Journalist of the Year 2006

Nancarrow collected the Airservices trophy, $3000, and two return business class tickets to London or New York, courtesy of Cathay Pacific Airways.

The judges said Nancarrow had a well-established reputation for well-balanced perspectives on the many of the tougher challenges facing the aviation industry. They said he was “an outstanding contributor to the field of aviation writing in a highly competitive year. ” The cash prize of $1000 for runner-up in the Journalist of the Year went to Denise McNabb, of the Independent Financial Weekly in Auckland. The judges said she was a highly experienced hand who had established a great track record for enterprising and non-compromising journalism on both sides of the Tasman.

The finalists were: John Masanauskas, Herald Sun; Denise McNabb, Independent Financial Review; Doug Nancarrow, Aviation Business; Scott Rochfort, Sydney Morning Herald; and Geoffrey Thomas of Air Transport World, Australian Aviation & The Australian.

Aviation News Story ofthe Year

The winner of $1500 and the Boeing trophy for the 2006 Aviation News Story of the Year was Geoffrey Thomas, who broke news in The Australian of the 12 month delay to the A380 in a story ‘Wiring Problems May Delay The A380. ’ The cash prize of $750 for runner-up in this category went to Denise McNabb, of The Independent Financial Review, for a story ‘Bloodbath On The Tasman,’ which revealed the financial impact on Air New Zealand of competi-tion on its most overcrowd-ed international route.

Commendations in this category were awarded to: Roeland van den Bergh of the Dominion Post for ‘Air New Zealand Close To Deal With Qantas’; John Masanauskas, Herald Sun for ‘Qantas To Hoard Pacific’; and Scott Rochfort from the Sydney Morning Herald for ‘Want To Fly For Us? That’s $33,150 Please. ’

Aviation Feature of the Year

The $1500 cheque and Cathay Pacific trophy for the Aviation Feature of 2006 was won by Tom Ballantyne of Orient Aviation Magazine for ‘Gulf Carriers Speak Out. ’ The cash prize of $750 for runner-up went to Doug Nancarrow of Aviation Business magazine for ‘Doing Business In China. ’ Commendations in this category were awarded to: Andrew McLaughlin from Australian Aviation for ‘Mind The Gap’; Derek Sadubin of Aviation Analyst for ‘Deal Of The Decade’; and Geoffrey Thomas of Australian Aviation for ‘Down To The Wire’.

Aviation Technical Story of the Year

The $1500 cheque and Rolls-Royce trophy for the Aviation Technical Story of the Year 2006 was won by Owen Zupp of Australian Aviation for his article entitled ‘ADS-B Highs And Lows. ’ The $750 cash prize for runner-up went to Ben Sandilands of Aviation Business magazine for ‘Search For Cleaner And Quieter’.

Commendations went to:Doug Nancarrow, Aviation Business for ‘Airports Move On Technology Fronts’; Macarthur Job from Australian Aviation for ‘Air Safety – Why ValuJet Crashed In The Everglades’; and Geoffrey Thomas writing in Air Transport World for ‘Flexing The Airways’.

AviationTourism Story of the Year

The winner of two inter-national economy air fares, and the TTF trophy in this category was Scott Rochfort, of the Sydney Morning Herald for his article ‘The Spirit Of Australia?’ The runner-up prize of a $750 wine collection went to ‘Kiwi Magic’ by Shelley Ross of Australian Flying magazine. Commendations in this category went to Paul Sadler of Australian Aviation for ‘Heli Safari – R44s Tackle Cape York’; and Geoffrey Thomas writing in WA Business News for ‘Making Connections In China’.

Aviation photograph of the Year

The inaugural photograph of the year winner collected $1500 cash and the Hawker Pacific trophy for a truly inspirational photograph of a Tecnam Bravo over Mt Aspiring in New Zealand’s South Island which was published on the cover of Australian Flying in the July-August issue.

The winner was Mitch Watchorn, of Arrowtown in New Zealand.

Runner-up Sam Chui won $750 for his photo-graph of a Vaso Airlines Il-86 literally staggering off the end of a Phuket runway earlier in 2006.

Commendations were issued to Peter Clark of New Zealand Aviation News for his ‘RNZAF C-130 Air-To-Air On TACEX 06’; John Spiers of AOPA Magazine for ‘Wright Flyer Replica Flies’; and Paul Sadler of Australian Aviation for ‘A Gaggle Of Robinson R44s’.

A successful night, the event attracted more than 130 journalists and aviation industry executives. An ex-panded event is anticipated for 2007, with the introduc-tion of a military award category.

The Winners: 2006 Aviation Journalist of the Year

AirServices Australia / Cathay Pacific, Aviation Journalist of the Year
Winner: Doug Nancarrow, Aviation Business
Runner-Up: Denise McNabb, Independent Financial Weekly
Finalists: John Masanauskas, Herald Sun
Scott Rochfort, Sydney Morning Herald
Geoffrey Thomas, Air Transport World/Australian Aviation/The Australian

Boeing, Aviation News Story of the Year
Winner: Geoffrey Thomas, ‘Wiring Problems May Delay The A380’, The Australian
Runner-up: Denise McNabb, ‘Bloodbath On The Tasman’, Independent Financial Review
Commendations: John Masanauskas, ‘Qantas To Hoard Pacific’, Herald Sun
Roeland van den Bergh, ‘Air NZ Close To Deal With Qantas’, Dominion Post
Scott Rochfort, ‘Want To Fly For Us? That’s $33,150 Please’, Sydney Morning Herald

Cathay Pacific, Aviation Feature of the Year
Winner: Tom Ballantyne, ‘Gulf Carriers Speak Out’, Orient Aviation Magazine
Runner-up: Doug Nancarrow, ‘Doing Business In China’, Aviation Business
Commendations: Andrew McLaughlin, ‘Mind The Gap’, Australian Aviation
Derek Sadubin, ‘Deal Of The Decade’, Aviation Analyst
Geoffrey Thomas, ‘Down To The Wire’, Australian Aviation

Rolls-Royce, Aviation Technical Story of the Year
Winner: Owen Zupp, ‘ADS-B Highs And Lows’, Australian Aviation
Runner up: Ben Sandilands, ‘Search For Cleaner And Quieter’, Aviation Business
Commendations: Doug Nancarrow, ‘Airports Move On Technology Fronts’, Aviation Business
Macarthur Job, ‘Air Safety – Why Value Jet Crashed In The Everglades’, Australian Aviation
Geoffrey Thomas, ‘Flexing The Airways’, Air Transport World

TTF Australia, Aviation Tourism Story of the Year
Winner: Scott Rochfort, ‘Spirit Of Australia’, Sydney Morning Herald
Runner-up: Shelley Ross, ‘Kiwi Magic’, Australian Flying
Commendations: Paul Sadler, ‘Heli Safari – R44s Tackle Cape York’, Australian Aviation
Geoffrey Thomas, ‘Making Connections In China’, WA Business News

Hawker Pacific, Aviation photograph of the Year
Winner: Mitch Watchorn, ‘Tecnam Bravo Over Mt Aspiring’, Australian Flying
Runner-up: Sam Chui, ‘Vaso Airlines IL86’, www.airliners.net
Commendations: Paul Sadler, ‘A Gaggle Of Robinson R44s’, Australian Aviation
Peter Clark, ‘RNZAF C-130 Air-To-Air On TACEX 06’, NZ Aviation News
John Spiers, ‘Wright Flyer Replica Flies’, AOPA Magazine