The inaugural Routes Middle East & Africa will open this weekend in Manama, capital city of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The event, which takes place 31 May – 2 June, will be hosted by Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) managing body and operator of Bahrain International Airport (BIA).
Designed to build on the success of Routes Africa 2014 Routes Middle East & Africa will bring together over 300 delegates from across Africa and the Middle East to meet and discuss route development opportunities across the region.
The event will see representation from almost 50 airlines and over 70 airports along with tourism authorities and other industry stakeholders from across the region. All the major Middle Eastern carriers will be in attendance including Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways, Saudia and Gulf Air along with a strong representation from African carriers such as Egyptair, Ethiopian Airlines and South African Airways. In addition several out of region carriers will be in attendance including British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Cebu Pacific Air and Vueling.
Mr. Mohamed Khalil, Chief Commercial Officer at Bahrain Airport Company commented on the event, stating: “We are excited and look forward to welcoming all delegates to the inaugural Routes Middle East & Africa. We have received a tremendous response from the regional aviation community and have secured an exclusive list of high-calibre experts spanning the aviation sector to shed some light on very current topics affecting our industry. There is no doubt this forum will be an incredible knowledge pool and will facilitate plenty of networking opportunities. It has been a pleasure working with the Routes team to bring this prominent industry event to the Kingdom of Bahrain; this is our chance to showcase Bahrain’s capabilities as both aviation leaders and exemplary hosts”.
“We are delighted to be holding the inaugural Routes Middle East and Africa in Bahrain,” said Adrian Newton, Group Director Aviation & Technology, UBM EMEA: “Africa and the Middle East are two of the most dynamic aviation markets in the world and this event will bring the wider aviation community to the Kingdom of Bahrain providing our Hosts with the ideal opportunity to showcase their destination, and reaffirm their status as an aviation hub for the region. The decisions taken at Routes Middle East & Africa will be decisive in shaping the future of aviation in the region for years to come.”
In addition to around 1,000 face-to-face meetings to discuss air services taking place at the event, Routes Middle East & Africa will open with the hard hitting Strategy Summit, which will include a welcome address from H.E. Engineer Kamal bin Ahmed Mohammed, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications for the Kingdom of Bahrain.
Taking place over two days, the Summit will provide a valuable insight into aviation across the region through a series of moderator-led panel discussions and presentations. Confirmed speakers from across Africa and the Middle East include; Adel Ali, CEO of Air Arabia; Paul Byrne, CEO of Flynas; Dr. Elijah Chingosho, Secretary General of AFRAA; Richard Bodin, Chief Commercial Officer of Fastjet and Mohamed Khonji, Regional Director, Middle East Office, ICAO.
