Emirates shines at Doha Summit awards

The ceremony was part of the Doha Aviation Summit organized under the patronage of His Excellency Abdul Aziz Al Noami, Chairman of the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority. The awards honoured and awarded individuals and organizations across a range of categories in the aviation sector, the Leaders in Aviation Awards will highlight exemplary success stories.

Initiatives that were undertaken or became effective during the last 12th – 18th months were evaluated for the awards.

The categories and the winners of the Leaders in Aviation Awards 2009 include:

·      Green initiative of the year by an airline

This year “Green initiative of the year by an airline” award winner is Qatar Airways -the airline that strives to excellence and an integral part of being an industry leader is to help lead the change towards environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility. The airline has taken numerous initiatives in tackling environmental challenges under the leadership of their CEO and most importantly recently set the record of being the world’s first airline to use GTL kerosene on a commercial passenger flight. The award was accepted by Mr Fathi El Shehab, Senior Vice-president for commercial operations at Qatar Airways. 

  ·      Low cost carrier of the year

The winner, Air Arabia, is an airline that introduced the concept of low cost in the Middle East and North Africa markets six years ago and mastered it globally. It is an airline that brought the concept of air travel to the market used to be known for only luxury travel and shifted the overall perception. The award was accepted by Mr. Housam Raydan, Corporate communications manager, on behalf of Air Arabia.

  ·      Airport of the year

Dubai International, the award winner, has increased the number of airlines from 180 – 125 in the last twelve months and this number continues to grow. Passenger growth figures have been increasing month on month, defying the global downturn. It is one of a few airports worldwide, and the only one of the top 10 airports in terms of international passenger traffic, still reporting positive growth and forecasting it through to 2010. The opening of Terminal 3 in October of 2008 is a testament to the project management and stakeholder engagement capabilities of the organization as well as its commitment to invest in facilities and capacity that meet or exceed the expectations of its customers. The award was accepted by Mr Buty Bin Sulaima, Director Intl. Gov. Affairs at DCAA.

·      Airline of the year

Emirates is an airline offering world class consistent products and services to its customers. The airline has demonstrated a proven high level of performance along with the airline’s role in ensuring on time departures, incentive programmes, on flight services, ground handling services, innovation, CSR and overall professionalism.  The award was accepted by Mr. Saeed Khalifa bin Sulaiman, Emirates Manager Qatar.

·      Green Initiative of the year by an airport

Operated by TAV Izmir, an affiliate of TAV Airports Holding, the Izmir Adnan Menderes airport International Terminal’s application to the “Airport Carbon Accreditation” programme initiated by the Airports Council International Europe (ACI EUROPE) within the scope of environmental consciousness, has been accepted in ACI Europe’s Annual Congress in June 2009.

The award was accepted by Mr. Sani Şener, President  & CEO of TAV Airports Holding, who said, “As TAV Airports Holding we have carried out many projects in our airports centered around environmental awareness. With the admission of the project carried out in the Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport International Terminal, to the “Airport Carbon Accreditation” programme initiated by ACI Europe, all of our projects aimed at environmental awareness will be certified and recorded from now on. At a time when global warming is threatening the earth we live on, we at TAV Airports aim to meet our responsibilities.”

The organizer, naseba, presented a small token of appreciation to the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority for heir tremendous support in organising this summit. His Excellency Abdul Aziz Al Noaimi, Chairman of QCAA accepted the award from Mr. Nic Watson, Group Sales Director at naseba.

Prachi Dawar, Project Director of the Summit, explained:  “People are the most important asset of an organization. It’s the strength of a company’s workforce that can carry them through tough times like these. The best organizations are the ones who can manage the challenges created by the changing economy and steer their company’s performance to greater heights – they are the true leaders in aviation and the awards are designed to recognise, promote and reward excellence in the aviation sector. I would like to thank all those who took the time to nominate for the categories, and to congratulate all of the nominated organizations for their detailed and thorough submissions. All of the nominations were exceptional.”