Doha, QATAR: – Qatar Airways has presented three of its overseas airport stations with high achievement awards in recognition of their excellent performance during the 2003/2004 financial year.

Frankfurt emerged as winner of the prestigious Platinum Award; Dubai secured the runner-up Gold Award; and Muscat earned the Silver Award.

The accolades, presented at a ceremony during the airline’s annual airport managers’ conference held in Doha this week, were in recognition of customer service, on-time performance and revenue achievement.

Florence Lehn, airport manager in Frankfurt, was joined by former station manager Peter Uebler, now at Munich Airport, to pick up the coveted Platinum Award presented by Qatar Airways General Manager Commercial, Mohamed Saleh Fakhri.

The Gold Award was picked up by Nasser Aziz Bin Hamad, airport manager in Dubai, and the Silver Award was presented to the airline’s Muscat airport manager, Abdul Jalil together with his predecessor, Ahmed Al Wahibi, who is now based in Riyadh.

More than 50 airport managers from the Qatar Airways global network were joined by senior Doha-based managers for the two-day conference to review operational procedures, including customer service and training.

They were also briefed on developments over the next 12 months by Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker and Mr Fakhri, who reviewed performance levels during the 2003/2004 financial year.

Mr Fakhri praised the award winners for their achievements and stressed they were all working in a highly competitive environment.

“Airport managers are in the frontline, often the first point of contact for passengers and it is vitally important they work efficiently and professionally,” he said.

Earlier, Mr Al Baker said: “We are on an aggressive growth path, expanding at a phenomenal rate – new routes, more staff, additional aircraft. The pressure of meeting the challenges with new services and products, maintaining our standards, and exceeding passenger expectations is undoubtedly intense.

“Our service levels have outperformed many of the world’s established airlines, which are far, far bigger than us and have been around a lot longer than us.

“Being the first and the best is what we strive towards. If we maintain our high standards that we set our goals at, at the outset, it will pay off in the long run and we will be on course to become best airline in the world,” he told delegates.

Over the next few months, Qatar Airways will be adding new routes, including Seychelles, Beijing, Osaka and Johannesburg, to its international network of 53 destinations, from its Doha hub.