COMAIR LEADS AIRLINE INDUSTRY IN SERVICE EXCELLENCE

British Airways and kulula awarded first and second positions in Ask Afrika Orange Index

Johannesburg, 10 November 2009: Comair Limited, operator of British Airways in South Africa and kulula, has scooped the top two spots in the airline category of the Ask Africa Orange Index 2009 service excellence awards. This is the second year that Comair has dominated the airline industry category, as British Airways also clinched the top spot in the 2008 index.

The ‘Ask Afrika Orange Index’, is the largest service excellence benchmark in South Africa,

that measures service delivery.   This year saw 70 companies from 11 industries being rated, with 6 000 consumers taking part in the survey.  Ask Afrika’s Orange Index also examined the competitiveness across the industries, with significant service excellence improvement being seen over last year.

Says Heidi Brauer, Comair’s Executive Manager for Group Marketing, “At Comair, an embedded culture of customer service is a daily focus. Since 2008 we’ve really put a lot of effort into educating and training our front line staff – like our cabin crew – to deliver the type of service we’d like to give our passengers and fans. And it’s gratifying to see that this effort has paid off, with British Airways and kulula.com both being recognised in the highly competitive airline industry.”  Brauer says the focus is on the overall “travel experience” and making sure that flying is easy, accessible and most importantly, a pleasant experience.

“Client service is essential to any company’s success in difficult economic times. Value-for-money is a key differentiator, as customers want more for their money.  And overall, customers need to be constantly surprised by excellence. Our challenge in the service industry is to keep on delighting our customers and offer a consistent level of service excellence,” concludes Brauer.