Over
450 airline planners representing 250 airlines are now registered for
the 18th World Route Development Forum which will take place from
29th September to 2nd October 2012.
The
forum is hosted by Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) and supported by
official carrier Etihad Airways and Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture
Authority.
Twenty
Three of the World’s Top 25 carriers by ASK (Available Seat
Kilometre) are already registered to attend World Routes with strong
presence from all geographical regions. The four major US legacy
carriers will attend; Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, US Airways
and American Airlines. From Asia, China Southern, China Eastern,
Hainan Airlines and Air China are amongst those attending
with Japanese majors, oneworld member Japan Airlines and Star
Alliance carrier All Nippon Airways bringing large
delegations to Abu Dhabi.
One
of latest registrations is Qantas Airways, who will deliver a
briefing focused around its new business units and how this will
relate to its route development strategy.
From
Europe, the legacy market is strong with British Airways, Iberia,
KLM, Air France, SAS, LOT Polish, Alitalia amongst those registered.
The low cost carrier market from Europe is particularly
well represented by easyJet, Norwegian, Wizz Air, Germanwings and Air
Berlin.
Kenya
Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, South African Airways, Egypt Air
and Royal Air Maroc are amongst the major African airlines
looking to look at new opportunities and expand into new markets.
Airline
Relations Director, Paul Winfield Commented: “This week alone we
have seen registrations from the likes of Air New Zealand, Air India,
Wizz Air and Copa Airlines highlighting the diverse mix of airlines
attending World Routes and confirming that this is a must attend
event for airlines on a global basis from all sectors of the airline
market.”
Airports
wishing to do business with the Middle East airline market will never
have a better opportunity to do so with Etihad Airways,
Emirates, Qatar Airways and Turkish Airlines sending very
senior and large delegations with attendance from many other Middle
East based airlines including Gulf Air, Air Arabia and
Oman Air.
Cargo
and Interline are also an important part of Routes and this year the
cargo sector is led by the likes of UPS and FedEx whilst this year
will see the first time that Routes has offered a platform for
dedicated interline meetings. This session will allow alliance and
interline managers to meet with other carriers to discuss interline
agreements, marketing arrangements, SPAs and scheduled connections.
Amongst others, Etihad and JetBlue, two major interline operators,
are sending dedicated interline specialists to the event.