A
record number of over 5,500 delegates attended the seven events that
Routes organised around the globe in 2012. These forums, which focus
entirely on aviation route development, have become the must attend
events of the year that shape the world’s air services.
David
Stroud, Executive Vice President of Routes said: “The record
attendance at our events highlights the importance of intelligent
network planning for airlines, airports and tourism authorities. More
and more people in the industry and beyond have grasped the strategic
role that air services play, not just for the aviation sector, but
for regional and national economies around the world. With over
15,000 face-to-face meetings taking place at World Routes alone, we
offer the fastest and most efficient platform for everyone involved
in creating new air links.”
“We
know the industry has another tough year ahead, but we are confident
that we will be able to welcome even more delegates this year to our
events that will include regional forums on all continents and an
even bigger and better World Routes in Las Vegas.”
Highlights
of 2012
Over
3,000 delegates including representation from over 300 airlines and
750 airports gathered in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE at the end
of September for World Routes, the 18th World Route Development
Forum. The event, which this year was hosted by Abu Dhabi Airports
Company, is the largest gathering of the commercial air transport
community and the only global event focused on route development
meetings.
During
World Routes, the 2nd World Route Development Strategy Summit in
association with ICAO and the World Bank took place. The event opened
with a keynote address from James Hogan, CEO of Etihad Airways and
attending delegates had the opportunity to hear from almost 50 high
level speakers.
With
the 10th Routes Asia in Chengdu, China, the 5th Routes Americas in
Nassau, The Bahamas, the 7th Routes Europe in Tallinn, Estonia, the
7th Routes Africa in Victoria, The Seychelles, and the second Routes
CIS in Ekaterinburg, Russia, five successful Routes Regional events
took place during the year to foster air links within the world’s
key regional aviation markets.
Among
the highlights of the regional events was Routes Asia in China which
was attended by more airports and airlines than ever before. The
delegation of 672 included over 200 airline delegates representing 85
airlines from across the Asia region and beyond. Notable carriers
attending the event included, Lion Air and Scoot which were both
attending for the first time along with the four major
carriers; China
Southern, Air
China, China Eastern. In May, the Routes Europe
Strategy Forum was opened by European Commission Vice-President Siim
Kallas, responsible for Transport and formerly Prime Minister of
Estonia, opened the event with a keynote address. July saw the most
successful and largest Routes Africa event to date taking place in
Victoria, Seychelles.
The
second Invest & Manage took place in London in October, bringing
together a wide range of airports, airport operators and
infrastructure investors from across the world at a pivotal time. The
format of private face-to-face meetings allowed real business to be
done between airports seeking investment and management expertise,
investors looking for airport infrastructure opportunities, and
airport operators aiming to extend their portfolio of managed assets
around the world.
Looking
ahead: events in 2013
At
least seven events are planned for this year: Routes Americas: 10-12
February, Cartagena (Colombia) Routes Asia: 17-19 March, Mumbai
(India) Routes Europe: 12-14 May, Budapest (Hungary) Routes CIS:
(date and host to be announced soon) Routes Africa: 7-9 July, Kampala
(Uganda) World Routes: 5-8 Oct, Las Vegas (USA) Invest & Manage
Airports: 4-5 October, Las Vegas (USA)
Future
events that have already been announced for 2014 include Routes
Europe (Marseille, France), Routes Asia (Kuching, Malaysia) and World
Routes (Chicago, USA).
