London, UNITED KINGDOM – Qatar Airways has been named ‘Business Airline of the Year’, and for the second year in a row ‘Best Long-Haul Airline’ at the high profile UK Business Travel Awards 2014 which was held in London recently.

Over 1,300 industry representatives attended the 19th Annual Business Travel Awards, organized by UK publication Buying Business Travel, which celebrates the achievements of the industry’s leading players. The gala evening is widely regarded as one of the highlights of the business travel calendar. 

The judges commented; “We thought this was an outstanding entry, backed up by glowing testimonials from leading buyers and managers in the corporate sector. A dedicated business terminal at its home airport, cars that ferry first class passengers from aircraft to terminal and an impressive corporate client retention rate all made Qatar Airways the clear winner.”

Paul Johannes, Vice President Commercial North, South and Western Europe, said; “We are delighted to have been recognised in two categories for our high-quality product and business class offering at these prestigious awards. It is an honour to win two award categories against such strong competition." 

“This award reiterates Qatar Airways’ commitment to providing excellent customer service and prominence as one of the world’s leading airlines for business travellers. Over the next few months we look forward to giving our customers increased options when they travel with the expansion of our international network and the launch of services from Edinburgh to Doha in May.”

Qatar Airways was also recently named Best Business class at the Business Traveller UK Awards and Best Middle East Airline by readers of Business Traveller Asia-Pacific.

Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just 17 years of operations, currently flying a modern fleet of 129 aircraft to 134 key business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and The Americas.

In 2013, Qatar Airways launched twelve destinations – Gassim (Saudi Arabia), Najaf (Iraq), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Chicago (USA), Salalah (Oman), Basra (Iraq), Sulaymaniyah (Iraq), Chengdu (China), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Ta’if (Saudi Arabia) Clark Manila International Airport, Philippines (October 27) and most recently Hangzhou, China (December 20).

In 2014 Qatar Airways will launch services to Sharjah International Airport, UAE (March 1, 2014), Al Maktoum International Airport, Dubai World Central (March 1, 2014), Philadelphia, USA (April 2, 2014), Larnaca, Cyprus (April 29, 2014), Sabiha, Istanbul (May 22, 2014), Edinburgh (May 28, 2014), Miami International Airport, USA (June 10, 2014) and Dallas Fort Worth, USA (July 1, 2014).