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Le Royal Hotels is official sponsor of OAG
Airline of the Year Awards for third year
running
In previous years the results
have thrown up some interesting surprises as
well as some perennial favourites. On behalf of
OAG and its customers, we congratulate all the
winners and nominees for representing the very
best in global air travel.”
Lifetime Achievement Award
EasyJet founder, Sir Stelios
Haji-Ioannou, was presented with this year’s
Lifetime Achievement Award by The Princess
Royal. His Lifetime Achievement Award recognised
the impact that EasyJet and the easyGroup had
made on the European aviation and travel scene.
Alan Glass praised Stelios for his remarkable
entrepreneurial achievements in a comparatively
short ‘lifetime’.
Outstanding Service Award
The recipient of the Outstanding
Service Award was Maria Sabbah, BMED sales
manager in Lebanon . The award recognised her
dedication and inspiring leadership during the
aftermath of the air attacks on Beirut and its
international airport. Maria, who received her
award from BMED CEO, David Richardson, helped
hundreds of stranded passengers from all
airlines to find their way home safely from
Lebanon .
During the award ceremony, which
was hosted by sports broadcaster Steve Rider,
the CEO of Visit London, James Bidwell, took the
stage to welcome the gathered airline and travel
industry executives to London. He told them that
air travel was vital to the city and the UK’s
continued prosperity, as well as its position as
an international economic hub. He recognised,
however, the need to balance the economic
importance of tourism with measures to improve
the sustainability of the city and looked
forward to working with the airlines.
The annual “OAG Airline of the
Year Awards” celebrates the very best in global
air travel and publicly recognises the highest
standards within the industry. The Awards are in
association with TravelPlus; Le Royal Hotels was
the Official Sponsor of the event, and Boeing
was the champagne reception sponsor.
Le Royal Hotels, an exclusive
chain of landmark hotels and resorts, is a
member of The Leading Hotels of the World. It
first opened its doors in the heart of
Luxembourg’s financial centre in September 1984,
just 2 years after the first OAG awards.
Le Royal Luxembourg, with its
Five Star Diamond Award, remains the Group’s
flagship hotel and has been named by Conde Naste
Traveller Magazine the 31st best hotel in Europe
in its top 50. Expansion has since seen the
opening of hotels in Morocco, Tunisia, Beirut
and Jordan and more openings are planned.
The Group prides itself on each
property having its own dynamic character and
special features, with its international award
winning restaurants and exotic spa treatments.
Just as tonight is a Royal
occasion, so Le Royal Hotels have also hosted
Royalty, politicians and stars of screen and
stage.
Perhaps what sets Le Royal apart
is its mixture of European origin and expertise
combining with Levantine luxury, Mediterranean
hospitality and North African mystique. Le Royal
highlights excellence and a commitment to
service. This is why they sit so comfortably
with the OAG Airline of the Year Awards.
Auchi
funds ‘best and biggest’ dialysis centre in UK
Baroness
Symons and Auchi among attendants of the opening
ceremony
Iraqi
businessman helps fund largest facility for renal
services in Europe, further research on kidney
disease.
London’s
Hammersmith Hospital Wednesday celebrated the
opening of a new centre that would help treat more
kidney disease patients and help conduct further
vital research on the subject.
The ‘Auchi Dialysis
Unit’ was named after Iraqi businessman Nadhmi
Auchi who funded the project.
Emphasising the
importance of the new centre, Sir Tom Lang,
chairman of the hospital’s trust, said that it
is “the best and biggest centre in the UK, if
not in the whole of Europe,” adding that there
are cases in the UK that can only be treated in
the new unit.
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Baroness
Symons thanks Auchi
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“The
West London Renal and
Transplant Centre, of which
the Auchi Dialysis Centre is a
part, is the largest dedicated
facility for renal services in
Europe. We have improved
survival rates by a quarter
since opening and provide 10%
of haemodialysis carried out
in England. I am pleased that
we are officially marking the
achievements of the dialysis
centre,” said Derek Smith,
Chief Executive of the centre.
Adding
her voice to the tone of
appreciation of the project,
Baroness Symons of Vernham
Dean said that the patients
she visited “spoke highly of
the care they are getting.”
Addressing
Auchi at the ceremony, the
Baroness concluded, “Thank
you very much for [providing]
the ability to do more
research into kidney disease.
We owe you a very big debt.”
In
conclusion, Auchi said: “I
am impressed by the breadth of
specialist treatment provided
by the clinical staff on a
daily basis and am delighted
to be able to contribute to
this world-class centre so
that it can continue to
provide excellent care to its
patients.”
Auchi
has also created a trust fund
for the West London Renal and
Transplant Centre that will
give training fellowships for
doctors wanting to specialise
in transplantation or
nephrology. The centre will
also train Arab doctors on
crucial treatments of such a
disease.
Auchi
also announced that he is
sponsoring a charity hospital
dedicated to help Iraqis
living in Damascus, Syria as
part of lifting the suffering
of those who were forced to
move there due to the current
situation in his home country
Iraq.
In
addition to being a prominent
businessman, Nadhmi Auch is
also the President of the
Anglo Arab Organisation, an
NGO body set to attempt
building economic and cultural
bridges between the peoples of
the Arab world and the West.
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