Qatar Airways voted business Airline of the Year for second year in a row

Qatar Airways was last week awarded 'Business Airline of the Year' for the second consecutive year at the prestigious UK Business Travel Awards 2015 held in London at the Grosvenor House Hotel.

The 20th annual Business Travel Awards, hosted by Buying Business Travel, celebrated the achievements of travel industry leaders. Over 70 companies, teams and individuals were shortlisted across 21 categories.

In May 2014, Qatar Airways became the first carrier to fly an all-Business Class service from London Heathrow. The daily Airbus A319 service to Doha is configured with a single aisle, 22 seating configuration offering 40 seats. The service departs from Terminal 4 at 21:55, arriving into Doha at 6.40am the following day. The A319 Business Class seat has one of the highest specifications for business class travel of any airline with wide seats that recline into fully flat beds.

Also in May, Qatar Airways moved to its new home and hub, Hamad International Airport, the aviation industry's latest greenfield airport showcasing marked features, including the acclaimed 10,000 square metres Al Mourjan Business Class lounge.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, said: "It has been an incredible year for Qatar Airways, with not only a number of new routes but the expansion of our fleet to include the A350 and A380, both of which represent the latest in aviation engineering and technology. This award reiterates the quality of our renowned 5star service and it is an honour to have been recognised in this category again."

The airline celebrated a dramatic increase to its fleet in 2014, taking delivery of three new aircraft types: the A319 allBusiness Class; the Airbus A380, and was the Global Launch Customer of the A350.

With the receipt of these new aircraft, Qatar Airways is the only airline in the world to operate every family of Airbus' modern airline portfolio. In addition to the 80 A350s it has on order, the airline has a current Airbus fleet comprising of the A320, A330 Freighter, A319LR, A321, A330, A340 and A380 families.

Pre- school kids and Children moving into Grade one this year will have a cheerful start to their school careers with 'SeylanTikiri', Sri Lanka's most popular, interactive and fun savings scheme for minorsoffering attractive 'smiley face' tills and Disney character branded stationary pouches as complimentary gifts starting from 10th January, 2015.

The promotion,now extended up to February 27th 2015 owing to popular demand, entitles new and existing account holders to an attractive till or money pot for a deposit of Rs. 1000.00 and a complete stationary pouch containing a pastel box, colour pencil box, felt pen box, sharpener, pencil, eraser and a sticker card for a deposit of Rs. 3000.

"We are delighted to mark the beginning of 2015 with anexciting gift scheme that will both promote the habit of savings and make classroom activities of kids interesting and colourful. 'SeylanTikiri' our flagship brand and the country's premier minor's saving account has always gone that extra mile to match gifts to changing lifestyle of kids and parents. Our bright yellow 'smiley face' till will be an attractive gift that will appeal to both boys and girls and also make savings a fun habit. We believe the Disney character branded pouch will be something that every kid will want to have in their school bag," said Deputy General Manager Marketing Tilan Wijeysekera.

Launched in 1992, 'SeylanTikiri' went on record as being the first ever minor savings account in Sri Lanka to introduce a gift scheme. 'SeylanTikiri' soon embraced thousands of children from all across Sri Lanka and rapidly become a popular household name.

As the account balance grows, 'Tikiri'kids get innovative and stylish gifts as rewards. Exciting Gifts range from Mugs, Water Bottles, School Bags, Wrist Watchers, Video Game Pads, MP4 Players, Remote Controlled Helicopters, Bicycles, Organs, DVD setups, Tabs and LED TVs.

"The yellow smiley face till and the stationery gift pouch are valuable gifts to join the wide range of already existing gifts for Tikiri account holders. This promotion will also be an ideal opportunity for parents to kick- start savings for 2015 with additional benefits," Deputy General Manager Marketing Tilan Wijeysekera said.