Mark de Jonge Voted Air Canada Athlete of the Year

Canadian Olympic Canoe/Kayak Sprinter tops national poll for Air Canada Athlete of the Year Award

MONTREAL, Dec. 11, 2015 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today announced that Canadian Mark de Jonge has been voted the winner of the Air Canada Athlete of the Year Award in a national on-line poll. The winner is chosen by a public vote from a short-list of finalists selected by a committee representing Air Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee, athletes, the government, media and also last year's Award winner.

"Air Canada extends its heartfelt congratulations to Canadian Mark de Jonge who has been chosen to receive the Air Canada Athlete of the Year Award for 2015. Being an Olympian requires ongoing commitment, hard work and competing constantly on the World Championship circuit. Through this award we are keeping the spotlight on Canada's athletes and raising awareness of their years of dedication leading up to the Olympic Games where they compete for Canada," said Craig Landry, Vice President of Marketing at Air Canada. "We take great pride in our association with all of our Canadian athletes and also congratulate Derek Drouin and Shawnacy Barber who were the runners-up for this award. We also thank the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who took time to vote for their favorite athlete in our national poll."

Mark will receive two Business Class tickets to anywhere in the world Air Canada flies, as well as Super Elite™ 100K status in Air Canada's Altitude program for one year.

Air Canada Athlete of the Year Award was presented last year to freestyle skier Alexandre Bilodeau, in 2013 to short track speed skater Charles Hamelin and in 2012 to soccer player Christine Sinclair.

About Air Canada
Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 200 airports on six continents.  Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2014 served more than 38 million customers.  Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 63 airports in Canada, 55 in the United States and 86 in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,321 airports in 193 countries.  Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax.  For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook.

 

SOURCE Air Canada - Corporate - Finance

For further information: Contacts: Isabelle Arthur (Montréal), 514 422-5788; Peter Fitzpatrick (Toronto), 416 263-5576; Angela Mah (Vancouver), 604 270-5741; Internet: aircanada.com