Air China has been named the Best China Airline in the Annual Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards, on the back of its Beijing Olympics Sponsorship.
The airline has scooped the prize for the third year in a row and is the only Chinese airline to be named as a ‘top brand’ worldwide.
Air China currently operates 5,090 flights each week worldwide and is also the 18th largest airline in the world by fleet size. The airline’s network covers 285 domestic and international routes and is aiming to increase the brand’s reach internationally.
The airline has improved on its service quality in the past few years which has also seen its brand value increased by RMB6.6 million (£533m) to RMB30.2 billion (£2.4bn).
Air China has also been named by World Brand Lab as “China Top 500 most valuable brands” and “World Top 500 Most Valuable brands” on June 2 and July 11, 2008 respectively.
The airline was ranked first among China airlines and the 26th among the top 500 brands in China. Meanwhile, Air China was ranked the 419th among top 500 brands worldwide in 2008.
This was the second time that Air China was listed in the world top 500 brands since 2007 with its ranking moving up 42 positions compared to last year.
The flag carrier is now eyeing high-end passengers in a bid to counter challenges posed by growing fuel costs and a slowing global economy.
Foreign airlines are usually more attractive to international business travellers because they offer better flight connections and richer frequent-flier benefits. Being the sole passenger-airline partner of the Olympics forced Air China to improve its performance and thus made it more confident it can compete with foreign rivals. Another excellent example of how sponsoring the Olympics really does pay off.
