Brussels Airport Company continues its annual tradition of presenting the Brussels Airport Aviation Awards. With these awards, Brussels Airport wants to honour those airlines and partners who in 2021 have excelled in the areas of punctuality and performance, network development, and safety and environment. 12 awards were handed out during a live partner event.
Since October 2007 Brussels Airport has organised the Aviation Awards to award airlines and partners for exceptional performance. In 2021 there was an adapted edition with only Cargo Awards as in 2020 the passenger airlines and partners were strongly affected by the Covid crisis. This year, once again, a complete edition of the Aviation Awards with winners in 12 different categories was held at the Brussels Airport Sheraton hotel on 27 April.
Performance and Punctuality Awards
The Performance and Punctuality Awards are presented to passenger and cargo airlines that excel in punctuality and performance. Punctuality is the best on-time performance, that is with an arrival or departure within 15 minutes of the scheduled time. The performance for cargo is calculated using the number of weekly flights, the number of destinations, the total quantity of cargo flown, cargo per flight and the growth in cargo tonnage.
1. Cargo Airline Performance Award: Qatar Airways Cargo
The airline that contributed most last year to the development of Brucargo was Qatar Airways Cargo and this for the third year in a row. They currently operate 11 scheduled flights a week between Brussels and Doha. Other nominees were Ethiopian Airlines Cargo, Sichuan Airlines and Singapore Airlines Cargo.
2. Short Haul Airline Punctuality Award: Aer Lingus
The Punctuality Awards are for those airlines with the best on-time performance. For the Punctuality Award, Brussels Airport has selected the last six months of the past year, which better reflects the recovery of traffic. In 2021, Aer Lingus was the most punctual airline with an on-time performance of 93.5% for departures from the airport. Aer Lingus performed slightly better than the other airlines nominated in this category: Air Europa, Eurowings, airBaltic and Croatia Airlines.
3. Long Haul Airline Punctuality Award: Emirates
The Punctuality Award for long haul Airlines goes to Emirates. Last year the airline realised an on-time performance of 88.6%. Other nominees in this category were ANA, Qatar Airways, Etihad and Ethiopian.
Cargo Awards
There are two dedicated awards for cargo stakeholders and partners at the Brussels Airport area for innovation, growth and partnership.
1. Brucargo Award: dnata
The Brucargo Award was introduced in 2012 to honour Brussels Airport partners in the Brucargo area. This year the award goes to dnata. The handling company has proven to be a stable and trusted handling partner for Qatar Airways and a leading contributor to innovation projects within the Brucargo community. In the past year, it has obtained two IATA CEIV certifications, for pharma and live animals. Other nominees in this category were ACIC Operator, Aviapartner Cargo, Customs Brucargo, Flanders Investment & Trade and Swissport Cargo
2. Logistic Provider Award: DSV
In 2021, DSV has shown growth and a strong commitment to perishables and the transport of live animals, next to general cargo. They have introduced additional charter flights and contributed to the development of transport of pharmaceuticals and perishables at Brussels Airport. DHL Global Forwarding, Hongyuan Group and Ziegler were also nominated in this category.
Environment and Safety Awards
The Environment and Safety Awards are presented to airlines or partners that have made a special contribution to the environment and the ongoing improvement of safety standards and awareness.
1. Environment Award: DHL Aviation
The Environment Award went to DHL Aviation. This company has reduced its CO2 impact through its investments in electric airside transport and has committed itself to implementing Sustainable Aviation Fuels. It also has a clearly defined sustainability strategy, which next to climate, also includes gender equality, diversity and inclusion, and further strengthening of cooperation with all stakeholders, including joining the Brussels Airport Stargate project.
2. Safety Award: Gate Gourmet
Gate Gourmet is well known for its excellent reactive attitude, a collaborative safety attitude, efficient communication and a follow-up of actions, which is why they are awarded the Safety Award. Other nominees were Skytanking and Mobility Masters.
Network Development Awards
The Network Development Awards go to airlines that have launched new routes or achieved significant growth in passenger or cargo volumes.
1. Cargo Airline Award: DHL Aviation
The award for Cargo Airline of 2021 goes to DHL Aviation. They have shown high volume growth in 2021 and introduced additional North America routes to strengthen their network from Brussels. DHL Aviation has also made a deliberate choice toward building a sustainable future together by joining the Brussels Airport Stargate project. Other nominees were Ethiopian Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways.
2. Cargo Special Achievement Award: All Nippon Airways
In 2020 Brussels Airport introduced the Cargo Special Achievement Award for the organisation that contributed to the successful development of Brussels Airport as a gateway for the global distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. This year the award goes to All Nippon Airways which successfully relaunched their operations at Brussels Airport with passenger freighters and played a vital role in the export of vaccines to Japan. ANA has a very dedicated local team that immaculately prepared the first vaccine flight to Tokyo. Other nominees were DHL Express, Pfizer, Pharma.aero and United Airlines.
3. Short Haul Airline Network Development Award: Royal Air Maroc & Turkish Airlines
A double win in this category with an award for both Royal Air Maroc and Turkish Airlines. Royal Air Maroc has operated a high-density flight schedule to serve the Belgian Moroccan community, despite being impacted by two consecutive travel bans of the Moroccan government. Turkish Airlines operated a busy flight schedule to serve the Belgian Turkish community, also introducing new flights to Antalya and this year Ankara.
Reconnecting friends and families was more important than ever after the lockdowns and travel bans. Other nominees were Nouvelair, SKY Express and SunExpress.
4. Long Haul Airline Network Development Award: Brussels Airlines
Brussels Airlines is the one to take home the award for their successful recovery of the Africa network during the Covid crisis and for being a key component in the Lufthansa Group network. Other nominees in this category were Air Belgium, Ethiopian, TUI fly and United Airlines.
