World Routes 2014 is the essential global gathering for aviation organisations from across all continents. Now only 5 weeks until the event opens in Chicago, we count down on some of the most important reasons as to why you should be at the 20th World Route Development Forum.
3000 delegates expected
Network Planners and other key decision makers from a wide range of carriers will attend this year’s event, which will bring together around 3000 delegates from airports, airlines, tourism authorities, civil aviation authorities and other industry stakeholders from across the world to discuss air service development globally.
Notable carriers already registered to attend include: Etihad, British Airways, easyJet, Delta Airlines, Emirates and China Southern.
Over 50 Airlines are scheduled to attend World Routes 2014 who did not attend the event last year including: Virgin Atlantic Airways, Transavia France, Pakistan International Airlines, Jetstar Airways, LAN Airlines and Grand China Air.
The event will also see strong representation from the U.S with over 30 U.S domestic airports registered to attend World Routes for the first time. These include: Watertown International Airport, South Bend International Airport (SBN), Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport, Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport, Laughlin/ Bullhead International Airport, Jackson Hole Airport, Gerald R Ford International Airport and Des Moines International Airport.
Click here to view the full attendee list for World Routes 2014
Face-to-Face Meetings
Face-to-Face meetings form the core of all Routes events and so far over 5500 meetings have been scheduled. World Routes attracts the most senior representatives from a wide variety of organisations who wish to meet, plan and conduct business for new global routes.
There are only 3 weeks left to submit your meeting requests online before scheduling closes on Friday 5th September, and many airline diaries are already full so request your meetings now to ensure you don’t miss out.
Click here for more information and to begin making your meeting requests.
First time attendees
Almost 200 tourism authority delegates have already registered for World Routes 2014. This area of the event has grown considerably since 2008, equating to almost 10% of our total audience in 2013.
Tourism Authorities attending World Routes for this first time this year include: Tourspain, Bath Tourism, Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, Martinique Promotion Bureau, Gambia Tourism Board, Cyprus Tourism and Promotur, the tourist board for the Canary Islands, who have recently announced a flight development fund which will be discussed at the event.
World Routes provides a platform for tourist boards and tourism authorities to not only promote their offering to the visitor directly, but to influence the airline network planners, and work together with airports to increase air services.
More importantly, an increasing number of airlines are now requesting the presence of tourism authorities in their airport meetings, as they feel that they offer added value through joint marketing initiatives that mitigate the risks involved when launching a new route.
Senior Level Conference Programme
The World Routes Strategy Summit, sponsored by Oman Airports Management Company, will open World Routes 2014, taking place on Sunday 21 & Monday 22 September and bringing together over 60 CEOs and senior leaders from across the route development and aviation industries.
The Strategy Summit will see senior leaders from across the route development and aviation industries participate in keynote speeches, presentations and a series of moderator led panel discussions that will set the commercial and political agenda for the aviation industry in the coming 12-18 months. It will see keynote addresses from James Hogan, CEO of Etihad Airways, Scott Kirby, President of American Airlines, Jim Compton, Vice Chairman of United Airlines, and Josh Marks, CEO of masFlight. Also featured in the Strategy Summit will be an interview with Sir Tim Clark, CEO of Emirates.
The World Routes Tourism Summit will also feature as part of the conference programme. Sponsored by Brand USA, the Tourism Summit will take place on Monday 22 September, combining a number of presentations and panel discussion sessions and briefings. The summit will see discussion around a number of current industry issues including: global tourism, future patterns of travel and airport capacity and infrastructure.
Route Exchange Airline Briefings
Eighteen airlines have now confirmed that they will deliver a Route Exchange Airline briefing at this year’s event, with more expected to sign up in the coming weeks.
Route Exchange Airline Briefings are the only place to further develop your understanding of the route planning function of airlines, hear a valuable update on the opportunities the airline feels are out there and gain an understanding of how decision makers at airlines see the market place.
Airlines scheduled to deliver a briefing at this year’s event include: Etihad Airways, interjet, AirAsia, who are expected provide an update and possible news of their positioning upon returning to Europe, Flynas and Iberia Airlines.
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