ANA is the ATW 2018 Airline of the Year, it was announced Jan 16. It is the second time in 5 years that Japan's largest and only 5-Star airline has won the top honour. The ATW Airline Industry Achievement Awards recognise excellence across a broad range of airline operations and are widely considered as the most coveted in the air transport industry. "With everything from its commitment to customer service to its global partnerships and superb management, ANA showed that it stood above its competitors,” ATW editor-in-chief Karen Walker said. ANA demonstrated a record of outstanding safety, performance, innovation and customer service that included new advances in customising passengers' needs at all stages of the airport experience, including the check-in counter, lounges and at the boarding gate. <br/>
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Ethiopian Airlines has finalised a strategic partnership with the Zambian govt on the re-launch of Zambia Airways, taking a 45% stake in the airline. Ethiopian announced Tuesday it had finalised a shareholders’ agreement with the Zambian govt, which will retain a controlling 55% shareholding. Zambia Airways will become Ethiopian’s strategic partner for Southern Africa, building on its existing regional partnerships with ASKY Airlines in Lomé (Togo) and Malawian Airlines in Lilongwe (Malawi). Ethiopian Airlines group CE Tewolde Gebremariam said the move fits with the airline’s multiple hub approach, which forms part of Ethiopian’s 15-year Vision 2025 strategic plan. He added that the partnership will improve Zambian connectivity, boosting investment, trade, tourism and socioeconomic growth. <br/>
Turkish Airlines said Tuesday that its passenger numbers rose 9.3% compared to figures recorded in 2016, reaching 68.6m passengers for the year. According to the carrier, the 2017 load factor reached 79.1% compared to the previous year, an increase of 4.7 points. The airline also reached its highest December load factor rate with 79.5% in the last month of 2017 in its history. Dec 2017 traffic indicated that total load factor improved by 5.1 points to 79.7% with an increase of 8.9% in Available Seat Kilometre, while international load factor increased by 5 points to 79.2%. Domestic and International flights have reached the highest load factor of Turkish Airlines history. Double-digit growth in demand (revenue per kilometers) that commenced in July, kept on with 16.3% demand growth. <br/>