TORONTO — Sunwing Airlines President, Mark Williams, received the ATAC Lifetime Honoree Award at the annual Canadian Aviation Conference and Tradeshow, held recently in Montreal.

The award is given by the Board of Directors of the Air Transport Association of Canada (ATAC) to individuals who have made significant contributions and improvements to the Canadian air transportation industry and have been a part of the sector for a minimum of 25 years.

With a career in the global aviation industry spanning over 30 years, Williams joined Sunwing in 2004 and was instrumental in the subsequent launch of Sunwing Airlines the year after.

Since then he has been a fundamental driver in the carrier’s exponential growth, says the company.

From operating its first flight in November 2005 from Toronto to Cuba, Sunwing Airlines now operates out of 33 airports across Canada, with flights to 45 vacation destinations across the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Florida. The carrier has strong presence in regional airports and also operates one of Canada’s youngest fleets with Boeing 737 800 aircraft.

“Mark has been a strong leader on the ATAC Board of Directors for over 10 years,” said ATAC President and CEO John McKenna. “His valuable contributions to the board’s strategic decisions are founded, intelligent and inspiring. His personality and no-nonsense inclusive approach to issues are key to developing beneficial industry-wide consensus. The board was happy to bestow this honour to Mark.”