“Aberdeen is an exciting and beautiful city and we are proud to be able to welcome the airline industry to it. We know that the hospitality they experience here will be second to none and we hope that it will persuade many to return, be it for business or pleasure; a conference or a round of golf with a whisky or two” said the Chief Executive of VisitAberdeen, Steve Harris.
Aberdeen, Scotland will host the leading route development forum in Europe this weekend. Routes Europe 2015 with over 1,200 delegates will discuss where airlines will fly in the future at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC) on 12-14 April, hosted by Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils. It is the first time that the event is being held in the UK.
Routes Europe will bring together around 350 airports, 100 airlines and 45 tourism authorities as well as high-level policy-makers and aviation stakeholders to develop new air services to, from and within Europe. All of Europe’s major network and low-cost carriers will attend as well as leading global airlines such as Etihad Airways and China Southern.
Routes Europe 2015 will officially open on Sunday with the hard hitting Strategy Summit. Around 15 high-level speakers from Europe and beyond will provide their insights into “the changing skies of Europe”, and what the fast expansion of low-cost carriers and the Gulf airlines mean for Europe’s legacy carriers. The focus of the global debate on the future of air travel is currently on Europe. The continent’s response to the multiple challenges to its network carriers will shape the international air transport debate for years to come.
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, said: “To be the first ever UK host of the Routes Europe conference is a real coup for Aberdeen and provides a fantastic opportunity to raise the profile of the city’s tourism offering, as well as that of Scotland as a whole. If we want to continue attracting visitors to Scotland it is important we make it as easy as possible for them to get here. The Routes Europe conference is a chance for those within the aviation industry to come together, and develop future business opportunities to, from and within Europe.
