Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 25th Anniversary OAG Airline of the Year Awards to be held on Tuesday 17 April at The Landmark in London.

HRH The Princess Royal will present Sir Stelios with his award that recognises the impact that easyJet and the easyGroup have made on the European aviation and travel scene.  Previous recipients include Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge; Maurice Flanagan CBE; and Alan Whicker CBE.

The recipient of the Outstanding Service Award will be Maria Sabbah, BMED sales manager in the Lebanon. The award, presented for efforts above and beyond the call of duty, recognises her dedication and inspiring leadership during the aftermath of the air attacks on Beirut that shut its international airport. Maria, who will receive her award from BMED CEO, David Richardson, helped hundreds of stranded passengers from all airlines to find their way home safely from Lebanon.

A total of 42 different airlines have received nominations for Tuesday night’s awards in 15 regional and global categories. Leading the field in terms of multiple nominations is British Airways with six nominations, closely followed by American Airlines with five and Continental Airlines and Singapore Airlines with four apiece. First time nominees include AirAsia, bmibaby, Etihad and Korean Air.

The finalists for the coveted title “OAG Airline of the Year 2007”, currently held by Cathay Pacific which is nominated in three categories, will comprise the winners of the eight regional awards. Winners of “Airline of the Year” over the previous 25 years include British Airways, British Caledonian, Cathay Pacific, Continental Airlines, Emirates, Singapore Airlines, Swissair and Virgin Atlantic.

Nominees for the world’s best airport - the only non-airline award - include Amsterdam Schiphol, Dubai International, New York JFK and Singapore Changi plus first-time nominees San Francisco International and Seoul Incheon International.

The annual “OAG Airline of the Year Awards” celebrates the very best in global air travel and publicly recognises the highest standards within the industry.  The Awards are in association with TravelPlus; Le Royal Hotels is the Official Sponsor of the event, and Boeing is the champagne reception sponsor.

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