Singapore Airlines was last night (Tuesday 14 May) named OAG Airline of the Year 2002 at a glittering ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of the Awards and attended by His Royal Highness The Duke of York and senior figures from the aviation industry at London's Le Meridien Grosvenor House. UK flag carrier British Airways won a clutch of important awards including Best Trans-Atlantic Airline, Best International First Class and Best Airline based in Western Europe, and was shortlisted for the Airline of the Year 2002 title. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic claimed the title for the Best Europe to Far East/Australasia Airline, and was also a nominee in the Airline of the Year 2002 category, which it won last year. HRH the Duke of York attended as guest of honour in his capacity as Special Representative for British Trade International. In a poignant speech he paid tribute to the airline industry following the tragic events of 11 September. Eddie Bell, Chairman of OAG said: "The OAG Airline of the Year Awards celebrate and publicly recognise the highest standards within the industry and all the nominees should feel exceptionally proud of their achievement, in what has been an extremely difficult year. "As the definitive source of flight information, OAG has worked closely with the airlines to ensure that any changes to their schedule plans have been communicated quickly and efficiently. These Awards now provide a fitting opportunity for us to demonstrate our continuing support, to pay tribute to the industry's strength and resilience and for the industry itself to celebrate its achievements." It was a good year for the Asia Pacific region with Singapore Airlines leading the field by winning four titles. As well as the sought-after Airline of the Year 2002 accolade, the carrier also won Best Airline Based in Asia, Best Trans-Pacific Airline and Best Executive/Business Class. For the second year running Southwest Airlines held onto its crown as Best Low Cost Airline fending off competition from the likes of easyJet, Go and Ryanair, while Singapore?s Changi Airport took the accolade for Best Airport for the seventh consecutive year. In total 47 nominees competed for 19 awards. The awards are based on a poll of OAG subscribers, with results independently verified by market information company, Taylor Nelson Sofres.
Further Information
For the results in full please visit www.oag.com/about_oag/a_of_y
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