AIR TRANSPORT NEWS NAMES QATAR AIRWAYS AS THEIR ‘AIRLINE OF THE YEAR 2017‘
(Posted 28th March 2017)
Qatar Airways accepted the ‘Airline of the Year’ award at the 2017 Air Transport Awards, as the airline was once again recognised for its innovation, service, hospitality and leading product design. The awards ceremony, held at an exclusive and prestigious ceremony at the Latrou Residence in Ekali, Greece, recognised Qatar Airways as the world’s leading airline, bestowing it with the highest honour of the evening, at an event attended by the world’s leading airline executives.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said in response: ‘We are deeply honoured to have been recognised by the readers of Air Transport News as the 2017 Airline of the Year. We take immense pride in driving our airline to be the best in the industry and to deliver our passengers an unprecedented on-board experience. To receive acknowledgement from the loyal passengers who choose to fly with Qatar Airways is the highest honour for us to achieve and pushes us to work even harder to provide them with the level of commitment, service and attention to detail that they deserve every time they travel‘.The award comes just weeks after Qatar Airways launched its in house developed and patented Business Class seat at the ITB Berlin which rocked the aviation world and for all intent and purpose makes First Class cabins redundant,
The new layout of Qatar Airways’ new business class cabin features the industry’s first-ever double bed and was revealed before members of the international media, spectators and dignitaries, including the Mayor of Berlin, Mr. Michael Müller and the Qatari Ambassador to Germany, His Excellency Sheikh Saoud Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani. Continuing the pioneering theme, the reveal moment was live-streamed to thousands online via Facebook, ensuring that no one missed out on this historic occasion for the airline.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Mr. Akbar Al Baker at the time said: ‘This new product offering – an unrivalled enhancement of our already award-winning Business Class cabin – will absolutely challenge industry norms and expectations. This is truly the future of Premium travel, and I am delighted at the reaction from our travellers, media and industry experts. In this, our 20th year, I am proud to still be leading the industry in terms of innovation and ambition to ensure we continue to offer our passengers the absolute best in both product and service‘.
The Airline of the Year award was bestowed upon Qatar Airways for its continued ambition to ensure the airline’s passenger experience is the absolute best in the industry with regards both product and service.
Qatar Airways, the national carrier of the State of Qatar, is this year also celebrating 20 years of Going Places Together with travellers across its more than 150 business and leisure destinations. The airline will add a number of exciting new destinations to its growing network in 2017, including Chiang Mai, Dublin, Nice, Skopje and many more, flying passengers on board its modern fleet of 195 aircraft.
Qatar Airways serves Entebbe and Kigali, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro in Eastern Africa but has been prevented by Kenyan aviation authorities from flying to Mombasa despite repeated requests by the Kenyan coast tourism fraternity to finally let the world’s first five star airline fly to Kenya’s main port city and gateway to the award winning Indian Ocean beaches.
