-IT Company of the Year: SITA
-MRO Company of the Year: Lufthansa Technik
-Airline Alliance of the Year: SkyTeam
-Airport of the Year under 10 Million Passengers: London City Airport
-Airport of the Year 10-30 Million Passengers: Athens International Airport
-Airport of the Year: Dubai International Airport
-Cargo Airline of the Year: Etihad Cargo
-Regional Airline of the Year: KLM Cityhopper
-Low Cost Airline of the Year: Vueling
-Airline of the Year: Turkish Airlines
-George Iatrou Lifetime Achievement Award: David McMillan
-Woman of the Year: Capt. Aysha Al Hameli, UAE Representative to ICAO
-Leader of the Year: Robert Deillon, CEO, Geneva Airport
Jeff Poole, Chairperson of the Jury said: “I have been delighted to chair the prestigious jury for the Air Transport News Awards 2015. We are fortunate to work in an amazing industry that provides very significant economic and social benefits on a global basis. At a time when the industry faces various challenges, rapid changes and big advances in technology, it is absolutely appropriate to recognize its successes. We had strong competition for each of the Awards and therefore some very deserving winners – both companies and individuals. On behalf of the jury, I congratulate them all for their contributions to safety, technological capability, operational efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.”
Dr Kostas Iatrou, Managing Director of Air Transport News stated that: “It is with great pleasure to honour the leading companies for 2015 as selected by Air Transport News readers and the jury. I want to congratulate all the winners for their achievement”