OAG unveils shortlist for its first airline financing and leasing awards
22 May 2008
OAG (Official Airline Guide), the world’s authority on flight information, today unveiled the shortlist for Best Airline Lessor and Best Airline Finance Deal, two new categories at the 26th OAG Airline Industry Awards (www.oagairlineawards.com ). The winners will be announced at the Awards ceremony on Wednesday, 4 June in the opulent art deco setting of The Bloomsbury Ballroom in central London. Boeing is the Awards’ headline sponsor. Both new categories are in association with Airline Fleet & Network Management, published by OAG’s sister company Aviation Industry Group.
Shortlisted for the title of Best Airline Lessor are: Aviation Capital Group; AWAS; Babcock & Brown Air Limited; DAE Capital; Engine Lease Finance Corp; and Jetscape.
In the running for Best Airline Finance Deal are: Acquisition of GATX Air (Macquarie);
Airspeed securitization (RBS Aerospace); Continental Airlines EETC (Morgan Stanley/Credit Suisse); GSI engine sale (Engine Lease Finance Corp); Northwest restructuring (Seabury Group); and TAM bond issue
A total of 45 different airlines, three more than in 2007, have received nominations in 15 other regional and global categories.
Leading the field in terms of multiple nominations for 2008 is last year’s “Airline of the Year”, British Airways, which along with Singapore Airlines has six nominations. British Airways and Singapore Airlines, both five times winners of the coveted “Airline of the Year” title, are followed by American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Lufthansa with four nominations apiece. First time nominees in 2008 include Air Pacific, Jetstar Airways, Tarom and Virgin Nigeria.
“It is often overlooked that globally there are nearly 1,000 airlines and 3,500 airports trying to attract the attention and business of the world’s frequent and occasional travellers. The management and staff of all the 45 airlines nominated for this year’s OAG Airline Industry Awards should be immensely proud of their accomplishments over the last 12 months,” says Alan Glass, CEO of OAG. “The nominees have already been voted amongst the very best in the world in their respective categories and we at OAG congratulate them on this achievement.”
“There is no question that the last 18 months has been at times a turbulent one for many airlines and airports, but OAG’s worldwide customer and subscriber base have spoken up, as they have for the past 26 years, to vote in large numbers for the airlines and airports that they consider to be the best in the business,” adds OAG CEO Alan Glass. “As in previous years our customers and subscribers, the world’s frequent flyers, have thrown up some perennial favourites, such as British Airways and Singapore Airlines, as well as some interesting surprises amongst the nominees. The fact that after 26 years we can still have four first time nominees reflects just how dynamic and global our industry remains.”
The annual “OAG Airline Industry Awards”, sponsored by Boeing, celebrates the very best in global air travel and publicly recognises the highest standards within the industry. The complete list of nominations is available here.
-ENDS-
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Alison Pickering, Head of Corporate Communications, OAG