Russia's flagship carrier, Aeroflot has taken the prestigious World's Leading Aviation Brand 2017 prize at the World Travel Awards, the first time the nomination has been awarded.

Known as the Oscars of the tourism industry, the World Travel Awards (WTA) are given every year to leading tour firms, hotels and airlines. Country-level and regional awards take place during the year, followed by the world event. Winners are decided by an online vote that attracts hundreds of thousands of travel professionals and millions of travellers to take part. The key criteria are product quality and level of service.

The global WTA ceremony took place on 10 December at the renowned Vietnamese island resort of Phu Quoc.

Aeroflot took the World's Leading Airline Brand nomination in a highly competitive field including carriers such as Emirates.

"This award is a great honour for us, and also a well deserved result," said Aeroflot CEO Vitaly Saveliev. "The World Travel Awards are the Oscars of the tourism industry, and to triumph in such a prestigious category has taken many years of work. Today Aeroflot is one of the world's top-20 airlines by passenger numbers. We hold 4-Star Airline status from Skytrax and were recently named a Five Star Global Airline by US passenger association APEX. I am proud that we have been recognised as the world's leading aviation brand. Aeroflot will do everything it can to hold on to this title going forward."

Earlier this year Aeroflot won two key categories at the regional World Travel Awards: Europe's Leading Airline Brand and Europe's Leading Airline - Business Class. This result meant Russia's flagship carrier was able to advance to the global awards, something no other Russian company has previously achieved.

In February Aeroflot was named the world's most powerful airline brand by Brand Finance, the leading authority on brand value and strategy. Aeroflot was also named the most powerful brand in Russia in any sector.