OREANDA-NEWS. Aeroflot Group Companies triumphed at the national aviation award - Wings of Russia 2013. The ceremony was held yesterday at Renaissance Moscow Monarch Centre.

JSC "Aeroflot" received Wings of Russia Award in two main categories.

Aeroflot was named "Airline of the Year - Domestic Passenger Carrier, Group I" (this category includes the largest Russian airlines with over 3 billion passenger-kilometers of traffic volume on domestic flights). The flag carrier won the award in another key category - "Airline of the Year - International Scheduled Passenger Carrier ". Aeroflot holds both titles for several years in a row.

20.9 million passengers traveled with JSC "Aeroflot" in 2013, while total traffic of Aeroflot Group amounted to 31.4 million passengers. Aeroflot achievements have been widely recognized both in Russia and abroad. Over the past year, the company has received more than 40 industry awards and prestigious international prizes.

The Award Committee marked the success of Aeroflot's subsidiary airlines. The newly established Far East carrier Aurora became the winner in the category "Airline of the Year - Domestic Passenger Carrier, Group III (traffic volume from 0.05 to 1 billion pkm)".

Orenburg Airlines (OrenAir) won awards in two categories - "Russian Airline of the Year - People's Choice" and "Airline of the Year - Domestic Passenger Carrier, Group III (airlines with passenger traffic from 1 to 3 billion passenger-kilometers )".

Wings of Russia Award is a leading annual award of the national aviation industry. This year's ceremony was held for the 17th time. 53 Russian and 52 foreign airlines were competing for the awards in 11 categories.

Winners were selected by a secret voting of the Expert Council, which included about 100 representatives of legislative and executive power, aviation business, NGOs, the media, distinguished figures of civil aviation and independent experts. Winners in two nominations were determined by passengers' online voting.

Aeroflot is Russia's flagship carrier and one of the largest airline groups in Europe. In 2013, its 90th anniversary year, Aeroflot carried 20.9 million passengers (31.4 million passengers as Aeroflot Group including subsidiaries), a record for any Russian airline. A proud member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance, Aeroflot and its partners serve more than 1,064 destinations in 178 countries worldwide. Aeroflot operates one of the most modern and youngest fleets in Europe, numbering 152 Airbus, Boeing and Sukhoi airliners with an average age of 5.6 years. Aeroflot is among the global leaders in aviation safety. The company's European Community Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) Index, which is the main globally recognized safety parameter, is comparable to global peers. The first Russian carrier to enter the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) register, renewing its registration for the fifth time in 2013, Aeroflot has successfully passed the IATA Safety Audit for Ground Operations (ISAGO) and is fully ISO 9001:2008 compliant. In 2013, Aeroflot was named by SKYTRAX as the Best Airline in Eastern Europe for the second time.