Mark of Excellence

new for 2027

The Onboard Awards is introducing a new way for exceptional products, services and experiences to gain recognition, with the launch of the Onboard Awards Mark of Excellence.

The new distinction will sit alongside the awards’ overall category winners, giving more outstanding entries the opportunity to demonstrate that their work has been assessed and recognised by leading industry experts.

The Mark of Excellence is designed to become a clear, credible signal of quality across the onboard experience. For airlines and operators, it provides a way to identify products and services that have met a high standard through independent judging. For suppliers, it offers another opportunity to showcase the quality of their work to the industry and increasingly, to passengers. For passengers, it provides a simple way to identify products and experiences that have been independently assessed and recognised for excellence.

the mark

Rewarding products that meet the mark

The new recognition reflects how the role of industry awards is changing. Onboard Awards recognition is already appearing on menus, packaging and onboard communications as airlines and suppliers use it to demonstrate the quality of products passengers encounter during their journeys.

The Mark of Excellence is intended to strengthen that role, giving airlines, operators and suppliers a clear way to communicate that a product or experience has been independently assessed and recognised by specialists in the field.

As the Onboard Awards develops its role as an industry-endorsed, passenger-facing benchmark, the Mark of Excellence will provide a simple visual shorthand for quality, while the category winners continue to celebrate the very best of each field.

recognition

More ways to be recognised

The introduction of the Mark of Excellence does not change the competitive core of the Onboard Awards. Every category will continue to have one overall winner, recognising the entry that judges consider to have demonstrated the strongest combination of quality, impact and innovation.

The Mark of Excellence recognises a wider group of entries that also demonstrate outstanding qualities against the awards’ judging criteria. It means an entry does not have to win its category to receive meaningful recognition, while the category winner retains its position as the best in class each year.

To earn the Mark of Excellence, entries must demonstrate outstanding performance across key areas including passenger experience, innovation, quality and execution, and operational effectiveness.
The first Mark of Excellence recipients will be announced as part of the 2027 Onboard Awards.

Entries open September 1, 2026.