Turkish Airlines and Russia's
flagship carrier Aeroflot were among the big winners of an industry
event that gathered aviation leaders in Salzburg, Austria.
In the 2016
edition of the Air Transport News Awards Ceremony, Turkish Airlines
nabbed the title of Airline of the Year, while the Readers' Choice Award
went to Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot.
For
the awards, readers of Air Transport News were invited to vote for the
finalists across 14 categories. Nominees were then vetted and examined
by a panel of seven industry experts who determined the winner.
Airlines are assessed on service quality, innovation, new products, corporate responsibility and social contribution.
Though
smaller in scale compared to other carriers when it comes to fleet,
passenger capacity and revenue, Turkish Airlines holds bragging rights
to flying to the most countries in the world: The carrier flies to 113
countries, and 284 destinations.
This year, the airline
anticipates carrying 72 million passengers -- up 10 million from 2015.
For comparison, in 2002, the airline carried just 10.3 million flyers.
By
2023, CEO Temel Kotil said the airline aims to double their capacity
from 2015 to 120 million and increase their fleet to 450 aircraft.
The carrier is also known for striking lucrative sponsorship and celebrity endorsements.
Most
recently, the carrier's sponsorship deal for the Warner Bros film
“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” meant scoring a star role in the
movie with a pivotal scene set aboard a 777 Turkish Airlines plane.
The airline also tapped stars Ben Affleck (Batman) and Jesse Eisenberg (Lex Luthor) to appear in ads promoting flight routes to “Gotham City” and “Metropolis.”
As
part of the sponsorship deal, Turkish Airlines will become the first
carrier to premiere the film at 35,000 feet. Limited-edition “Batman v
Superman” amenity kits are also being distributed aboard 777 planes.
Meanwhile, an ad featuring two titans of sport -- basketball player Kobe Bryant and soccer star Lionel Messi
-- holds the record for being one of the most viewed spots on YouTube,
racking up more than 143 million views since being uploaded in 2013.
Another
big winner from the Air Transport News awards this year is Aeroflot,
which bagged the Readers' Choice Award -- a first for the Russian
carrier.
Aeroflot, which is one of the oldest airlines in the
world dating back to 1923, also boasts a stellar seven out of seven
safety record from AirlineRatings.com.
Here are some of the other big winners from the Air Transport News Awards which took place over the weekend:
Airline Alliance of the Year: SkyTeam
Airport of the Year under 10 Million Passengers: Bordeaux Airport
Airport of the Year 10-30 Million Passengers: Abu Dhabi International Airport
Airport of the Year: Istanbul Atatürk Airport
Regional Airline of the Year: Adria Airways
Low Cost Airline of the Year: easyJet
Airline of the Year: Turkish Airlines
Readers' Choice Award: Aeroflot
