Brussels, 18th November 2002 ? Last Friday Virgin Express was named `Best Short Haul Airline
of the Year’ at the prestigious Annual Travel Magazine Awards 2002. This top accolade, voted for
by travel agents around Belgium, is the first of its kind that the Belgian low fare airline has won.

Last year Virgin Express was third in this category after gold-medallist KLM and Lufthansa that
took second place. This year however, the Belgian low fare carrier jumped to first place, leaving Lufthansa with silver. SN Brussels Airlines came in third.
In addition, Virgin Express was bronze-medallist in the categories ‘Best Call Centre’ and ‘Most Informative Website’.
Sir Richard Branson, Chairman Emeritus of Virgin Express, who received the award at the ceremony at the Antwerp Hilton, said:
“I am honoured every time Virgin picks up another award, but this is a very special achievement.
Virgin Express has made fantastic progress over the last two years, which have been as difficult as
any in the history of aviation. I know how very hard the Virgin Express staff have worked to achieve this result and I am very proud of them.
Over the last year all airlines in Belgium have been competing in a market place as tough as any
airline has experienced before. I believe that the award illustrates that by offering passengers
value for money Virgin Express has come through the challenges in better shape than its rivals
and has become the number one airline in Belgium. Our improvement has been accelerated by
our closer relationship with the travel trade industry, by our outstanding punctuality record, and by our new flexible fares policy.”
Over the last six months Virgin Express carried more passengers than any other airline at Brussels
Airport. The Belgian low fare carrier offers flights from Brussels to a wide variety of major
European destinations: Athens, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Faro, Geneva, Gothenburg, Lisbon, Madrid, Malaga, Milan, Nice, Rome and Stockholm.
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