Skytrax cancel the 2020 World Airline Awards due to COVID-19

By Peter Miller, Skytrax

Skytrax have confirmed the cancellation of the 2020 World Airline Awards due to COVID-19.  The awards ceremony had been scheduled to take place at The Langham Hotel, London in July 2020.

Edward Plaisted of Skytrax said:

“During this global pandemic we knew that the awards event would not go ahead, and we investigated options for potentially holding a virtual awards ceremony online.  Overriding all of this was the fact that the world airline industry is in the midst of turmoil caused by the pandemic. At a time when many airlines are having to make substantial job cuts in their workforce, we did not consider it is an appropriate period for airlines to be asked to celebrate the awards. We hope things will  improve through the remaining months of 2020, and we can welcome airlines to next year’s awards event at the International Paris Air Show on 22nd June 2021.”

The 2019/2020 customer survey behind the World Airline Award results had already run for over 6 months and some indicative 2020 results were quite clear. Due to this, Skytrax are looking at potential options to recognise these through an end of year Airline Excellence Awards.

The World Airline Awards

The World Airline Awards have been referred to as the “Oscars of the aviation industry”. Independent and impartial, the awards started in 1999 to provide a customer satisfaction study that was truly global. Travellers across the world vote in the largest airline passenger satisfaction survey to decide the award winners.