Aviation Excellence Celebrated at the 2025 APEX/IFSA Awards Ceremony

LONG BEACH, Calif., October 31, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Yesterday, the aviation industry celebrated the outstanding contributions to passenger experience by its member airlines and suppliers over the past year at the APEX/IFSA Awards Ceremony. This illustrious event in Long Beach, California, hosted by the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) and the International Flight Services Association (IFSA), saw individuals, airlines, and suppliers at the top of the industry rewarded for their dedication to service excellence and innovation.

Recognitions and honors celebrated during the APEX/IFSA Awards Ceremony included:

APEX CEO Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Joe Leader presented Air France-KLM Group CEO, Benjamin Smith, with the APEX CEO Lifetime Achievement Award. Through the industry titan’s visionary leadership, Air France-KLM has excelled in all its commercial, operations, and customer service functions, leading to impressive financial performance and taking the airline’s passenger experience to new heights. Read the release here.

APEX Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Leader also presented SVP of Non-Theatrical Sales at Paramount Pictures, Joan Filippini, with the APEX Lifetime Achievement Award at the APEX/IFSA Award Ceremony. Her leadership revolutionized in-flight entertainment (IFE) content distribution, showcasing Paramount as a name that is as known in the sky as it is on the ground. Read the release here.

APEX Top 100 Airlines: A Global Standard of Excellence: Powered by TripIt, the world’s leading travel management app, APEX proudly recognized the top 100 airlines, setting new benchmarks in passenger experience. Based on millions of flight reviews, these elite airlines are pioneering innovation and redefining air travel worldwide.

• 2025 APEX World Class: Achieving a Five-Star rating is commendable but APEX World Class™ distinguishes itself through an intensive audit process conducted by Yates and Partners. The highest echelon of airline excellence, the World Class Awards are awarded to the top 10 airlines that lead the industry in safety, sustainability, service, and inclusiveness, based on extensive audit and customer assessment. The 2025 APEX World Class airlines are ANA, Emirates, KLM, Japan Airlines, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and Xiamen Airlines. Read the release here.
• 2025 APEX Five Star™ and Four Star™ Airline Awards: The APEX Five Star™ and Four Star™ Airline Awards are the only global awards based on neutral, third-party passenger feedback, rated and certified by an external auditing company. To maintain the exclusivity of the ratings this year, the criteria was tightened, limiting the APEX Five Star™ to the Top 40 airlines globally and the APEX Four Star™ category to the next 50 airlines. Together with the Top 10 APEX World Class airlines, these represent the Top 100 Airlines for passenger experience. Click here for the 2025 APEX Five Star™ and 2025 APEX Four Star™ Airline Award recipients.

APEX World Class™ Lounge Awards audited by YATES+: Building off the original APEX World Class, YATES+ and the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) launched the APEX World Class™ Lounge Awards audited by YATES+ in September 2024. This pioneering program stands as the world’s first dedicated audit and recognition initiative specifically designed to elevate the global airport lounge guest experience. The 2025 APEX World Class™ Lounges are Japan Airlines First Class Lounge Haneda Internal Airport (Tokyo), Japan Airlines First Class Lounge Narita International Airport (Tokyo), Oman Air Business Lounge Muscat International Airport, The Pearl Lounge, Bahrain International Airport.

2025 APEX Best™ in Airline Awards: These awards recognize the airlines delivering the best passenger experiences in Cabin Service, Entertainment, Food & Beverage, Seat Comfort & Wi-Fi as voted by the passengers across more than 600 airlines globally via TripIt®. The following airlines were selected by passengers as the top global airlines in their respective categories:  Delta Air Lines for Best Wi-Fi, Qatar Airways for Best Food and Beverage (presented in conjunction with IFSA), Qatar Airways for Best Seat Comfort, Singapore Airlines for Best Entertainment, and Xiamen for Best Cabin Service. Virgin Atlantic was also awarded 2025 APEX Best™ in Europe Award for Overall Airline. Click here for more information on the regional winners.

APEX/IFSA Awards: Celebrating the best of industry and innovation, APEX/IFSA Awards recognize the new achievements and initiatives that were successfully implemented in the past year. The entries were first reviewed and scored by a panel of judges comprised of current APEX/IFSA members. The finalists were then judged during the EXPO by a panel of media judges.

• 2025 APEX AWARD WINNERS:
  • JSX – Innovation Award for Best Inflight Connectivity
  • Lufthansa – Innovation Award for Best Inflight Entertainment
• 2025 APEX/IFSA AWARD WINNER:
  • Qatar Airways – Innovation Award for Best Cabin
• 2025 IFSA AWARD WINNERS:
  • Delta Air Lines with Formia – Best Onboard Amenity
  • Virgin Atlantic – Best Inflight Food or Beverage

Click here for more information on the APEX/IFSA Awards.

The 2025 APEX/IFSA Awards Ceremony, which took place during this year’s APEX/IFSA Global EXPO, was sponsored in part by BBC News, Blulabs, Formia, gategroup, Jetliner Cabins, Paramount Pictures, Safran, Thales, and Touch. Nicky Kelvin, Editor at Large of The Points Guy, was the Master of Ceremonies.

For more information on the APEX Award Ceremony and photos of all the awards given out, please visit  apex.aero and follow APEX on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. 

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About the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) 
As a global non-profit and one of the world’s largest international airline associations, APEX accelerates the industry with the backing of nearly every major airline and valued supplier. APEX reinvests all its resources to serving its members, strengthening the worldwide airline industry, advancing thought leadership, fostering business opportunities via events, developing global initiatives, setting key airline standards, and highlighting well-deserved recognition across our industry. In conjunction with both the International Flight Services Association (IFSA) and Future Travel Experience (FTE), APEX serves the full spectrum of the end-to-end travel experience. 

About the International Flight Services Association (IFSA)
The International Flight Services Association (IFSA) is a global professional association serving the needs and interests of airline and railway personnel, caterers and suppliers who provide onboard services on regularly scheduled travel routes. Under the umbrella of APEX (Airline Passenger Experience Association) serving every major airline in the world, IFSA is dedicated to the advancement of the art and science of the multi-billion dollar inflight and railway onboard service industry. For more information about IFSA, please visit ifsa.apex.aero, or follow IFSA on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.    

Source: APEX/IFSA