Correction: When this story first ran in April 2019, finalist carrier Turkish Airlines was misidentified as being in the “Up to 999,999 Tonnes” annual throughput category as a winner of a Certificate of Excellence for its 101-point ACE score. In fact, Turkish Airlines handled more than 1.4 million tonnes of cargo in 2018, so it should have been placed in the larger “1,000,000+ Tonnes” category. By moving Turkish to the correct category, it’s 101-point score placed the carrier in a tie with Singapore Airlines, making both carriers co-winners of the Gold Award for the larger Top Carriers category. Air Cargo World regrets the error and has retroactively changed the text of the article and the carrier charts to reflect the corrected results.
In a year that roared in like a lion – full of activity, growth, high demand and optimism – and crept out like a frightened lamb – with declining traffic, fears of trade wars and a looming Brexit – 2018 was a topsy-turvy time for many in the air cargo industry.
It’s only fitting, then, that this year’s Air Cargo Excellence (ACE) Awards results reflect a few dramatic swings in the industry, plus a few welcome regulars returning to the podium. Based on performance using 2018 data, a handful of first-time winners were named, while several other perennial favorites ended up out of the Certificate of Excellence category, or were bucked off the list altogether.
Launched in 2005, the ACE Awards are determined from the results of the exclusive, anonymous Air Cargo Excellence survey that is managed by Air Cargo World as well as our new online title Cargo Airports News. Carriers were evaluated by freight forwarders, who were asked to give a numerical rating for customer service, performance and value over the previous 12 months. Airports, however, were judged by forwarders, cargo agents and third-party logistics providers on each airport’s performance, value and facilities for the same time period. (See aircargoworld.com/air-cargo-excellence for more details.)
The top three performers in each category were awarded Diamond, Platinum and Gold award status. Those carriers and airports that received an above-average (more than the 100-point baseline) ACE index score, but less than the upper award levels, were recognized with ACE Certificates of Excellence.
All told, there are 15 Awards, four Certificates and seven special mentions being recognized this year. Let’s look at this year’s sometimes surprising, sometimes quite familiar, results.
ACE Awards 2019:
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