Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and Monarch were among the winners at the British Travel Awards, which took place last week at Battersea Evolution in London.
The “Airline of the Year” prize went to Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic, which also took home the “Best Customer Service” prize, the “Best Airline – Economy Class” award, and the “Best Airline – Business Class” prize.
Rival carrier BA scooped the “Favourite Economy Airline” and “Favourite Business Airline” awards. The “Best” prizes were voted for by travel industry experts, while the “Favourites” were voted for by the travelling public.
BA also picked up the “Favourite Scheduled Airline – Europe”, and Virgin Atlantic managed to bag the “Best Scheduled Airline – Long-Haul” and “Favourite Scheduled Airline – Long-Haul” awards, confirming that the two major carriers are firm favourites with industry professionals and consumers alike.
First Choice Airways was voted “Best Leisure Airline”, while “Favourite Leisure Airline” went to Thomsonfly.
EasyJet was named “Favourite Low-Cost Airline”, and the “Best Scheduled Airline – Europe” was deemed to be Monarch.
Monarch managing director Liz Savage said the award “reflects Monarch’s popularity among agents, the strength of our product in a competitive market and the high regard in which we are held within the industry”.
Heathrow was named “Favourite UK Airport for Business Travel”, and Gatwick took home the “Favourite UK Airport for Leisure Travel” gong. However, it was East Midlands Airport that took home the “Airport of the Year” prize.
Australia was the voters dream destination.
