Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the UAE, has been named Business Airline of the Year at the 2016 Business Travel Awards.

The ceremony was held last night at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane. The Business Travel Awards recognise the extraordinary achievements of the most deserving organisations and individuals in the business travel industry.

The awards, organised by Buying Business Travel Magazine in the UK, were voted for by an independent panel of travel experts. It is the first time that the national airline of the UAE has won the award, adding to a list of prestigious accolades recently collected by the airline, including the ‘Innovation in Travel Award’ at the Globe Travel Awards, held in London last week.

James Harrison, Etihad Airways’ general manager UK, said: “It is fantastic to gain the recognition of the UK travel industry and to win the coveted Business Airline of the Year award.

“The UK is a significant market for the airline and this year is especially important as we celebrate 10 years of the hugely successful Manchester - Abu Dhabi route. In 2016 we will also commence a third daily A380 service from London Heathrow, which features the highly-acclaimed The Residence. We are looking forward to providing even greater convenience and connectivity for our guests in the year ahead.”

The coveted award was presented to Etihad Airways for its superior inflight services, which include the revolutionary new cabins and products recently introduced on the airline’s flagship fleet of Airbus A380s and Boeing 787 Dreamliners, in addition to the award-winning cabins on its existing modern long-haul fleet of Airbus A330/A340 and Boeing 777 family aircraft.

Etihad Airways benchmarks itself against the world’s leading hotels and hospitality establishments and employs a unique, varied and highly skilled crew complement on all its longhaul services, including London Savoy-trained Butlers for guests staying in The Residence on its A380 fleet, Chefs in First Class, Food and Beverage Managers in Business Class and the celebrated Flying Nannies, who are trained by the famous Norland College in the UK, and who are available to assist families travelling with young children.

In the UK, the airline operates luxurious Premium Lounges at London Heathrow and Manchester, in addition to its flagship Premium Lounges and Arrivals Lounge in Abu Dhabi, and dedicated Premium Lounges in Frankfurt, Dublin, Paris, Sydney, Washington, D.C. and New York JFK.

Etihad Airways currently operates six daily services into the UK, with direct routes to London Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh, which launched on June 8 last year. London Heathrow was chosen as the first destination for the airline’s ground-breaking Airbus A380 fleet, which was introduced into service at the end of 2014, featuring The Residence – the world’s only private three-room cabin on a commercial aircraft, nine First Apartments, 70 Business Studios and 415 Economy Smart Seats. – TradeArabia News Service