Sapphire Pegasus Awards Honouring the Elite of Business Aviation
/During a spectacular Gala Dinner Event in Prague on April 28th, this year’s winners of the Sapphire Pegasus Awards were announced and honored.
In the impressive environment of the renaissance palace style Boscolo Luxury Hotel, the well-versed master of ceremonies of the evening London Toastmaster, Richard Birtchnell moderated his way with words of honor and excitement. The attending guests were entertained by Magician Michal Sindelar who performed magic tricks right before their eyes and fooled their minds with hands as quick as a lightning flash. They were also treated by the musical framework of Harpist Zbynka Solcova who amongst others gave a solo interpretation of the famous symphonic poem ‘The Moldau’ of the Czech classic composer Bedrich Smetana.
Sapphire Pegasus Awards Winners
Laughs, and tears of happiness characterized the moment that all had been waiting for, as the crystal Sapphire Pegasus trophies were presented. For their great achievement and recognition of the highest level of excellence, the Awards went to the following award winners:
• Business Jet Operator - Globe Air
• Broker – Aircraft Broker/ Charter Broker and Other - Stratajet
• Handler/Service Provider/FBO - Euro Jet Intercontinental
• Business Aviation Airport - London Oxford Airport
• Outstanding Business Aviation Performance in Russia - Jet Port
• Innovation in Business Aviation - My Jet
• Lifetime Achievement - Bernhard Fragner, Globe Air
• Woman in Aviation - Carol Cork, Private Fly
• Business Aviation Journalist / Topic Coverage - Kate Sarsfield, Flight International&Flight Global
• Charity/Relief Effort - Stratus Flying
• Outstanding Integration of Social Media - VistaJet
• Young Talent/Start Up Company - Signum Aviation
The words of the winner in the outstanding journalism category, Kate Sarsfield, Editor of Flight International & Flight Global may have reflected the feelings of all other winners: “I was thrilled to be nominated for the Sapphire Pegasus business aviation journalist award, and deeply honored to receive it. To be recognized in this way by your industry colleagues is both heart-warming and humbling.”
Managing Director of award winning London Oxford Airport, Andi Alexander, expressed his gratitude by saying: “We’re very happy with this recognition, especially so because we were judged by our industry peers. It is an acknowledgement of all the hard work from our excellent team and the investments we’ve made in our business over recent years.”
In the thirty days of online voting, 28.633 votes were submitted for the 78 nominations in 12 categories.
Compared to last year there was 32% increase in the number of nominations which resulted to 115 nominations of the short list. The supervision and the final of the selection process was determined by votes of the eight international judges of the Board of Advisors.
“We are pleased to join the Awards team in celebrating the highest levels of professionalism in our industry and are pleased to see that most of the winners of this prestigious award are members,” said Brandon Mitchener, CEO of the European Business Aviation Association.
“The increased interest in the Sapphire Pegasus Award shows that the recognition of outstanding performances is widely appreciated and recognized by international business aviation community, “commented Antonia Lukacinova, founder of the Sapphire Pegasus Award. “Based on this year’s experiences, we will enhance the program and extend its reach beyond Europe. For instance, this year still, we will introduce the award in the Western Hemisphere by presenting the trophy for four outstanding performances and accomplishments during the Caribbean Aviation Meetup on the island St.Maarten in the Dutch West Indies. For next year, we envision further international developments.”