Brussels Airport followed its annual tradition and held the Aviation Awards last week. The purpose of these awards was to recognize the airlines and partners who demonstrated outstanding performance in punctuality, network development, safety, and environment in 2022.
The ceremony was held during a live partner event, where 11 awards were presented. Since 2007, Brussels Airport has been organizing the Aviation Awards to appreciate exceptional performance by airlines and partners. This year, awards were distributed in 11 different categories.
Awards for Performance and Punctuality
The Awards for Performance and Punctuality are given to passenger and cargo airlines that demonstrate exceptional performance and punctuality. Punctuality is defined as the ability to arrive or depart within 15 minutes of the scheduled time. The cargo airline’s performance is evaluated based on several factors, including the number of weekly flights, destinations, total cargo volume flown, cargo per flight, and growth in cargo tonnage.
Ethiopian Airlines – Cargo airline performance award
Ethiopian Airlines received the Cargo Airline Performance Award for its significant contribution to the growth of Brucargo in the previous year. The airline, which operates 7 scheduled flights per week between Brussels and Addis Ababa, demonstrated a commendable traffic growth of 8% in 2022. Other airlines nominated for the award included Air Belgium, Qatar Airways, Sichuan Airlines, and Singapore Airlines.
Air Europa – Short Haul Airline Punctuality Award
The Awards for Punctuality are presented to airlines that demonstrate the best on-time performance. In 2022, Air Europa was recognized as the most punctual airline, operating two daily flights to Madrid. This is their second win in this category, having previously received the award in 2013. Although other airlines nominated for the award included Finnair, airBaltic, KLM, and ITA Airways, Air Europa had only a slight edge over them in terms of performance.
Qatar Airways – Long Haul Airline Punctuality Award
Qatar Airways has been awarded the Punctuality Award for long haul airlines this year, having also received the same recognition in 2016. The airline operates daily flights to Doha and was selected as the winner among other nominees such as Air Belgium, Emirates, United Airlines, and Ethiopian Airlines in this category.
Cargo Awards
Brussels Airport presents two awards that are exclusively dedicated to cargo stakeholders and partners, recognizing their innovation, growth, and partnership in the field of cargo.
Aviapartner Cargo – Bricargo Awards
Introduced in 2012 to recognize the contributions of partners at Brucargo, the Brucargo Award has been awarded to Aviapartner Cargo this year for their notable efforts towards the Brucargo community and their significant contribution to Air Cargo Belgium. Among other nominees such as Air Cargo Belgium, ACIC Operator, dnata, and Hongyuan Group in this category, Aviapartner Cargo emerged as the winner.
Expeditors – Logistic Provider Award
With their extensive expertise in the field of pharma transport, Expeditors has been consistently setting higher standards, making them the preferred choice for the pharma industry. Being the largest user of Airside Pharma Transporters further adds to their credentials. Other nominees such as Herfurth Logistics, Kuehne & Nagel, Hongyuan Group, and Ziegler were also nominated in this category alongside Expeditors.
Environment and Safety Awards
The Environment and Safety Awards are given to airlines or partners who have made exceptional contributions towards promoting environmental sustainability and enhancing safety standards and awareness.
Safran Aircraft Engine Services Belgium – Environment Award
Safran Aircraft Engine Services Belgium was honored with the Environment Award for their investment in a new building at Brussels Airport, which will be built in a sustainable manner.
The new building will incorporate various sustainable techniques such as the use of heat pumps for fossil-free heating, solar panels, effective insulation resulting in a very low EPC value, rainwater buffering and infiltration, and green roofs. In addition, the company has implemented various measures to reduce their environmental footprint on a daily basis, including a zero-waste system for surface treatment of metals, heat recovery, and electrification of their company fleet.
Brussels Airlines Maintenance – Safety Award
Brussels Airlines Maintenance has been awarded the Safety Award for their successful safety audit, as well as their ultramodern and digitized support systems that enhance safety standards. Their collaborative efforts in ensuring safety have also been recognized.
Network Development Awards
The Network Development Awards are presented to airlines that have either launched new routes or demonstrated remarkable growth in terms of passenger or cargo volumes.
Air Belgium – Cargo Airline Award
Air Belgium has been declared as the winner of the Cargo Airline 2022 award for commencing their full-cargo operations with state-of-the-art B747-8 and A330 aircraft. Their partnership with Hongyuan Group has significantly contributed towards enhancing growth at Brussels Airport. Among the other nominees in this category, such as Ethiopian Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and Qatar Airways, Air Belgium emerged as the winner.
Transavia – Short Haul Airline Network Development Award
Transavia, which established its base in Brussels last year as part of its expansion in the Benelux region, has been presented with this year’s Short Haul Award. The other nominees in this category were Corendon, FlyOne, PLAY, and SunExpress.
United Airlines – Long Haul Airline Network Development Award
United Airlines has been awarded this accolade due to their remarkable achievement in completely recovering their traffic and demonstrating significant growth in their three-city network in the United States. They are currently the largest non-Belgian long haul airline operating at Brussels Airport. Among the other nominees in this category, such as Air Belgium, Hainan Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and Air Canada, United Airlines emerged as the winner.
Diamond Award
This year, a special Diamond Award by Brussels Airport is being presented to recognize exceptional performance by an individual or organization, which is not awarded annually. The Diamond Award for this year has been bestowed upon the dedicated staff of TUI fly.
The airline team exhibits exceptional motivation and cooperation among all departments to tackle operational challenges that may arise at their domestic airport, ranging from handling baggage to organizing transfers. They prioritize their passengers and strive to provide them with the best possible holiday experience. Brussels Airport extends congratulations to all the winners and nominees for their outstanding performances.
