Virgin Blue has been named the Low Cost Airline of the Year (Asia Pacific) in the Budgie$ Best in Class Awards announced overnight at the 5th Annual Asia Pacific Low Cost Airline Congress in Singapore.
The Budgie$ Best in Class Awards, which are open to all low cost airlines in the Asia Pacific region, recognise and reward the overall quality of the airline’s service from the booking experience, check-in, in-flight experience, ticket pricing and routes provided.
Other areas also taken into consideration during judging include the airline’s brand recognition and loyalty, customer satisfaction, scope of service offered and business sustainability.
Virgin Blue was nominated in the category of Low Cost Airline of the Year, along with REX, Jetstar, Jetstar Asia, Oasis (Hong Kong Airlines), Tiger Airways and Viva Macau, and was chosen as the overall winner by a panel of independent industry analysts and experts from around the globe.
Virgin Blue Chief Executive, Brett Godfrey, who was in Singapore to collect the award, said, “We are honoured to be recognised as the Low Cost Airline of the Year by a panel of our industry peers. It is pleasing to be so highly regarded for the products and services we provide as we work hard to not only meet, but exceed, the expectations of our Guests.”
The airline has previously been recognised by the Budgie$ Awards in September last year for services to the environment when it was awarded the Special Merit Award for Commitment to the Environment at the 2007 Budgies Best in Class Awards in London.
For further information on The Budgie$ Best in Class Awards visit www.terrapinn.com/2008/lca/theAwards.stm
About Virgin Blue
Multi award winning airline Virgin Blue and international carriers Pacific Blue and Polynesian Blue currently operate a fleet of 61 modern Boeing 737 and Embraer E-Jet aircraft flying to 24 Australian and eight international destinations including New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and the Cook Islands.
Virgin Blue was the first airline in the world to launch a Government-certified carbon offset program, where Guests can offset the carbon emissions from their flights.
Virgin Blue Group has also announced plans to launch Australia’s newest international airline, V Australia, set to commence flights between Australia and the USA from late 2008, subject to regulatory approvals.
Report by The Mole
