The Judging Process and Criteria Each submission will be forwarded to the entire judging panel; the panel will consist of independent industry experts. All categories are awarded based on the decision of an independent panel of judges. They determine their decision purely on the basis of the submission from the entrant or nominee. If an instance occurs where a judge is also a representative of a nominated company or has a relationship with a nominated company which may affect their ability to be impartial, that particular judge will not submit scores for that category. In the event of a tie for first place each company will be asked to submit a tie-breaker entry which will be assessed by the judges to identify the winner. The Judges John Hanlon, Secretary General, European Low Fare Airline Association ELFAA stands for European Low Fares Airline Association, an organization formed in 2002 to represent low-fare airlines John Strickland, CEO, JLS Consulting John Strickland is a regular contributor to BBC and Sky News business programmes having done more than 100 interviews since 2004. Programmes include World Business Report (BBC World), Business Today (BBC News 24), Business Breakfast (BBC One) and the Today Programme (BBC Radio 4). Examples of recent interviews include commentary on the market approaches of Boeing and Airbus and analysis of performance of several key airlines including British Airways and Ryanair  Jay Sorensen, CEO, IdeaWorks Jay Sorensen is an experienced management professional with 20 years experience in product, partnership and marketing development. Of this experience, 13 years were at Midwest Airlines (formerly Midwest Express) where he had responsibilities for marketing, sales, customer service, product development, operations, planning, financial analysis and budgeting. Jay has started guest loyalty programs and co-branded credit cards, developed products in the service sector, improved the delivery of customer service and has started companies in the travel and tourism industry. Peter Harbison, Executive Director, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation Judging Process: The judges will give each submission a score between 1 and 10 (10 being the highest). The average score will be calculated giving a winner and finalists, there will be one winner and up to four finalists in each category. In the event of a tie for first place each company will be asked to submit a tie-breaker entry which will be assessed by the judges to identify the winner

Sponsored by   "Oasis is very proud indeed to have won awards both for Best Business Class Carrier and also for Best New Service. We're delighted to be making such a strong impact within such a short time. The Budgies award evening itself was a great networking opportunity and enjoyable event" Gerard Clarke, GM UK & Ireland, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines "Iceland Express winning the award for 'Best Website' was the highlight of our trip to the World Low Cost Airlines Congress,  but it was by no means the only benefit of attending. We found the entire experience informative, thought-provoking, and fun." Ómar Ólafsson, CTO,  Iceland Express  “After our first year of operations, we were very proud to have won the Budgie Award for “Best Newcomer” – we thoroughly enjoyed the evening and the conference overall.   We will definitely participate  in future events”. Alex Cruz, CEO, Clickair