China Southern Airlines has honoured its leading frequent flyers with a lavish ceremony in Guangzhou and among the airline’s honorees was Yanh Liwei, China’s First Man in Space.
In total, 10 distinguished Sky Pearl Club members were lauded by the airline - all coming from varied professions.
Formed more than seven years ago as the first airline frequent flyer program in the nation, China Southern’s Sky Pearl Club now has more than 3.1 Million registered members, among which are thousands of Gold Card holders who are loyal readers of ICON, a glossy four-color magazine designed exclusively for the airline’s elite flyers.
ICON released the list of the candidates for Ten Distinguished Sky Pearl Club Member Award last December with 25 candidates ranging from vocational achievements, enrollment date in The Sky Pearl Club and mileage accumulation available for public voting. Votes were received via fax, Internet and via telephone.
The Sky Pearl Club also presented three additional individual honors with an award for the “Most Constructive Member” going to Mr. Liang Han, Manager, China Area, surface products (Asia Pacific) of Caterpillar Inc. An award for the Most Loyal Member went to Miss Wu Tingting, a foreign trader in Xiamen who has been expanding her business to Manila with daily flights on China Southern to Manila.
Honors for the Most Improved Sky Pearl Club Member went to Dr. Liu Xiaojun, an Ophthalmologist Professor at Humen Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Dongguan. Dr. Liu significantly increased his flights from 2004 to 2005 more than any other Sky Pearl Club member on record.
SARS Expert and Director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease Dr. Zhong Nanshan joked when receiving his award: “I always fly on China Southern to attend academic meetings and workshops so it feels as though I have been actually working for China Southern!”
China Southern Airlines also honoured Chinese Olympian Ms. Qiao Hong, an Olympic Table Tennis Gold Winner and one of the two female winners of the Distinguished Member Category who always flies on China Southern for her matches abroad.
Mr. Yang Jinlin, well-known television commentator of Phoenix TV in Hong Kong, expressed his thanks for his award from The Sky Pearl Club ... as well as design master Freeman Lau who demonstrated his talent on stage in which he presented the airline with an all-new logo for ICON Magazine.
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