Dubai International Airport voted Best in air charter services worldwide

The winners were announced on the occasion of BACA's spring luncheon at the Ironmonger's Hall, The Barbican, applauded by 170 industry guests. London's Town Crier Peter Moore led the roll call.

BACA members voted by post or online on the BACA website for those they considered best in class. BACA has launched these awards as part of its strategy to raise the profile of the Association and win more recognition within the industry as a prestigious organization, committed to delivering high service standards.

HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Department of Civil Aviation, and Chairman of Emirates, commented: "We are proud of the recognition that we have achieved. Dubai International Airport has long been recognized as a premier airport in the world in different categories. It has been our mission to be recognized as such and this new award is a reaffirmation of our efforts to provide the highest standard of service and facilities to all our customers. Thanks to our clear strategy plans and vision that we were among the firsts to realize the high demand on the air transport worldwide, in 1998 a dedicated terminal was opened to cater for charter airlines. Since the year 2000 DIA recorded a phenomenal 32% increase in the charter flight movements from 4,000 in 2000 to 12,441 in 2005."

"The great strategic alliances that we built with all organizations working at DIA , Dubai's premier geographical location as a center point between East and West and our unique open skies policy are major factors of the counties growth of Dubai International Airport. Today DIA is serving 112 airlines of which 23 are charters. I would to thank all the teams at DIA who strive to keep gaining international recognitions." H.H added.

From next year, BACA is considering to expand the categories with an award for the best aircraft broker, which airlines will vote for. This would be in recognition of the large number of brokers who are members of the Association.

The Baltic Air Charter Association, whose patron is HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, represents the interests of commercial aviation companies, especially air charter providers. Founded in 1949, today it represents some 125 companies all around the world, many in the UK, including charter airlines, airports, business aircraft operators, air brokers and consultants and others involved in air charter, scheduled flying and air cargo.