Asiana Airlines was named Airline of the Year for 2009 by Air Transport World, the magazine affiliate of this website announced yesterday.

Other winners of ATW’s 35th annual industry achievement awards include Flybe, which was named Regional Airline of the Year, and ILFC Chairman and CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy, who received the Joseph S. Murphy Industry Service Award. UPS Airlines was named Cargo Airline of the Year, Naverus received the Aviation Technology Achievement Award, Norwegian was named winner of the Market Leadership Award and Air New Zealand received the Public Relations Award.

In choosing Asiana, ATW editors cited its superb commitment to passenger safety and operational excellence as reflected in industry-leading dispatch reliability and engine inflight shutdown rates, as well as the excellence of its customer service. Editors also took into account Asiana’s financial performance, with aggregate earnings of $542 million between 2004 and 2007.

Exeter, UK-based Flybe, the Regional winner, “is an industry trendsetter that has demonstrated innovation, adaptation and a willingness to take calculated business risks over its 30-year history as it has grown organically and through acquisition to become Europe’s largest regional airline,” ATW said.

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