Athens, 4 March 2012:  A great award night to honour the best companies in the air transport industry was followed by an excellence performance of the acclaimed musicians Ms Nina Patrikidou and Ms Evgenia Votanopoulou.

Emirates was awarded the Gold Prize in the airline category.  Emirates was recognised by the jury of experts as a global multi-awarded long-haul airline characterised by an environment of trade openness, cultural diversity, business growth and sustainable profitability.  In fact, 2011 was the most profitable year in the airline’s 25-year history.  One of the largest aircraft and ancillary service buyers world-wide, Emirates acts as a propulsive mechanism for the whole supply chain in the air transport industry.

Changi Airport was awarded the Gold Prize in the airport category.  Recognized by the jury of experts as the leading air hub in Asia, the multi-awarded Changi Airport is characterized by rapid expansion and a very high quality of service provision to its passengers, airlines and other business associates.  In 2011, Changi Airport handled more than 46 million passengers, i.e. more than 9 times the size of Singapore’s population.

Dr Yiannis Paraschis, CEO of Athens International Airport has been selected by the Air Transport News Team as Leader of the Year in recognition of his contribution to the air transport industry.  Dr Paraschis was unanimously elected Chairman of ACI World last November to serve for a two year term. Under his leadership Athens International Airport (AIA) has managed in very difficult times for Greece to defend its traffic and financial performance as one of  Europe’s top airports, offering  at the same high quality sevices and promoting, with a number of initiatives, a positive image of Athens. At the same time, it is worth mentioning that ACI Europe under Dr. Paraschis’s leadership between the years 2007-2009 has designed and initiated the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme, a very successful and ambitious initiative for the reduction and handling of airport carbon emissions at European airports. As part of this climate change action plan Athens International Airport has inaugurated in July 2011 it’s 8.05 MW Photavoltaic park, the biggest installation of this kind at an airport worldwide.

In particular, the winners by category are as follows:

  • Regional Aircraft Manufacturer of the Year: EMBRAER
  • Aircraft Manufacturer of the Year: AIRBUS
  • Engine Manufacturer of the Year: ROLLS ROYCE
  • Ground Handler of the Year: SWISSPORT
  • IT Company of the Year: AMADEUS
  • MRO Company of the Year: LUFTHANSA TECHNIK
  • Airline Alliance of the Year: STAR ALLIANCE
  • Airport of the Year

Bronze: MUNICH AIRPORT

Silver: DUBAI AIRPORTS

Gold: CHANGI AIRPORT

  • Airline of the Year

Bronze: LUFTHANSA

Silver: SINGAPORE AIRLINES

Gold: EMIRATES

  • Leader of the Year: Dr Yiannis Paraschis, CEO, Athens International Airport 

Dr Papatheodorou, Chairperson of the Jury and Managing Director of DATTEA Consulting said:

“On behalf of the Jury, I would like to warmly congratulate Air Transport News for taking the initiative to introduce these Global Awards in a period of economic crisis.  I trust that these Awards will become highly recognized by the air transport industry not only because of their prestige but also as a result of the direct involvement of the ATN readers into the voting process and results based on which the Jury made the final selection of the winners.  In this context, the ATN awards can set a wonderful tradition to honour excellence in the years to come.”

Dr Kostas Iatrou, Managing Director of Air Transport News said:

“Only five years from the launch of Air Transport News it is a great honour for us to pay tribute the best companies of the air transport industry even more since their performance has been decided by the votes of the industry itself. In a period of uncertainty it is important to recognize those companies that despite the unstable environment have made headway and helped the industry to move forward.”