Avia : Norwegian named Low-Cost Airline of the year at Annual Aviation Industry Awards 2018

Norwegian, the third largest low-cost carrier in Europe, has been named the Low-Cost Carrier of the year at the Annual Aviation Industry Awards, VIP initiative of AIR Convention Aviation Forum, which took place on September 26th, 2018 in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Aviation Industry Awards recognized the brightest commercial aviation players and projects within two main sections: 'Business' and 'Innovation'. Winners were chosen by over 70 000 worldwide voters, who gave their votes in an intense competition, and were announced during the ceremony, which was followed by exclusive GANG Afterparty.

With the total number of 16 airlines nominated in the Low-Cost Carrier of the year category, only four were competing in the second round of voting. The award honored Norwegian, which got ahead of Wizz Air, EasyJet and Blue Air by gaining a majority of votes. Norwegian representative, Lars Sande, Senior Vice President of Sales & Distribution, received the award.

'Annual Aviation Industry Awards were established to honor the companies offering the most innovative and efficient solutions to the problems in commercial aviation', comments Skaiste Knyzaite, Managing Partner of AeroTime Media Group, organizer of the awards. 'We wanted to acknowledge companies investing most effort. Now we hope this was the first step leading to a long-lasting annual tradition,' she says.

Long-Haul category included 23 nominees with four finalists − Emirates, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines. After summarizing all votes in the final round, the award went to Lufthansa. One of the biggest competition for 'Aircraft manufacturer of the year' award went to Airbus, awarded not only for contribution to the industry, but for recent innovations as well. The most progressive solutions in airport infrastructure development were highlighted within the category for most advanced airport, regarding both customer and employee experience. 'Airport of 2018' nomination was a competition between the busiest aviation hubs, including Changi Airport, Schiphol Amsterdam Airport, Dubai International, and Munich Airport. As a result of independent voting, Changi Airport pulled off a win. The award for the best training center went to OSM Aviation, the first company to offer Total Crew Management. 'Step forward in aviation training' was another category to unveil best players in aviation training, this time focusing on the most outstanding initiatives - and Synapse Aviation got the award. ETS Environmental Technologies Solutions received the recognition in the category 'Eco-product of the year' for the two presented products offering better aircraft exterior and interior cleaning. The project 'Girls in aviation day' was acknowledged as 'Diversity and Inclusion' category winner - this project is an annual initiative, launched in 2014 with the intention to educate girls about their career opportunities in aviation and aerospace industries.

The award for 'Innovation and technology: Breakthrough of the year' was given to TESTIA, Airbus company that provides aero structure testing and Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), and sets its goals to ensure future and present innovations. 'Most captivating marketing project of the year' became the SunExpress Multichannel marketing campaign.

Aviation Industry Awards took place at Energy and Technology Museum, in the unique venue of Vilnius. The awards were the VIP initiative of AIR Convention Commercial Aviation Forum, one of the biggest aviation networking events that took place as the two-day's conference and exhibition on September 26-27, 2018.