Auckland Airport Announces Winners at Annual Airport Operations Awards

Auckland Airport has recognised the performance excellence of airlines and operations partners at the Annual Auckland Airport Operations Awards held in Auckland last night. Each of these organisations play a critical role in New Zealand’s tourism industry.

This year’s winners are:

• Airline of the Year: Cathay Pacific Airways
• Inaugural Auckland Airport Hall of Fame Inductees: Cheryl Coldicutt (Air New Zealand); Peter Lewis (New Zealand Customs Service)
• Best Contribution to Auckland Airport’s On Time Performance - Short Haul (Domestic, Pacific Islands, Trans-Tasman): Air New Zealand
• Best Contribution to Auckland Airport’s On Time Performance - Long Haul (routes which are six hours or longer): Qatar Airways
• Safety Leadership Award: Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand
• Service Provider of the Year: SkyBus.

Anna Cassels-Brown, Auckland Airport’s general manager operations, says “The services provided by our airlines and operations partners help to ensure that our travelling guests have a great experience at Auckland Airport.  For more than seventy percent of all international visitors to New Zealand they play a vital role in visitors first or last impressions of our country.”

Ms Cassels-Brown says that Hong-Kong based airline Cathay Pacific Airways stood out this year for its commitment to giving its customers choices on the ground and a quality experience in the air by introducing new self-check-in kiosks and launching A350-900 aircraft on the Hong Kong route, as well as providing outstanding customer service throughout the year.

“Cathay Pacific is a world-class airline with a strong customer focus as is reflected in their personalised service at check-in counters and departures gates as well as a commitment to leveraging technology to improve the customer’s experience. We’re delighted to recognise them as Auckland Airport’s Airline of the Year,” says Ms Cassels-Brown.

For the first time, two Hall of Fame awards were presented to individuals who have had a significant personal impact on the wider airport community. The inaugural inductees to the hall of fame were Ms. Cheryl Coldicutt of Air New Zealand and Mr Peter Lewis of the New Zealand Customs Service.

“We’re thrilled to recognise Cheryl and Peter as the inaugural inductees to the Auckland Airport Hall of Fame.  They are two exceptional individuals who have served their organisations and customers with great mana and pride for more than 15 years. They have made a huge contribution to the success of Air New Zealand and New Zealand Customs respectively as well as to the Auckland Airport community.”