AirAsia received a new award on March 18, becoming the “2013 Low Cost Airline of the Year” at the 2013 ATN Awards Ceremony in Montreal.
SEPANG– AirAsia added another feather in its hat by winning the Air Transport News (ATN) ‘2013 Low Cost Airline of the Year’ award, at the 2013 ATN Awards Ceremony held at the Hilton Bonaventure in Montreal, Canada.
The ATN Awards, in its second consecutive year, established a reputation as a major distinction for leading companies and personalities in the air transport industry. The ‘Low Cost Airline of the Year’ award, won by AirAsia, is one of the newly established categories for 2013 and the airline was the first to assume the honour. AirAsia Group Head of Customer Experience, Zaman Ahmad, accepted the award on behalf of the airline.
AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said, “We are greatly honoured to be presented the 2013 Air Transport News ‘Low Cost Airline of the Year’ award, one of the aviation industry’s prestigious honours. Our never-ending dedication in providing premium services with low fares, constant innovations and matchless synergy of our short-haul and long-haul networks have greatly contributed to our success as the best low cost airline in the world.
It is simply amazing to think that 11 years ago we only had two old planes in operation, and now we are operating 120 planes in five countries and continue to be the most profitable airline, despite volatile economic conditions. Thank you for the great honour bestowed upon us. We are deeply flattered and this award is truly a great start to 2013.”
AirAsia was shortlisted as one of the finalists in the ‘Low Cost Airline of the Year’ category by votes from ATN readers and was finally chosen by a highly experienced jury panel. The panel of adjudicators consisted of international industry experts, which included Dr. Andreas Papatheodorou (Managing Director, DATTEA Consulting), Bob Aaronson (ex-Director, General ACI), Dr. Pierre Coutu (Program Executive, AMPAP & President ASI), David Feldman (Managing Partner, Exambela Consulting), Antonis Simigdalas (Past President, European Regions Airline Association), Ulrich Shulte-Strathaus (ex-Secretary General, AEA) and Chris Tarry (CTAIRA).
Managing Director of Air Transport News, Dr Kostas Iatrou said, “ATN Awards have already become an important event in the air transport industry with an exposure to the whole world. Also ATN Awards are the only international prizes that award all the main categories of the air transport industry. It is important to recognize and honor the best of the best both personalities and companies of the commercial aviation that helped the industry to move forward.”
All six of AirAsia Group’s airlines in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and Japan operate one of the youngest fleet of Airbus A320 in the world. Apart from a modern fleet, the airline presents unbeatable low fares, extensive route network, great flight frequencies, convenient booking and payment channels and value added add-ons such as meals, seat allocations and baggage allowances.
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.
