Aviation

Etihad named world's leading airline at world travel awards

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has enjoyed stunning success at the World Travel Awards, taking the top honour for the third year in a row. It was named the World's Leading Airline last night at a black-tie gala event in Doha, Qatar. The judges also presented Etihad Airways with awards for the World's Leading First Class and World's Leading Airline to the Middle East.

These three awards cap an extraordinary 12 months for the airline. Highlights included the launch of seven new international routes, a move into operating profitability and the purchase of a 29.2 percent stake in airberlin, a landmark deal that enables access to 33 million new passengers in Europe.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways' President and Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are delighted to have been named World's Leading Airline at the World Travel Awards for the third successive year.

"2011 was a fantastic year for Etihad Airways, during which we began to reap the full benefits of financial and operational strategies developed over the last five years. "Nothing is as important to us as our guests and we work tirelessly to ensure their experience with Etihad Airways surpasses expectations. We are always looking to innovate, whether that be by introducing qualified chefs in our Diamond First Class or bringing industry-leading inflight entertainment systems with mobile and internet connectivity to the sky.

"Etihad Airways' vision is simple: to be the best airline in the world. These accolades from industry experts at the World Travel Awards demonstrate that we are meeting that goal."

The World Travel Awards - described as the "Oscars of the travel industry" by the Wall Street Journal - recognise the best airline, hospitality and tourism brands in the world.

Malaysia Airlines named 'world's leading Airline to Asia 2011'

Malaysia Airlines has been named 'World's Leading Airline to Asia 2011' by the World Travel Awards for the second year running. The Award to the national airline, as voted by travel professionals worldwide, was presented at a gala event recently held in Doha, Qatar.

The ceremony marked the culmination of a year-long search for the very best travel and tourism brands in the world, including a head-to-head competition amongst earlier announced, World Travel Awards' regional winners for the coveted 'world-level' accolade.

Dubbed the 'Oscars of the travel industry', the World Travel Awards is an annual event that began in 1993. It serves to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all sectors of the global travel and tourism industry.

For the World Travel Awards programme in 2011, a phenomenal 213,000 industry professionals participated in the online voting process that is strictly monitored and independently audited. In the 'World's Leading Airline to Asia' category, Malaysia Airlines was up against seven other major airlines including Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways International and Cathay Pacific Airways.

Earlier, Malaysia Airlines had been a big winner at the Asia and Australasia regional awards competition held in Bangkok at the end of September. It won recognition as 'Asia's Leading Airline 2011' and 'Asia's Leading Airline Lounge 2011' for the Golden Lounge at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

In the previous year, Malaysia Airlines had been named 'Asia's Leading Airline 2010' and 'Asia's Leading Airline Business Class 2010' apart from winning the coveted 'World's Leading Airline to Asia 2010' honour.

Receiving the 'World's Leading Airline to Asia 2011' award for Malaysia Airlines at the Doha ceremony, Head of Customer Experience, Dato' Salleh Ahmad Tabrani. He was accompanied on stage by a happy Malaysia Airlines team of cabin crew, airport operations and ramp services.

Commenting on the win, Dato' Salleh said, "The international recognition is a great honour for the whole Malaysia Airlines team that does its best to serve our guests. The win is a timely morale booster for our team as we prepare to bring our service delivery and customer experience level up to a higher benchmark as part of making Malaysia Airlines the Preferred Premium Carrier."

Emirates and Mauritius join Forces to promote destination worldwide

Emirates and the Mauritius Ministry of Tourism have signed an agreement aimed at jointly promoting the island destination across the airline's global network. Emirates and Mauritius will engage in the development of a series of joint activities to increase the visibility and awareness around the 100+ destinations to which the airline flies.

"The island of Mauritius is a great product and constitutes an important destination amidst our network," said Al Mualla. "We strongly believe in its potential and our regular increases in frequencies on this route demonstrate that our promotion strategy is the right one and is bringing concrete results. We seize this opportunity to thank the Government of Mauritius for their trust and support."

He added, "The promotion of Mauritius has always been an integral part of our strategy. We are now renewing our commitment to the destination and want to achieve even more together. I am extremely confident that results of all our joint actions and marketing efforts will be seen in a very short span of time."

Minister of Tourism and Leisure, Michael Sik Yuen,, stated: "This is indeed a new window of opportunities for Mauritius and will enable the country to role out a new growth scenario and marketing strategies for targeting, through Emirates Airline's and Emirates Holidays network, the Middle East region including its related peripheral markets and the Nordic countries in Europe.

Mauritius is constantly improving its attractiveness and has a wide portfolio of offerings: golf, medical tourism, cruising, shopping facilities and inland tourism. "Our ambition is to remain the World's Leading Island Destination. This collaboration between Mauritius and Emirates is geared towards attracting upmarket visitors with a higher capacity to spend."

During their mission in Dubai, the Mauritian delegation met with Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline.

Emirates is one of the fastest growing airlines in the world and has received more than 500 international awards for excellence. Emirates now fly to 118 destinations in 70 countries.

The airline reported a net profit of US$1.5 billion for the last fiscal year.

Emirates operates 168 wide-body Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and has orders for an additional 237 aircraft, worth more than $84 billion.

The Dubai-Mauritius route is serviced by 11 flights a week.