CAPA Aviation Awards for Excellence 2016: Nominations now open

Details on the CAPA World Aviation and CAPA Asia Aviation summits, including the agenda and sponsorship opportunities, are available at the CAPA events website.

These awards are regarded as the pre-eminent awards for strategic excellence in aviation. Candidate organisations worldwide are invited to submit information about themselves, along with their justification towards being rewarded for their performance over the past year. As appropriate, entries will be entertained for more than one category.

Note that there are two awards for each category: one for Asia Pacific (including the Middle East) and one for the world. Candidates from Asia-Pacific can enter both and will be judged separately, as there will be separate judging panels for the Asia Pacific and global awards.

Also note that nominations are accepted for all eight categories, but not every category is awarded every year. The judging panels will determine whether there is a suitable winner for each category.

This year's categories include:

CAPA Airline of the Year and CAPA Asia Pacific Airline of the Year

This is awarded to the airline that has been the biggest standout strategically during the year, has had the greatest impact on the development of the airline industry, has established itself as a leader, and provided a benchmark for others to follow.

CAPA Low Cost Airline of the Year and CAPA Asia Pacific Low Cost Airline of the Year

This is awarded to the low cost or hybrid airline that has been the biggest standout strategically, has established itself as a leader, has been most innovative, and provided a benchmark for others to follow.

CAPA Regional Airline of the Year and CAPA Asia Pacific Regional Airline of the Year

This is awarded to the regional airline that has been the biggest standout strategically, has established itself as a leader and demonstrated innovation in the regional aviation sector. (Note that this award is not limited to operators of regional aircraft; it is intended to recognise smaller airlines - fewer than 10 million annual passengers - that either do not operate any long haul services, or only operate limited long haul services.)

CAPA Start-up or Airline Turnaround of the Year and CAPA Asia Pacific Start-up or Airline Turnaround of the Year

This is awarded to the airline start-up that has been the most innovative and had the greatest impact on the industry; or an existing airline that has turned around through innovative strategic changes and/or a restructuring exercise.

CAPA Airport of the Year and CAPA Asia Pacific Airport of the Year

This is awarded to the airport that has been the biggest standout strategically, has established itself as a leader and done the most to advance the progress of the aviation industry.

CAPA Regional Airport of the Year and CAPA Asia Pacific Regional Airport of the Year

This is awarded to the regional airport that has been the biggest standout strategically, has established itself as a leader and done the most to advance the progress of the aviation industry. (Note that this award is not limited to airports without any long haul or intercontinental services; it is intended to recognise smaller airports - fewer than 10 million annual passengers - that rely primarily on short haul routes.)

CAPA Airline Executive of the Year and CAPA Asia Pacific Airline Executive of the Year

This is awarded to the airline executive who has had the greatest individual influence on the aviation industry, demonstrating outstanding strategic thinking and innovative direction for the growth of their business and the industry.

CAPA Innovation of the Year and CAPA Asia Pacific Innovation of the Year

This newly renamed category recognises the airline, airport or supplier responsible for the most powerful innovation in the industry over the past 18 months. The innovation - which could be customer-facing, B2B, efficiency-related or a new marketing product - must have been a new standout, and established the company as a market leader in the product or process.

To submit a proposal:

Please provide full information about your company or executive, with detailed documentary support setting out why the company should be considered for a CAPA Award for Excellence. Please ensure that the specific criteria set out under each heading are clearly addressed. Nominations must be signed off by the CEO or President of the company involved.

Where appropriate, a company may submit proposals for more than one category. The decisions of CAPA's judging panels will be final.

Only nominations received by 30 June 2016 can be entertained. Submissions should be sent by email to Brendan Sobie, CAPA Chief Analyst at: bsobie@centreforaviation.com.

About the judging process:

As in the past there will again be two independent panels of judges moderated by Heidrick & Struggles partner, Con Korfiatis, and CAPA Chief Analyst, Brendan Sobie. There will be separate panels of eight judges for both the global and Asia-Pacific awards.

The world's airports and airlines are reviewed constantly through the year by CAPA's analyst and data teams. The judging panels will review the nominations received and recommendations from the CAPA and Heidrick & Struggles teams.

Click on the embedded links to see the 2015 winners of the global awards and the 2015 winners of the Asia-Pacific awards.

About CAPA and the CAPA Awards for Excellence

Established in 1990, CAPA - Centre for Aviation is the leading provider of independent aviation market intelligence, analysis and data services, and high level strategy events covering worldwide developments.

CAPA's Aviation Awards for Excellence are regarded as the pre-eminent awards for strategic excellence in aviation. From 2003, when the Awards were established, through 2011 they were limited to Asia Pacific including the Middle East. In 2012 the Awards became global and began including recipients from all regions. In 2014 CAPA started having two award events, one covering the global industry and one for Asia Pacific including the Middle East.

CAPA's Aviation Awards for Excellence are intended to reward airlines and airports that are not only successful but have also provided industry leadership in adjusting to a new environment. At a time of industry upheaval, our winners are adopting strategies that offer new directions for others to take up.

The CAPA Awards for Excellence are not driven by customer surveys or sponsorship. They are independently researched by CAPA's leading team of analysts and selected by an independent international eminent panel of judges.