Emirates has once again gained prestigious industry recognition at the 2006 Skytrax Awards for Airline Excellence, taking top honours in the category for ‘In-flight Entertainment Excellence’.

At Emirates, in-flight entertainment is an area of constant innovation and high quality levels and as such the airline has come to be recognised as a dominating force in this product area. Last year Emirates was adjudged the best in this category at the Skytrax World Airline Awards based on over a million votes.

Emirates’ award-winning entertainment system, ICE, an acronym for information, communication and entertainment, which is now offered on over 35 per cent of the fleet, offers over 500 channels of entertainment, video and audio on demand, over 40 games and live news headlines, and is available to travellers in every class. Customers also have access to email and SMS messaging and satellite telephones. On the Emirates A340-500 there is also a WiFi email service available.

The Skytrax Awards for Airline Excellence provide the most prestigious recognition of outstanding quality excellence for product and customer service delivery across the airline industry.

The awards are based on responses from 3,424 Skytrax Business Research Group (BRG) members, comprised of frequent corporate travellers. Approximately 53 per cent of this group is from major international companies and 41 per cent from small or medium enterprises. Members are drawn from over 59 countries and 78 nationalities.

Emirates has won more than 250 awards since its launch in 1985. Recent accolades include: Best Long-Haul Leisure Airline (in-flight entertainment) at the eighth Conde Nast Traveller Magazine Awards; Best Airline for First Class and Best Airline in the Middle East (Global Traveller Magazine) and CAPA Airline of the Year 2005.

Emirates operates four flights each week from Malta to Dubai with a stopover in Larnaca, Cyprus, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday on A330-200. The Malta route gives a convenient connection to outgoing and incoming passengers from Australia and the Far East.