Turkish Airlines Named Changi’s Partner of the Year

On Monday evening, Changi Airport Group (CAG) celebrated 30 years at the 2011 Changi Airline Awards.

A total of 37 awards were presented at the event, which recognises the commitment of the airline community in making Changi Airport a vibrant and world-class air hub.

Held at the Shangri-La Hotel, the sixth annual Changi Airline Awards was graced by Singapore’s Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Lui Tuck Yew.

Awards were presented in six categories including the top airlines for passenger and cargo carriage, the fastest growing carriers for passengers and cargo as well as the Partner of the Year award.

The Partner of the Year award was presented to Turkish Airlines, in recognition of the airline’s efforts to promote traffic between Singapore and Turkey. Since 2010, Turkish Airlines has partnered CAG and the Singapore Tourism Board in joint marketing projects, including multi-city road shows and stopover programmes, to increase awareness of Singapore as a destination and Changi Airport as a gateway to Southeast Asia and Australasia. This has culminated in Turkish Airlines increasing the frequency of its service from Singapore to Istanbul from five times weekly to a daily service, as a result of stronger demand between Singapore and Turkey as well as Eastern Europe.

Accepting the Partner of the Year award was Mr Cengiz Inceosman, Turkish Airlines’ General Manager for Singapore and Malaysia. He said, “We are grateful to the Changi team who has travelled with us on numerous road shows and trade events in Turkey and Europe.  The joint marketing and promotion efforts between CAG and Turkish Airlines have been very successful in driving demand for travel between Singapore and Turkey and Europe, resulting in the increase of daily flights for Turkish Airlines and the successful upgrading to the new and bigger A330-300 aircraft with new Business Class full flat-bed seats to cater to the increasing demand from the market.”

The Top 10 Airlines by Passenger Carriage award saw the debut of Indonesia AirAsia. The top four positions were held by Singapore- based carriers – Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia – with Qantas Airways of Australia taking the fifth position.

Airlines were also honoured for registering the largest growth in passenger traffic from the different regions. The awards went to Jetstar Asia (Singapore), Lion Air (Southeast Asia), Cathay Pacific (Northeast Asia), SriLankan Airlines (South Asia), Jetstar Airways (Southwest Pacific), Emirates (Middle East), Air Mauritius (Africa), KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Europe) and United Airlines (Americas).

Cathay Pacific, SriLankan and Jetstar Airways are repeat winners in their respective categories.

For growth in cargo carriage, the top five airlines – Singapore Airlines Cargo, Cathay Pacific Airways, EVA Airways, FedEx Express and Thai Airways International – were recognised. These airlines carried 1.1 million tonnes of airfreight in 2010, an increase of 8% compared to 2009 and represented 49% of Changi’s overall cargo growth in 2010.

The Airline Operators’ Committee (AOC) and Board of Airline Representatives (BAR) were also presented with Special Appreciation awards for their support of Changi Airport.

Mr Lui Tuck Yew, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs, said, “Changi Airport’s close partnership with its airline community is a valuable asset that has helped our air hub weather past storms and strengthen Changi’s position as an international air hub. This partnership must continue to be strengthened in order for Changi and its airline partners to face the ever-increasing competitive landscape ahead.”

Changi Airport’s traffic has been growing steadily so far this year. For the first half of 2011, passenger traffic grew by 10.7% to 22.4 million movements, while airfreight increased by 3.3% to 907,725 tonnes. The growth puts Changi on track to surpass its record 42 million passenger movements registered in 2010. As at 1 July 2011, Changi Airport serves 100 airlines operating 5,800 weekly scheduled flights to more than 200 cities in some 60 countries and territories.

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