Dubai-based Emirates airline has been announced as Airline of the Year while US-Bangla Airlines as the best domestic airline in the ShareTrip-Monitor Airline of the Year 2023 awards.

Qatar Airways and IndiGo came out as Cargo Airline of the Year and Best Budget Airline, respectively.

Md. Mahbub Ali, State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism handed over the trophies among the winning airlines in different categories of services at a ceremony held at the InterContinental Dhaka on Wednesday (September 20, 2023).

Vistara was adjudged as the Best Regional Airline. Winners were selected based on the frequent flyers’ opinion poll, conducted in July and August of the current year. Over 3,300 frequent flyers cast their votes online. 

Besides, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) received a Jury’s special citation award for their active support and generous contribution towards development of the aviation sector in Bangladesh.

Air Vice Marshal M. Mafidur Rahman, Chairman, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh; Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam, Chairman, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission and also the Chairman of the Jury; Kazi Wahidul Alam, Editor, The Bangladesh Monitor; Sadia Haque, Co-founder and CEO, ShareTrip;  Ziaul Karim, Head of Communications and External Affairs, Eastern Bank PLC; Ashwani Nayar, General Manager, InterContinental Dhaka; Mohammad Saiful Hoque, CEO, Sabre Bangladesh also spoke on the occasion.

Airlines operating in Bangladesh were awarded in 16 different categories of services. Airlines received Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards considering the number of votes they received.

Emirates clinched the highest number of five gold awards in different categories including Best Business Class, Best Inflight Entertainment, Best Loyalty Program, Best Long-haul Airline, and Airline of the Year.

National carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines won Gold Awards in two different categories including Best Economy Class and Best Inflight Meal in Economy Class.

Qatar Airways besides winning Cargo Airline of the Year also won Gold Award in Best Inflight Meal in Business Class category.

Vistara won Gold Award in Best Regional Airline category and IndiGo won Gold in Best Budget Airline category. US-Bangla Airlines besides winning Gold Award in Domestic Airline of the Year category also won Gold Awards in Most Customer Friendly Airline (domestic) category. NovoAir won Gold in Best On-time Performance (domestic) category while Air Astra won the Gold Award in Best Inflight Service (domestic) category.

City Bank Amex Lounge was adjudged as the best airport lounge in Bangladesh, SkyLounge of Eastern Bank PLC received the Silver and Balakla Lounge by InterContinental Dhaka received Bronze Award.

The 11-member jury committee comprising distinguished personalities from various sectors scrutinized the opinion poll and selected the winners.