oneworld is the best alliance for in-flight wine again

Judges at a leading international wine-tasting competition have raised their glasses to oneworld® as the best airline alliance for the wines served in-flight by its member airlines for the sixth year in a row.

This latest award joins seven other overall “best airline alliance” titles currently held by oneworld.

The Cellars in the Sky Awards, now in their 30^th year, are run by Business Traveller, the multi-national magazine group, in association with the International Wine Challenge.  The 2014 awards were presented last night at a ceremony in London, following blind tastings of hundreds of wines served on longhaul flights by 35 airlines from around the world, conducted by a panel of five leading experts .

oneworld members all but swept the board in the airline categories taking first prizes in nine of the 13 categories, along with 17 of the 36 runners-up placings. Competitors in the Star alliance achieved two first prizes and seven runners-up placings, while SkyTeam members achieved one first position and three runners-up.

British Airways was honoured as the airline with the Best Overall Wine Cellar, after collecting the prize as Best Business Class Cellar and placed second as Best First Class Cellar.

oneworld member airlines took all four gold medals for Business Class wines:

• British Airways for Best White, with its Remi Niero Condrieu Les Ravines 2012 from France.
• Cathay Pacific for Sparkling with its Champagne Cuvee William Deutz Brut Millesime 2000, also from France.
• Finnair for Red, with its Cloudy Bay Pinot Noir 2012, from New Zealand.
• Qantas for Fortified/Dessert, with its Baileys of Glenrowan Founder Series Class Muscat, from Australia.

British Airways also won the prize for Best First Class Red, with its Kiwa by Escarpment Pinot Noir 2011, from New Zealand, while Qantas received the Best First Class Sparkling gold medal with its Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 2000, from France.

British Airways was also presented with three silver medals, Qantas with two silvers and two bronzes, Finnair with one silver and one bronze and Cathay Pacific with two commendations.

Other oneworld member airlines honoured included TAM Airlines with one silver medal and one bronze, American Airlines with one bronze and a commendation, and LAN Airlines and Malaysia Airlines with a silver medal each.

The judges included luminaries from the world of wine Charles Metcalfe, Oz Clarke, Peter McCrombie and Richard Bampfield.

For the results in full, see http://www.businesstraveller.com/cellars-2014

Other “best airline alliance” awards currently held by oneworld include:

• FlightStats’ 2014 Airline Alliance On-Time Performance Service Award for the second time running.
• Skytrax’s World’s Best Airline Alliance 2014 for the second year running.
• Business Traveller’s 2014 Best Airline Alliance for the second year running.
• Premier Traveler’s Best of 2014 Best Airline Alliance for the second year running.
• Global Traveler’s 2014 GT Tested Best Airline Alliance for the fifth year running.
• World Travel Awards’ World’s Leading Airline Alliance for the 12^th year running.
• Air Transport News’ Best Airline Alliance 2014.

About oneworld

oneworld is an alliance of 15 of the world’s leading airlines, committed to providing the highest level of service and convenience to frequent international travellers.  Member airlines include airberlin, American Airlines (including US Airways), British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN Airlines, TAM Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines and SriLankan Airlines, and around 30 affiliates.  As part of oneworld , these airlines serve almost a thousand destinations in more than 150 countries with a combined fleet of 3,430 aircraft operating 14,300 flights a day, carrying more than 510 million passengers last year.

oneworld member airlines work together to deliver consistently a superior, seamless travel experience, with special privileges and rewards for frequent flyers, including earning and redeeming miles and points across the entire alliance network.  Top tier cardholders (Emerald and Sapphire) enjoy access to more than 600 airport lounges and are offered extra baggage allowances and priority baggage delivery.  The most frequent travellers (Emerald) can also use fast track security lanes at select airports.