Air New Zealand has won Air Transport World’s prestigious Airline of the Year award for the second time in three years.  

This is the first time in the nearly 40-year history of the awards that an airline has won the Airline of the Year twice in three years. Air New Zealand has won more ATW awards than any other airline in the past decade.

In the eyes of the judges, Air New Zealand was the best airline in the world in the past twelve months.

The ATW judges lauded Air New Zealand’s industry-leading innovation and motivation of its staff, which had resulted in exceptional performance across the airline in market position, customer service, fiscal management and operational safety.

They described Air New Zealand as an industry trendsetter in a number of areas including product innovation and social media.

Judges were also impressed with the airline’s environmental initiatives including its commitment to operating a very young and highly fuel efficient fleet.